Bristol confuses me.
Before they repaved it into the banked mini-monster-superspeedway that it is today, it was relatively flat. Flat and harmful. It only had one groove and bumpers were the main course on this menu when looking to pass other drivers during the race.
By the end of the race, there was a lot of E-Bay sheet metal looking for buyers and nary a car came off the track not looking like... well, like it was at Bristol, or just came off a demolition derby.
But the reconfiguration has me stymied.
The first race I watched after the reconfiguration, I liked it.
Suddenly we had some racing where they could play with each other, side by side. Now the race finished in under 6 hours. That is awesome in and of itself. OK, NBaP is joking about the "under 6 hours" thing, but sometimes it felt like it.
I really don't mind not seeing a caution every 15 to 30 laps.
But the flare that WAS Bristol is gone.
No one came off the track pissed off. No one was called to the hauler. Most of the cars were only rumpled, and not crumpled.
WTH is that about?
It's still a cup race and all, but now, it looks like we only have Martinsville to give us the old style skill and bumper driving.
I wonder when they're going to bank the paperclip? I hope never.
Showing posts with label Bristol. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bristol. Show all posts
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Sharpie 500 at Bristol - Carl Edwards Wins and Spins
Carl Edwards and David Reutimann leads the field to the green. Carl got a great start, and Jeff Gordon got in under Reutimann and Reutimann was isntantly relegated to third. So much for the bonus points for the No 44 Toyota. Earnhardt Jr. seemed a bit loosey goosey at the start.Dale Earnhardt Jr. was black flagged for passing before the start/finish line. Wow, devastating start to the race. He was caught on a scenario that is legal on restarts, but not the initial start of any race.
Lap 25 see's Jimmie Johnson into the wall after tangling with Sterling Marlin. He pits to fix the damage under green.
Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 54.
Lap 97: No. 1 car looses a tire and takes the No 84 car with him into the wall.
Lap 195: The No. 77 comes up across the nose of the 09. The 09 slows in front of the 20 car. The 20 car spins the 09 car and the 09 collected the 31 car. Hmm, one of my new rules says that the car number mentioned the most, is the cause of the incident. That would be the No 09 car of Sterling Marlin.
Lap 206 restart sees Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman lead the pack to the green.
Lap 216: Big wreck> 07, 7, 77, 5, 9, 21, 41, 44 cars pile up into or scraped up a bit into a wrecking yard.
The No 9 Budweiser car looks like toast, who was 12th in points.
The No 07, 13th in points, just got rubbed up a bit while the other cars in the pile ended up reshaping their cars on a serious note.
It looks like the No. 5 car comes up into the LF corner of the No. 55, getting spun into the wall, and the 5 car collected the rest of the victims. Mears said his spotter called "clear, clear, clear" and his spotter was mistaken.
In the replay from Clint Bowyer, the car radio of Clint says "Michael Waltrip is the worse driver in NASCAR. I can't believe NAPA signed back up with him." LOL.
Everyone involved is OK.
Lap 221: Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards leads the pack to the restart.
18, 99, 24, 11, 20, 12, 29, 16, 44 & 15 are the top 10.
Lap 281: The No 22 car slaps the inside wall.
Lap 293 restart: Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards leads the pack to the green. ... Didn't I already say this?
Lap 320: Kyle Busch leads the pack still. The man is unstoppable! 18, 99, 24, 11, 29, 12, 20, 07, 8 & 26
Lap 344 debris caution for parts coming off the No. 44 car. The back bumper / TV panel came off all by itself after being abused throughout the race.
Lap 349 restart sees the 18 and 99 lead the pack to the green.
Lap 350 front 10 of the blender called the Sharpie 500:
18, 99, 24, 11, 29, 12, 07, 20, 8, 6
lap 355 Edwards starts looking under Kyle for the lead, but Kyle holds him off.
Lap 357 Edwards looks outside to pass him. No go.
Despite being caught up in a few incidents, and the front end toe-in being more or less toe-out,ed, the 07 car of Bowyer is in 7th.
Dale Jarrett said that in some race in his past, he had gotten in wreck and his front end was toed out and it handled pretty good the rest of the day.
Lap 365 Caution
Lap 370: Oh for cyin' out loud, you'll never guess what 2 guys led the pack to the green! But now, Jr. is the first car a lap down and if circumstances are right, he can get his lap back at the next yellow.
Lap 400 top 10: 18, 99, 24, 11, 29, 12, 8, 20, 07 and 6
lap 451 caution.
Restart with 41 laps to go: 18, 99, 11, 24, 29, 12, 07, 20, 17 and 6.
A few laps later, another debris caution for a piece off of the No 2 car of Kurt Busch.
With 30 to go, Edwards takes the lead. First time since lap 55 someone other than Kyle leads, and he drops to 3rd as Hamlin passes him too.
20 to go, Kyle gets past Hamlin.
10 to go: 99, 18, 11, 29, 24
5 to go: 99, 18
The order of the top 10 cars across the finish line!
99 - 18 - 11 - 29 - 24 - 12 - 07 - 20 - 17 - 6
Remember when Carl Edwards passed Busch?
Edwards gave Busch a budge to get by him, a typical Bristol pass. Busch nudged him right back immediately afterward, but it did not move Edwards and Edwards went on to win.
After passing the start finish line, Kyle (The Child) Busch rammed the side of the No 99 car. Edwards then turned the 18 car around on the front stretch, to the immense pleasure of the cheering crowd.
Ahh, Bristol. Gotta love it.
Afterward, Edwards DID NOT apologize for it. He said Kyle's always raced him like that before, and decided to move him. You go Carl!!
Thanks to NASCAR for auto stock image snip.
Friday, August 22, 2008
A Knight Rider Sponsored Ford at Bristol
Saturday Nights Bristol race is going to have a Ford sponsored by the new NBC show, Knight Rider. The No 28 of Travis Kvapil will be touting the banner. We all know how Bristol can be, so hopefully he keeps his fenders and sheet metal on the car to keep the sponsor in plain view!!
If you'd like to see an interesting write up I did on the other side of my life, check out Screen Rant for a longer snippet on NASCAR, Studios and Sponsor opportunities.
Screen Rant is a site where we talk about movies and television and what the haps are in the industry.
If you'd like to see an interesting write up I did on the other side of my life, check out Screen Rant for a longer snippet on NASCAR, Studios and Sponsor opportunities.
Screen Rant is a site where we talk about movies and television and what the haps are in the industry.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
The Boredom of Bristol
An opinion by Bruce Simmons
I've read a lot of commentary that people did not like the Bristol race. From what I can gather, folks are looking for the angry fender rubbing and chrome bumper applications that result in the feuds that erupt later. (OK, so those can be fun when a driver tosses his helmet at a car, and then gets hit by it when it bounces back.)
Yes, the race seemed, boring, if that was what you were looking for.
On the other hand, how often have you seen 3 wide happen for extended (OK, more than a corner or two) periods of time at Bristol? I found that interesting.
I even saw 4 wide at moments through the weekend, and through it all, Carl Edwards worked the wheel to win the first reconfigured track surface race at Britsol Motor Speedway.
You know what I didn't miss? So many yellow flags that the race extended to a 4 or 5 hour television program nap!
Combining the 3 wide, the oft side by side racing, and the lack of yellows (David Ragan being 1/3 of the yellows!) is what contributes my positive perspective of the race.
YET, the COT and the harder tires could be components to what made the race so bland for most.
One other issue I noted: During one of the spins in the race, I watched one of these COT's get so out of hand, that it was more the 45 degrees sideways headed out of the turn, and it snapped back to facing the right direction without much loss of momentum as if it was on a rail.
My perspective is that with the COT that 'pushes' more than the older design, what I saw did not surprise me, though that could have been driver skill also, BUT ESPN did not even make mention of the deed, and the challenging camera angle prevented me from ID'ing who it was.
We also saw how hard it is to move someone, as evidenced from Martinsville, when Jeff Gordon collapsed his front end from hitting Jimmy Johnson so hard in the back end in the corners to move him, and not succeeding. If you remember, Jeff said after the race something to the effect that these cars (COT's) are a lot harder to move than I thought.
I think, as Goodyear does get some tire tests under it's belt, and now that the drivers have a better feel for this new Bristol configuration, we might see more drivers meeting the threshold of sane racing to get past their opponents next time we visit this track.
If you think about it, this was a short track race as they tend to pan out, if they didn't have yellow flags. The better teams worked their way through the field, got out there, and stayed out there., unless they "blowed up" like Denny Hamlin did when he got himself from 43rd to 7th before the flame out.
So from what I see, the feuds are what you want to see and yes, this could become a mini-Michigan or California, but on the bright side, you can see the cars at every point on the track!!
The funny part is that the Busch and Truck races were better! Go figure.
Here's another pespective on the issue over at: foxsports.com
Take care and thanks for reading.
I've read a lot of commentary that people did not like the Bristol race. From what I can gather, folks are looking for the angry fender rubbing and chrome bumper applications that result in the feuds that erupt later. (OK, so those can be fun when a driver tosses his helmet at a car, and then gets hit by it when it bounces back.)
Yes, the race seemed, boring, if that was what you were looking for.
On the other hand, how often have you seen 3 wide happen for extended (OK, more than a corner or two) periods of time at Bristol? I found that interesting.
I even saw 4 wide at moments through the weekend, and through it all, Carl Edwards worked the wheel to win the first reconfigured track surface race at Britsol Motor Speedway.
You know what I didn't miss? So many yellow flags that the race extended to a 4 or 5 hour television program nap!
Combining the 3 wide, the oft side by side racing, and the lack of yellows (David Ragan being 1/3 of the yellows!) is what contributes my positive perspective of the race.
YET, the COT and the harder tires could be components to what made the race so bland for most.
One other issue I noted: During one of the spins in the race, I watched one of these COT's get so out of hand, that it was more the 45 degrees sideways headed out of the turn, and it snapped back to facing the right direction without much loss of momentum as if it was on a rail.
My perspective is that with the COT that 'pushes' more than the older design, what I saw did not surprise me, though that could have been driver skill also, BUT ESPN did not even make mention of the deed, and the challenging camera angle prevented me from ID'ing who it was.
We also saw how hard it is to move someone, as evidenced from Martinsville, when Jeff Gordon collapsed his front end from hitting Jimmy Johnson so hard in the back end in the corners to move him, and not succeeding. If you remember, Jeff said after the race something to the effect that these cars (COT's) are a lot harder to move than I thought.
I think, as Goodyear does get some tire tests under it's belt, and now that the drivers have a better feel for this new Bristol configuration, we might see more drivers meeting the threshold of sane racing to get past their opponents next time we visit this track.
If you think about it, this was a short track race as they tend to pan out, if they didn't have yellow flags. The better teams worked their way through the field, got out there, and stayed out there., unless they "blowed up" like Denny Hamlin did when he got himself from 43rd to 7th before the flame out.
So from what I see, the feuds are what you want to see and yes, this could become a mini-Michigan or California, but on the bright side, you can see the cars at every point on the track!!
The funny part is that the Busch and Truck races were better! Go figure.
Here's another pespective on the issue over at: foxsports.com
Take care and thanks for reading.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Birstol - Sharpie 500
by Bruce Simmons
The Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway
The green flag was delayed by the 49 car of John Andretti stalling in turn 2 but once he was out of the way, the green flag flew and Kasey Kahne took off like a rocket but he relinquished the win to Carl Edwards at the end of the night.
Carl Edwards was followed by Kasey Kahne, Cline Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Busch & Greg Biffle rounding out the top 10.
We saw 20 cars still on the lead lap, 8 different leaders with 12 lead changes and 9 cautions for 61 laps. With this win, Carl was able to snag Ford's first COT win.
For me, the variable banking made a great race that was not slowed down to a 5 hour show with many laps of caution. The high line was the groove to use, but when the leaders encountered lapped traffic, the low line worked for passing. On the flip side, the variable banking helped the lapped cars fight for their beleaguered position, as Michael Waltrip demonstrated late in the race as he fought off the leaders for a few laps while being 3 laps down, until Edwards "helped" Waltrip move up out of the way.
Watching continual side by side racing and 3 wide, with an occassional 4 wide for mere moments was most unique for Bristol. It wasn't what I was used to, but now that everyone has had a taste of driving on the track, the next time they come back, I think we'll see more aggressive racing once again, because then, the boys will know their limits!
See more lap details at : brucesimmons.org
Here's the unofficial results: scenedaily.com
The Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway
The green flag was delayed by the 49 car of John Andretti stalling in turn 2 but once he was out of the way, the green flag flew and Kasey Kahne took off like a rocket but he relinquished the win to Carl Edwards at the end of the night.
Carl Edwards was followed by Kasey Kahne, Cline Bowyer, Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Busch & Greg Biffle rounding out the top 10.
We saw 20 cars still on the lead lap, 8 different leaders with 12 lead changes and 9 cautions for 61 laps. With this win, Carl was able to snag Ford's first COT win.
For me, the variable banking made a great race that was not slowed down to a 5 hour show with many laps of caution. The high line was the groove to use, but when the leaders encountered lapped traffic, the low line worked for passing. On the flip side, the variable banking helped the lapped cars fight for their beleaguered position, as Michael Waltrip demonstrated late in the race as he fought off the leaders for a few laps while being 3 laps down, until Edwards "helped" Waltrip move up out of the way.
Watching continual side by side racing and 3 wide, with an occassional 4 wide for mere moments was most unique for Bristol. It wasn't what I was used to, but now that everyone has had a taste of driving on the track, the next time they come back, I think we'll see more aggressive racing once again, because then, the boys will know their limits!
See more lap details at : brucesimmons.org
Here's the unofficial results: scenedaily.com
Thursday, August 23, 2007
The New Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol Motor Speedway has been repaved since the last race. Watching the truck race, it didn't seem much different after this massive repaving job, but let me toss out a few factoids from an article by David Poole:
What did they take away:
They took away 1,815 cubic yards of concrete.
842 cubic yards of concrete walls.
More than an acre’s worth of asphalt – 275 loads in 20-ton trucks.
What they put back:
More than 3,000 cubic yards of concrete.
More than 650 tons of rebar – roughly the equivalent of 382 Nextel Cup cars.
The track is 3 feet wider, now 43 feet wide.
Pit road is now concrete instead of asphalt.
The pit stalls are 16 feet by 28 feet. (2 feet wider)
The track surface itself has slightly variable banking, which gives the surface more of a bowl shape, which track designers hope will make it nearly as fast to run one groove up as it is to run right around the bottom.
See the entire article at thatsracin.com
What did they take away:
They took away 1,815 cubic yards of concrete.
842 cubic yards of concrete walls.
More than an acre’s worth of asphalt – 275 loads in 20-ton trucks.
What they put back:
More than 3,000 cubic yards of concrete.
More than 650 tons of rebar – roughly the equivalent of 382 Nextel Cup cars.
The track is 3 feet wider, now 43 feet wide.
Pit road is now concrete instead of asphalt.
The pit stalls are 16 feet by 28 feet. (2 feet wider)
The track surface itself has slightly variable banking, which gives the surface more of a bowl shape, which track designers hope will make it nearly as fast to run one groove up as it is to run right around the bottom.
See the entire article at thatsracin.com
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
KYLE BUSCH - Outburst or Observation - An OPINION
After the winning the Bristol race, Kyle Busch stated his mind and that is a refreshing perspective after hearing so many company line minded interviews. In Professional Bowling, we have rules that state unequivocally that participants will not say bad things about the lane conditions, bowling alley, etc.. I suspect other sports may have similar rules, or that players just want to keep sponsors and hosts happy by making everything rosy and bright.
You hear it all the time in pre-race interviews. There always seems to be 43 drivers who can win the race. I don’t think they’re going to disappoint their sponsors by saying their cars are crap, are they?
We know the language rules are not NASCAR rules, but then who is it on to delay the broadcast so things can be caught? NASCAR, to stipulate in their TV contracts? The stations broadcasting? The driver speaking? This is more or less a team effort between all three.
With NASCAR constantly capping the emotional outbursts that sometimes brings the fans into the sport, we need some excitement, but the excitement is being “fined” right out of the sport as behavior deemed inappropriate for NASCAR. This wave of oversight didn’t really become prevalent until the big time TV contracts came about, so who’s really behind that. Is NASCAR toeing the line for the media?
Busch gets paid well because he has talent that can expose the sponsor on a weekly schedule to the television audience. I think speaking his mind is his right unless it starts hurting the sponsor and or the sport. If anything, it made media. It’s a new car design. People will be adjusting all over the CUP series and we now have a better perspective on the drivers adjustment to the “flying brick”. Yes, Busch could have been more constructive, but every now and then, we still see shards of his youthful enthusiasm show through.
You hear it all the time in pre-race interviews. There always seems to be 43 drivers who can win the race. I don’t think they’re going to disappoint their sponsors by saying their cars are crap, are they?
We know the language rules are not NASCAR rules, but then who is it on to delay the broadcast so things can be caught? NASCAR, to stipulate in their TV contracts? The stations broadcasting? The driver speaking? This is more or less a team effort between all three.
With NASCAR constantly capping the emotional outbursts that sometimes brings the fans into the sport, we need some excitement, but the excitement is being “fined” right out of the sport as behavior deemed inappropriate for NASCAR. This wave of oversight didn’t really become prevalent until the big time TV contracts came about, so who’s really behind that. Is NASCAR toeing the line for the media?
Busch gets paid well because he has talent that can expose the sponsor on a weekly schedule to the television audience. I think speaking his mind is his right unless it starts hurting the sponsor and or the sport. If anything, it made media. It’s a new car design. People will be adjusting all over the CUP series and we now have a better perspective on the drivers adjustment to the “flying brick”. Yes, Busch could have been more constructive, but every now and then, we still see shards of his youthful enthusiasm show through.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Sharpie 500 Notes from BRISTOL
Green, White Checkered Restart:
Kyle Busch wins, as Jeff Burton got around Jeff Gordon fro 2nd as Gordon spun his tires on the restart.
Even though Burton had the better car, he did not move Kyle out of the way to pass him even thogh he had 2 opportunities to do so and Kyle Busch wins the first COT race in this new ERA of NASCAR.
5, 31, 24, 29, 16, 66, 8, 07, 26 & 25 are the top 10 in this first COT race.
Highest finishing Dodge: David Stremme, in 13th.
Highest finishing Toyota: Brian Vickers, in 15th.
CHEVY gets it's 600th win,
Hendricks 200th win.
Kyle Busch wins, as Jeff Burton got around Jeff Gordon fro 2nd as Gordon spun his tires on the restart.
Even though Burton had the better car, he did not move Kyle out of the way to pass him even thogh he had 2 opportunities to do so and Kyle Busch wins the first COT race in this new ERA of NASCAR.
5, 31, 24, 29, 16, 66, 8, 07, 26 & 25 are the top 10 in this first COT race.
Highest finishing Dodge: David Stremme, in 13th.
Highest finishing Toyota: Brian Vickers, in 15th.
CHEVY gets it's 600th win,
Hendricks 200th win.
Friday, March 23, 2007
COT BRISTOL QUALIFYING
Well, yet again Michael Waltrip does not make the show. Neither did Ruetimann, but Dale Jarrett actually got in on time!! Can you believe that!
Jeff Gordon got the pole, followed by Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Tony Stewart & Jamie McMurray.
For the complete results, go HERE
Jeff Gordon got the pole, followed by Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, Tony Stewart & Jamie McMurray.
For the complete results, go HERE
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Tidbits of BRISTOL History
April 9, 1972: Bobby Allison dominated the Southeastern 500, having led 458 laps en route to a four-lap win over Bobby Isaac.
April 2, 1978: Darrell Waltrip recovered from an early crash, leading the last 102 laps and beating Benny Parsons to win the Southeastern 500.
April 12, 1987: Dale Earnhardt wins a controversial Valleydale Meats 500, knocking Sterling Marlin out of the lead -- and the race -- to do so.
April 5, 1992: Starting from the pole, Alan Kulwicki wins the Food City 500 after a spirited battle with Dale Jarrett.
April 2, 1978: Darrell Waltrip recovered from an early crash, leading the last 102 laps and beating Benny Parsons to win the Southeastern 500.
April 12, 1987: Dale Earnhardt wins a controversial Valleydale Meats 500, knocking Sterling Marlin out of the lead -- and the race -- to do so.
April 5, 1992: Starting from the pole, Alan Kulwicki wins the Food City 500 after a spirited battle with Dale Jarrett.
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