When I hear folks bashing Bristol Motor Speedway, which everyone knows is my favorite track, well, you can expect me to rush to its defense.
I’ve always loved Bristol, from the first time I went there. I loved it when it was asphalt. I loved it when it was concrete. I loved it the way it was, and I loved it when they reconfigured it. I loved it when it was a single-grooved track, and I love it now as a multiple-groove track.
Going to any race at Bristol is an event. You are going to the Coliseum and sitting in those huge grandstands looking down into that bowl. Remember we are talking about 43 big ol’ stock cars on a half-mile concrete racetrack going around, around and around that joint in 16 seconds a lap, inches apart, 500 times.
That’s exhilarating. The NASCAR Sprint Cup racing Sunday at Bristol was awesome. There were guys battling each other side by side, lap after lap. Who doesn’t want that kind of racing? I’ll take guys scratching, clawing and, yes, sometimes bumping each other over single-file racing any day.
There is plenty of action on the track with equally as much strategy and drama in the pits. I literally know how grueling it is to run 500 laps at that place. I know the toll it takes on you mentally and physically. Those guys are making a lap around that place every 16 seconds. That in and of itself is hard enough to comprehend, let alone adding in the fact you are doing it inches apart from your competitors.
It’s the biggest challenge these drivers face in going that fast, that long, that close together and doing it all day long for 500 laps. There is not a thing wrong with the racing at Bristol. I don’t understand how people can say otherwise.
If folks want to be upset about the fuel prices, the hotel prices, the food prices, the ticket prices, the souvenir costs, etc. — well, I am right there with you. I have said for years now that NASCAR, the tracks and the community all need to work together to give the fans who come to town for the race weekend some kind of discount. I wish I could fix all those things, but I can’t.
There’s one thing that doesn’t need to be fixed, though, and that’s the racing at Bristol Motor Speedway.
My point is all those issues don’t contribute one lick to the on-track product these owners, drivers and teams are putting out there right now. The racing at Bristol has never been better. The unpredictability Sunday was just as strong as it’s ever been. Isn’t that what everyone loves — unpredictability? Where’s the fun in knowing what’s going to happen race after race?
Sunday our polesitter, Greg Biffle, didn’t have the strength in his car as he has had the first three races of the season. While he did lead 41 laps, he came home 13th. AJ Allmendinger, the outside polesitter, led for a while, and he faded. Matt Kenseth was strong until eventual winner Brad Keselowski got up there and wrestled the lead from him.
Let’s be honest, who predicted Brian Vickers to be so strong Sunday for his first time in a stock car in 2012? My brother, Michael, took a big chance putting him in the No. 55 car, but Brian did one heck of a job. The kid led 125 laps and was up front all day long. For that matter, who predicted all three of my brother’s cars to finish in the top 10 Sunday? I, for one, didn’t.
With only one top 10 between them all season, who expected Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya to both notch top-10 finishes Sunday at Bristol?
Who would have ever thought Kasey Kahne would struggle so much after joining Hendrick Motorsports? We all thought he would win and win early. Carl Edwards has struggled. Kyle Busch has struggled. I have no doubt those guys will overcome it.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. still hasn’t won, although he is running well enough to. I know he’s had two wrecks the last two weekends, but they aren’t related. If you look at what happened at Las Vegas between Mark Martin and him, well, it was simply uncalled for.
Now what happened Sunday at Bristol with teammate Jeff Gordon was simply the product of good hard racing late in the race. He was racing Jeff for position when his tailpipes made the slightest contact with the No. 24 car, cut down Gordon's left-rear tire, and sent the four-time champion spinning into the wall. Had that not happened, both cars probably would have come home with a top-10 or even possibly a top-five finish.
Look at the resurgence of Greg Biffle in his Roush Fenway Ford. In four races this year, he has a pole, three consecutive third-place finishes, and he is our points leader. To put this somewhat into context, in 2011, Greg was the best Ford finisher only once the entire year. In only four races into the 2012 season, Greg has been the best Ford two of the last three races.
You can’t be anything but impressed with how Jimmie Johnson has bounced back from being wrecked out early at Daytona, plus his 25-point hit from the NASCAR penalty. Sunday at Bristol was Jimmie’s third consecutive top-10 finish. He has now gone from being at one time 49th in the points all the way up to 17th.
See, the strength of our sport is quite simply that the racing is unpredictable. Look at 2011 — we had five first-time winners, 18 different winners and two guys who tied at the end of the season in the points. We literally had to go to a tie-breaker to crown Tony Stewart our champion.
There has been no letup in 2012. We’ve had four races so far, and what have we seen? We’ve had four different polesitters, four different winners, on four different style tracks, and all four of our manufacturers — Ford, Toyota, Chevrolet and now Dodge — have been to Victory Lane. That is parity in its greatest form.
Sunday, we only saw 49 laps of caution. I’ve been to Bristol when half the race has been under caution. How is half a race under the yellow flag exciting? That’s an easy answer — it isn’t. Our fans spend their hard-earned money to see exciting, close competition — not watching the pace car lead the field around lap after lap under yellow.
I can’t grasp the concept of people complaining that the racing at Bristol isn’t any good because there aren’t enough wrecks or cautions. That way of thinking just isn’t healthy for the sport. It sure isn’t healthy for the car owners. Goodness knows they went through enough carnage at Daytona. Being able to bring a car back from Bristol in one piece is a very pleasant surprise.
You have to be impressed with the strength of Brad Keselowski’s car Sunday. That young man led 231 laps and simply had an amazing race car. It was good on restarts. It was good on both new and old tires. Brad’s win, by the way, was the 72nd victory for Penske Racing.
Richard Childress has to be pleased with what his drivers are doing. All three drivers finished in the top 11 on Sunday. With that finish, now all three drivers are in the top 11 in points. Kevin Harvick is second in the points. On the strength of his third top-10 finish, Paul Menard moved up one spot to 10th in points. Jeff Burton, who finished sixth at Bristol, also jumped four spots in the points to 11th position.
I am just loving what is happening in our sport right now, and you should, too.
Now we head to our fifth different track of the season. The Auto Club Speedway out in Fontana is a big, wide two-mile track. Jamie McMurray has won two of the last three poles there, but maybe it’s best not to win the pole. In the 22 races held there, only one time has the pole winner won the race. That was Jimmie Johnson back in 2008.
Last year we had five different winners in the first five races. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Sunday night as we leave Fontana we aren’t saying the same exact thing about our 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.
