Well, we are back short-track racing for the first time in a while.
Wednesday night, we saw Kyle Busch win yet another NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race. This weekend, things continue at Bristol Motor Speedway and, in fact, two of our next three races are at short tracks, with Bristol and Richmond International Raceway on the schedule.
With it being a short-track race, and especially with it being Bristol, if you are one of those teams just inside or outside the top 12, you are really nervous about it. On short tracks, much like in the restrictor-plate races at Daytona International Speedway or Talladega Superspeedway, you can have a perfect car but in a split second you can get caught up in someone else’s problem.
I look for Richard Childress Racing to be tough at Bristol. Kevin Harvick has always run well at Bristol. In addition, his teammates Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer have run well there. We also know that Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch will be tough.
Of course the big key to Bristol success is how you qualify. Not only does qualifying well put you up front, but it also gives you that all-important good pit selection.
The changes they made to the infield since we left there in the spring are exciting. Sure, it still looks like 50 pounds in a 10-pound bag when all the haulers are parked inside, but there’s been a lot of work and a lot of money spent in basically five months to make these improvements.
In terms of the racing itself, history shows us that if you are fast in practice and qualifying, you normally will be fast in the race. Forty-four times in the 99 races there, the winner has come from a front-row starting position. When you are up front, you can be easier on your equipment. You don’t have to use your stuff up just to stay ahead of the leader and on the lead lap.
This will be another place where we will see the wave-around rule used a lot. And you don’t have to worry about fuel mileage there. You won’t see green-flag pit stops. You can run about 150 laps on fuel there.
I have been doing this for more than 30 years and I have to tell you, I still get excited every race day, no matter where we are. There are still three times a year where that excitement goes to another level and it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Obviously the first one is when they say, “Gentlemen start your engines” for the Daytona 500 every February. It signifies the start of another NASCAR season, plus the fact that we are about to take the green flag in the biggest race of the year.
The second time for me is when those cars come down that long straightaway and take the green flag for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It’s just a cool feeling.
The third one, naturally, is when those cars take the green flag for the Bristol night race.
It is right about twilight when that race starts and I swear it looks like 10 million flashbulbs going off at one time from all the fans in the stands taking pictures of the start of the race.
For me, that moment at Bristol is one of the coolest moments of the entire NASCAR season.
