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StumblePublished Monday, March 23, 2009 | 9 p.m.
Updated Monday, March 23, 2009 | 4:40 p.m.
I used to look forward to the racing at Bristol with the anticipation of Pavlov’s dog. Next to watching the Daytona 500, the races at Bristol were my favorite events of the Sprint Cup season. I would always make sure I had no other commitments on those race dates and I would even go so far as to send the wife and kids to the mall for the day so I could watch the race uninterrupted.
But since the track has been resurfaced, I only salivate mildly at the prospect of watching a Bristol race. The racing there doesn’t have the exciting feel of a bunch of fighter jets rattling around the inside of a school gymnasium like it used to.
The physical nature of Bristol racing has been greatly diminished because the track now has two racing grooves. The extra width of the track has made the passing--when it’s possible-- lot less eventful. I miss the old Bristol where drivers had to use a car’s bumper to make a pass and, as a result, there was always drama on and off the track.
Now Bristol almost seems like a mini version of a mile-and-a-half track with cars driving high on the straightaways and then diving down low into the corners.
Reader poll
Why did the powers that be have to break something that wasn’t broken?
Why does Fox continue to hype Bristol as a wreckfest of cars and emotions when it no longer is?
Frankly, I now find Martinsville to be my short track of choice.
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Darrell Waltrip commented during the race that one way to beat Kyle Busch would be for other drivers to start getting inside his head to throw him off his game. But, based on Kyle’s comments after the race, it sounds like he’s the one capable of playing head games.
Kyle mentioned that he’s more concerned with winning than selling T-shirts. And then he took a shot at Dale Earnhardt Jr. by saying, “For me, I don’t think I would enjoy having the most fans out there. I actually like the way I am, the role I portray. And I think there’s probably too much pressure on one guy’s shoulders who doesn’t seem to win very often.” Ouch!
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Last week’s Bloggity poll asked if Dale Jr. would make it into the Chase this season: 54 percent said absolutely, 28 percent said no way, and 16 percent said who cares.
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Lastly, in an automotive story that’s unrelated to NASCAR, Sweden has refused to give the automaker Saab a government bailout. The story was published in The New York Times.
Kyle is a talented racer, but he hasn't connected with fans the way Dale Jr. has (how could he?). But, his fan base is growing...though his t-shirts suck.
I'm visited by an analogy between what a great old track like Bristol was and what it has become, and Las Vegas where the good old days are long gone and hulking rebar-challenged nightclubs have paved over any trace (except in the minds and memory of an, unfortunately, aging sub-audience)of what made Las Vegas great...Caesar is dead, long live Caesar!
I think I would fit the "aging sub-audience" category. Vegas, like Bristol, isn't as colorful or as interesting as it used to be.
I miss the good old days when gramps (the mechanic) rode along with the driver during the race.
;)
Ha! That's great!
The only track that has seen an improvement in the racing due to the addition of graduated banking is Homestead.
Smitty, it's true.
Gramps not only rode along with drivers as a mechanic he also only had a 3rd grade education which didn't prohibit him from creating his own engine rebuilding business that did numerous rebuilds for the midget and sprint car circuit as well as custom work for those seeking modifications from their street cars they'd take to the weekend drags.
Thirty years following Gramps death, I happened upon an old client of his that shared with me a story about how he beat his street/strip rivals because Gramps milled down his stock heads that gave him the added horsepower to defeat his competitors.
Reminds me of a story I heard about Mark Martin who once crawled under his car and ground metal off of the car's engine block to reduce weight.
One of my favorite characters in NASCAR history was Smokey Yunick. Here was a guy with no advanced degree who could run circles around any engineer. His input was instrumental in GM's development of its original small-block V8. That basic design is still used today.
"Why did the powers that be have to break something that wasn't broken?" hahahaha
Uhhh, I think what you meant to say was "why did the powers that be have to FIX something that wasn't broken?"
by the way, I agree that they ruined the racing at Bristol.
I didn't use "fix" because they didn't fix a thing.
The old saying goes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But I'm an old-timer and maybe that one's lost on the younger generation.
Bristol wasn't broke, so it didn't need fixin.
You're right as to how the saying goes. I just used my own twist on it. And you're right about how the racing has been ruined at Bristol.
The Car of Today has led to a lot of follow-the-leader races. With the new splitter, guys can't get under other guys to nudge them out of the way. One of the more recent examples at Bristol was when Jeff Gordon pushed Rusty Wallace up the track for the win. That was a pretty exciting finish. I'm not looking for a demolition derby, but between the track changes and the newer car, that type of rubbin'-is-racing has been lost.
The irony is that a car that was designed to better withstand beating and banging has led to racing that is less physical.
OK now I'm confused. Did the widening of Bristol ruin the racing or did the new car. You say one thing in the original story and another in the above comment.
And if spartacus thinks you can't nudge a car out of the way anymore, he hasn't been watching the races very closely.