Delayed live on type delay: Bristol

This post is late. We tried to get it published Saturday night and Sunday morning, but had no web access available. Hopefully it still has some relevance, or will be useful to those who missed the race, or just want to read about the race as viewed through The Rev's senses. Hopefully this won't happen again. There is something about Bristol that has us bouncing in anticipation of the race all day long. Saturday has been a long day waiting for the green flag. While we were waiting, we had that wonderful rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" performed by the Motorsports Racing Outreach children, something we always look forward to in the late Summer race at Bristol. Also, a new world record was broken for the biggest wave in sports. That was actually pretty exciting to watch, and seemed fitting for Bristol Motor Speedway.

Because the AM station that carries Performance Radio Network play-by-play here cuts power early on Saturday, we are unable to enhance this post with information from the radio broadcast. We are stuck with what we see or hear on television, but we will try to put you at the race the best we can.

The green flag already produced some action, as Dale Earnhardt, Jr was black flagged for passing before the start finish line. One thing we like about Jr is that he is always learning, and now he has learned that you can't do that at the start of the race.

Pole winner Carl Edwards takes the lead early, but Jeff Gordon is on a mission, as we predicted, and after thirty laps, he has gained position from third to second, and is gaining on Carl Edwards. Jimmie Johnson, however, is having terrible luck and has been to the pits twice, under green flag, and is thirteen laps down.

Already, cars are being lapped. We are seeing the kind of racing we expect from Bristol, and some of these cars already have tire donuts on their door panels.

By lap 45, Gordon and Edwards are racing hard. Gordon did lead a lap, but neither driver has been able to take a definitive lead, because Juan Pablo Montoya is racing them to stay on the lead lap. Kyle Busch, in third has caught up with them by lap 54. He takes advantage of a bump on JPM by Edwards, and passes all three cars, taking the lead. That really did look like a brilliant move. Gordon, showing a little more patience than Edwards, remains behind Montoya, and takes second place.

At lap seventy, it has been flag racing so far, and Kyle is in first, Jeff Gordon in second, Carl Edwards is third Rookie Regan Smith, Ryan Newman, and David Reutimann have been racing each other for fourth and fifth place, and by lap 80, Newman gets fourth and the 01 DEI car of Smith has taken fifth. Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart have been steadily moving forward. This is a bad place to be in traffic, as we all know, and moving toward the front is a matter of preservation.

I love this three wide at Bristol. It isn't the old Bristol, and this may be for the better. It is exciting to watch, there is a lot of beating and banging going on. Just because they can go three wide doesn't mean that it's a good thing for the drivers to do, but it is good for the fans.

On lap 98, Martin Truex Jr cuts a tire, and collects the unfortunate A.J. Allmendinger. Both cars were running in the top twenty, but this will put a damper on their hopes to gain some big points in this race. The leaders all pit.

We were busy writing and didn't see how they came off of pit road. This is where we are at a disadvantage without the radio broadcast, and we apologize to our regular readers.

At the restart on lap 104, the top five are Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick in that order. Great pit stop for the #29 team. Jeff Burton has moved up into sixth, great job there, and wow, Jr is driving very aggressively to get his lap back. This is the kind of beating and banging we are used to at Bristol, even if it is three wide. He has a fast car, and anybody who is slower, especially Clint Bowyer, who is on the lead lap, better watch out. We have confidence at this point that he may be able to get back on the lead lap this way, if he doesn't get wrecked. Whatever the outcome, Junior is fun to watch. That is why he has always been among my five favorite drivers, among currently active drivers.

Continuing the running order, well, we would like to but it is time for another commercial interuption. Kasey Kahne is in seventh and by lap 132, Smoke has made it up to eighth place. For those who don't know about brake heat, Tim Brewer gives us a techsplanation of why the tire beads melt.

Lap 140 and Smoke is now in seventh, after being slowed a little by Bobby Labonte's lapped Dodge, but he gets around Burton with little problem. I would say Kahne is now in sixth place, but I can't see during the commercial break. We'll just assume that's where he is by now.

We have seen a lot of drivers on various missions so far, and with so many with a mission, it is surprising that the only incident bringing out a caution was the one involving Truex and Allmendinger.

Niw we are seeing that Junior's car isn't all that good. He is getting no traction from the rear wheels, but he is doing what he can, and for Dale Jr, that is a lot. Fans who aren't Dale Jr fans don't realize what this guy can do with what we think of as a "POS" car. We know he is one of the best car control guys in the business.

Stewart says his car is too tight, but still he races and takes sixth from Kasey Kahne. At this point, as the reporters are giving condition run-downs on the top twenty drivers, we wish that ESPN had the video technology TNT demonstrated at the races, because this would be a good race to see the moving camera view. With ESPN we are stuck with either the in car cameras or the stationary cameras around the track.

This is how fast things happen at Bristol. Newman has taken third from Gordon by lap 180, and Stewart has moved into fifth. Jeff Burton has gotten up to sixth. This all happened while the two sentences about video coverage.

Now Newman is challenging Edwards for second, and this is racing through lapped traffic. It looks dangerous, and again, that is Bristol--it is dangerous. To be honest, the commercials make me nervous, because I am certain we are missing something important. We did miss something important, as Jeff Burton ran into problems during the commercial and literally ran into lapped traffic, causing terminal damage to his car. You could say Stewart started a chain reaction, bumping Sterling Marlin to get him out of the way, and I will say, once again, that's typical Bristol. As it happened, the 09 had already been in trouble with the 77, and Stewart had nowhere to go. This was sad for both the 20 and the 31 car who were running so well. Especiall the 31 car which will require extensive repair.

Those who miss the "old Bristol," shouldn't have missed that. We will agree, however, that two cautions in nearly 200 laps is tame for Bristol.

We're just hoping that didn't put an end to Stewart's charge to the front. Kyle Busch comes off the pits retaining the lead, and Edwards maintains second. Again, we are forced to wait for coverage to resume before we can tell you anything else.

Busch restarts first, Newman second, Edwards third, so Newman got to finish what he started before the wreck in the pits. Edwards passes Newman after one lap of green, and Gordon has moved into fourth. Gordon takes third on lap 213. Now, on lap 217 we get the big one.. Kasey Kahne, Sam Hornish, Robby "Hard Luck" Gordon, Casey Mears, Michael Waltrip, and Clint Bowyer, were all involved. Reed Sorenson's car also received damage. It looked like the wreck started with Waltrip getting into Mears, and everybody else was in the wrong place at the wrong time. See? Racing at Bristol hasn't changed that much.

Casey Mears will be going to RCR next season, and has expressed that he is looking forward to the "laid back" atmosphere of Childress' operation. The structured style of HMS is not for him. He blames the accident on his spotter, and seems like he is in a hurry to put his Hendrick career behind him. Mears says that his spotter told him he was clear to his right, and he moved up only to hit the 55 car of Michael Waltrip. He put in a word about this kind of stuff always seems to happen to him. I know this sounds funny now, but it is possible that RCR could do for Mears what JGR has done for Kyle Busch. Just a few thoughts while we are under the red flag.

We are given the opportunity to hear the conversation over Mears' radio and his spotter did tell him he was clear. Then we hear that Mears has amazing self control over his language when he is angry. "Gosh durnit" is the strongest language he used.

Restart on lap 223, Kyle Busch leads. Edwards is second, Jeff Gordon third, Denny Hamlin fourth, and Tony Stewart fifth. Stewart seems to be running well, still and he and Hamlin are both challenging Gordon for third. This is some good racing, thank you ESPN for showing it. Hamlin bumps Gordon to get by him, then Stewart passes under Gordon, his car slides up some and bumps Gordon in the side, taking fourth. Gordon is mad. This is what we wanted to see. Love it! Bristol is definitely back! So is The Gordon. We see revenge on the horizon. We just hope we can keep our optimism and good cheer if Smoke falls victim to Gordon's Revenge. We don't really want it to happen, but it will be big if it does happen. We're still cheering for Smoke, and if Gordon does catch up with Stewart, we could see a pretty good Death Match. Oh yeah, it's 2001 and 2002 all over again!

The guys who have had a lot of patience are getting a good pay-off. Aric Almirola and Jamie McMurray are both running in the top ten. Clint Bowyer actually dodged a bullet on that big one a few laps back and is running eleventh, while Kurt Busch is running tenth. The top five are still Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin. Tony Stewart, and a very purpose and anger driven Jeff "The Gordon" Gordon. Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick are running in sixth and seventh, or the other way around.

This race isn't pegging the Wow Meter, but the needle is staying up toward the top. Lap 281 and it looks like Dave Blaney, who was running in twelfth got caught behind an incident between two other cars, and lost control trying to evade it, hitting the inside wall head on and hard. Another victim of being in Bristol traffic.

How about that move to the flat infield by Kyle Busch to avoid the wreck. How's that for quick reactions and car control?

Uh-oh, this means that Gordon will be right behind Stewart on the restart. Hang in there Smoke, be prepared for something and try to keep control. Both drivers should have their laser sabres fired up. Okay, Gordon comes off of the pit road in third, and Stewart exits in seventh. I wonder if that might have been special strategy on the part of the 20 team to avoid disaster? Still, Stewart will have to meet The Gordon at some point if he wants to win this race. They could just be staying safe to try to finish the race with their points position intact. Just thinking out loud here.

Kyle Busch's team is flawless, and he maintains the lead. and Edwards will restart in second. This is shaping up to be a Busch-Edwards duel, which should keep the media happy.

Denny Hamlin is fourth, Kevin Harvick is fifth, and Ryan Newman is sixth. Stewart is seventh, as mentioned earlier. Clint Bowyer is eighth, Almirola is ninth, and by lap 332, David Ragan has moved into tenth. Tony Raines and David Reutimann are getting jiggy with it back in the pack, and we are getting our beatin' and bangin' fix courtesy of these two and the ESPN camera crew.

Caution for debris, knocked off of the 44 car during the aforementioned beatin' and bangin'. The leaders all pit. Again the 18 team gets Kyle out of the pits first, and Carl Edwards exits second. Great job by the much maligned 24 team as they keep The Gordon in third. Bowyer comes out in sixth, proving the 07 team is on the ball.

Wild restart behind the leaders, and the positions change before we can give the restart positions. Now Carl is challenging Kyle, and it looks like we have a good race going. Carl almost takes the lead on lap 355, but it doesn't stick. He hasn't given up yet and we are seeing some real racing for the lead. Now Carl gets the outside, and should have an advantage, but still doesn't make it stick. Lap 360, and that race is done for now, as Carl falls in behind Kyle. Good show, guys.

Speaking about a good show, Bowyer has done a great job in a car with a damaged suspension, and is running in seventh. Tony Stewart is in eighth. On lap 365 we get a phantom debris caution, as the NASCAR officials apparently liked what they saw while Busch and Edwards were racing early in the run, and wanted to see it again. Strike that, ESPN reports that a truck did go out onto the track to pick up debris.

None of the leaders took tires and Busch and Edwards are putting on a good show again. This is the best racing all night. Earnhardt, Jr looks like he will get his lap back this time, even if he has to race his way back. His car is now good enough to do that.

Almirola stopped for tires, and has made his way into seventh place, by lap 387. Juan Pablo is still serving his purpose as a traveling chicane and is still making it hard for the lead lap drivers to get around. That's entertainment.

96 laps to go and things have settled down a bit, but it should heat up soon. That is unless Edwards and Gordon have decided that they will just give this race to Kyle. The booth bunnies are talking as if this will turn into a fuel mileage race, but we know this wouldn't happen. There will be more cautions. This is just the calm before the storm, we think.

The anticipation is still building. We are really missing the radio play-by-play to keep us informed during the television ads. We just don't know what to do with ourselves during the commercials.

Kyle Busch has been in danger all night long, and has dodged every bullet. He will deserve the win if he gets it. 63 laps to go, and he may do it.

Almirola looks like an old pro staying in the top ten. Good job for that #8 team.

Okay, this is getting nerve-wracking. This close to the end of the race, shouldn't they be finished with the commercials? I mean, this is a short track. The race could be over by the time they get back to race coverage.

And now, we get another debris caution before fuel mileage comes into play. 49 laps to go and everybody will get fuel, most will get tires and some will only take two tires and fuel. I want to know if Junior got the lucky dog here.

Kyle comes onto the track first, Edwards second, Hamlin third, and Jeff Gordon fourth. We are getting close to shoot-out time here. Let's see something happen. Besides a commercial, I mean. 42 laps to go at the restart. Harvick is fifth, and still in contention. Ryan Newman is doing a great job and is still in sixth, and Bowyer is in seventh, while Stewart is in eighth. Another debris caution.

And no, dagnabbit, Junior still doesn't get back on the lead lap. Busch has lapped a lot of cars every stint.

"We" have changed to "I" as I am officially a nervous wreck. This is going to be one heckuva run after the restart with 33 laps to go.

And here they go. Carl is close on Busch's bumper, Busch is really loose, and Carl takes the lead, and they are beatin,' bangin,' bumpin,' and runnin'. Edwards takes the lead, and Hamlin takes second. And here comes Gordon. The front four are pretty close still, so there should still be some more good racing, as Kyle is working hard to get second back from Hamlin. Kyle finally gets second back with 21 laps to go, passing on the high side, and Harvick moves into fourth, also passing Gordon on the high side. Carl is getting away. 17 to go.

Harvick is about to take third. 4 to go, and it looks like we will see another backflip. Kyle is second, Hamlin third, Harvick is fourth, and Gordon is fifth. After the checkers, we see a demonstration of anger by Kyle as he runs into the 99 car. Carl retaliates, this is fun!. Now the fans are happy, because Kyle will be fined and penalized. Oh boy. Drama after the race. Bristol Rules!!!

Final thoughts:

This race gave us everything we expect from Bristol. It was frustrating for the drivers, fun for the fans. Great stuff. Four out of Five Revvin' Rave points!

What Fox missed.

During Sunday's pre-race program on Fox there was an emotional moment as Darrell Waltrip, suffering from laryngitis, was presented with a car that he raced to an undefeated record at Bristol Motor Speedway during his career. That was all well and good, and was emotionally satisfying, but wasn't the big story supposed to be Dale Jarrett's last points race?
Granted, DJ works for a different network than DW, but DW already retired years ago, and Jarrett's retirement was Sunday. Certainly Waltrip deserved the award, but that could have been done at a different time.
I am not usually one to complain about NASCAR on television, but Fox missed out on the big story.
Here is what we missed while watching Fox:

Photo Credit: Fan's photo from the Web, thanks to SF at Racing Nascar

It's all about racin'

Early Sunday morning, in the opening laps of the Australian Gran Prix, the reigning Formula One champion, Kimi Raikonnen, surprised everybody by moving up from his starting position of 15th to 6th place. As it turned out, he was carrying almost a full load of fuel when he accomplished this, because his car was heavier than many of the cars he passed, which made the feat even more amazing. Unfortunately, he was unable to finish the race.
We saw something similar at the beginning of NASCAR's Food City 500 from Bristol Motor Speedway, as Kyle Busch quickly made the front of the field from a starting position of 22nd with a car that wasn't handling all that well. He later spun out, while in the lead, and finished seventeenth, two laps down.
And we saw my favorite driver lead the majority of the laps of the race, driving very carefully and intelligently, for Bristol, only to be caught up in contact with Kevin Harvick's #29 car, spinning out with less then ten laps to go. Once again, as we did watching the Las Vegas race, two weeks ago, Tony Stewart fans went from an inspirational emotional pinnacle to a very depressing low in a matter of seconds.
But that is just racing.
That is just Bristol.
That is what short track racing is all about, and we have to think of that as wonderful.
It was a race where we saw the cars continuously in traffic, no matter what position they were in. The excellent camera positining Fox Sports had to cover the race gave us terrific views of what it was like for the driver to get through the traffic--a very good rendition of the Bristol experience. We saw the continuous battle for position, or to hold a lap, in circumstances that involved every car on the track. And all this was done without restricter-plates. It was pure racing.
And even though we may be unhappy that our driver, no matter who he may be, didn't win, we can be very happy that we saw NASCAR Cup racing at it's best.
Photo Credit: Racing One.com

Bristol: Random thoughts and such

Last August, Bristol Motor Speedway debuted its new configuration with a concrete surface and progressive banking. Then, we saw, for the first time at Bristol, three-wide racing. Since the speedway was first paved, in 1972, "racing" at the "world's fastest half mile" meant a single file of cars moving around the bottom of the track, and the only way to gain position was to move the car in front out of the way, by making contact with the rear bumper and either forcing it to move up the track or spinning it out and off the track.
Now, the chrome horn isn't necessary, and the drivers can race each other side by side, fender to fender, and door to door (if the cars had doors). This is a feature that, after last August's race, was met with mixed reaction by the fans. Most of those who declared the race "the most boring" they have ever seen at Bristol, may have been the same ones who had yet to accept the Sprint Cup car. Or they may just miss the bump and run tactics of days past. However, the new car is not as aero dependent as the old car was, and the old Bristol style would not be the same thing, even if there was still only one groove. For most of the fans, as well as the drivers, the new configuration continues to promise racing that is very exciting for Bristol. The Cup race is, as always sold out, and the fans will not be disappointed.
Sunday's race will be Dale Jarrett's last show in the Cup series. His NASCAR career is one of the best stories in racing, and he is every bit as much a part of NASCAR history as Dale Earnhardt or Darrell Waltrip. Always the sportsman, he usually reacted to being spun out not with anger and retaliation, but with a simple shrug of the shoulders and "that's just racin'."
He participated in the sport with a sense of honor that is all too rare these days. He will be missed.
This could possibly be the last Cup race for Kyle Petty. Though he hasn't announced any intention of stepping out of the series, judging by the fact that he seems to be getting slower instead of faster, and that he will be outside the top 35 provisionals, we may not get very many chances to see him in a Sprint Cup race. He will have to qualify his way into the line up from now on, and. though he may be able to do that, there is nothing to show that he will work his way back into the top thirty-five. The pressure of having to qualify for every race may be too much for him, and it seems likely that he will step aside and find another driver for the #45 car.
But of course, I could be wrong, and Kyle Petty is far from done.
With the cars lining up on the Food City 500, according to last year's owners' points, the chances that Hendrick Motorsports will get their first win of the season at Bristol are pretty good. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are lined up on the front row. While Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, has yet to get a handle on the new car at the intermediate tracks, the short tracks and the Sprint Cup car form a combination with which he has some expertise. However, the HMS team that has the most momentum is Dale Earnhardt, Jr's #88 team. These guys seem to know what they are doing better than the 48 or the 24 team, and Bristol, even with the new pavement and configuration, is Jr's kind of track.

Formula One racing begins it's new season tonight, with the Australian GP at Melbourne. The changes in the cars for this year may be as tumultuous for the regular favorites as the Sprint Cup cars have been to the NASCAR Cup regulars, if not even more. Starting this year, the cars will no longer be allowed to have traction control or engine braking. This is no big deal for polesitter Lewis Hamilton, who has not been in Formula One long enough to get used to those features. Robert Kubica, the young Polish driver who timed BMW/Sauber into the second place on the starting grid, has never driven a car with traction control or engine braking, and Heiki Kovalainen, Hamilton's team mate for McClaren Mercedes, has had less experience with the car than Hamilton.
We see a glimmer of hope that real racing may have returned to Formula One.

Back to NASCAR, Patrick Carpentier did not get a chance to qualify for the race at Bristol due to weather. This is somewhat sad, as we have begun to like the Canadian for his wit, his enthusiasm, and his determination. Last week, he went all out in a death-defying second qualifying lap at Atlanta to make the race. We would have hoped to see him do something similar at Bristol. Now we must wait two weeks for Martinsville, a track that can't get 1/20 as many fans to attend a Cup race as PPIR got to attend a Busch Series race. (I just had to get that in while I had the opportunity.)
Juan Paul Montoya seems to have maintained his enthusiasm for racing in NASCAR. It seems even greater now than it was last year, and his enthusiasm is reflected in the fact that he still sees each race as a new challenge. When asked, on Speed TV's Trackside if he would watch the Australian GP tonight, he said no. "The first lap and the standing start are exciting and that's about it."
We may remember that the main reason Montoya gave for leaving F-1 was that he wanted to get back to real racing.
But we have to wonder why the Speed TV program Trackside even bothers to have guests. Whenever a guest driver, such as JPM, Martin Truex, Jr, or Kasey Kahne, begins to tell a story or answer a question, co-host Darell Waltrip quickly jumps in to tell one of his own stories. We get to hear Waltrip's stories every week and in several online and print publications, and personally, I have heard enough of his stories. He should, in my opinion, either let the guests tell their stories, or the producers should stop wasting DW's time with guests.

Well, I can't think of anything witty to end this post with, so I will wish everybody a happy race weekend, Happy St Patrick's Day, and, to my Wiccan and Pagan friends, Happy Complaining About St Patrick's Day Day.
Meanwhile, "It's Bristol, Baby!"

Catching Up

Getting to my websites has still been pretty difficult for me, but I'm figuring things out. I'll catch up a little here.
Bristol--The CTS race was excellent, and there was some very exciting three wide racing and some good drama--well, good drama is nothing new in the Truck Series. I was pretty impressed by the new configuration.
The Busch Series race also lived up to the anticipation of the new configuration and just the plain old excitement of Bristol. Now, many fans were disappointed in the Formula NASCAR race on Saturday night. Bristol means beatin' and bangin', and we saw very little of that. Compared to the number of cautions we traditionally see, there were hardly any. This was due partly to the new configuration--when you can go three wide you don't have to bump'n'run--and partly to the new cars--when the Formula N cars do make contact, they are harder to spin. Personally speaking, it was thrill enough to see 43 cars averaging over 120 mph on a half-mile track and going three wide at that! I guess I'm pretty adaptable, for as long as I have been a fan, because I find the new configuration at Bristol, and the Formula N car, acceptable, at the very least. Beatin' and bangin' still exists at the other short tracks, and at 'Dega and Daytona. The ol' timer in me misses the Bristol Violence, but the ever earnest race fan in me enjoyed the race no matter what.
The ol' timer in me seriously hates the fact that PPIR is no more--I will never get over it 'cause I don't want to--and I hate that the Labor Day weekend race is at Fontana instead of Darlington. If it isn't boring, the race is anticlimatic after Bristol, no matter what the configuration. Bring back Darlington, or maybe move the Labor day race to IRP (ORP e-i-e-i-o)--that would be interesting, running the NHRA US Nationals and the Formula N Labor Day race simultaneously--or even to Milwaukee or Gateway. Any choice like that would be better than California, wouldn't it? One race at Fontana, and one race at Michigan a year is enough for the 2 mile tracks for one year. There, I said it. There is still a lot of old timer in me.

There's always next week

AP Photo/Wade Payne

I must love racing. The #20 car was running so well during most of the race, there was no way Smoke wasn't going to win the race. Well, there was--the fuel pump failed. If I didn't love racing, there would be a whole string of expletives here that I would have used were I prone to explitives.
If I didn't love racing, that would have been the end of the race for me. But there was no way this race fan was going to be frustrated and dissapointed to the point of changing the channel when there was racing going on all the way around the track. A race at Bristol is one of the most attention grabbing events on the Nextel Cup circuit.
If I had stopped watching after Tony Stewart ran into nothing but hard luck, I would have missed a lot of great racing. Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton--what a show that was! Kyle "The Schrub" Busch is one heck of a racer--he didn't even have the fastest car on the track, but persistence and guile got him to victory lane. It has been interesting to watch one of the wildest drivers in the sport remain one of the wildest drivers, yet become one of the smartest in such a short time in his career. Still, we have to think that if anyone besides Jeff Burton had been racing Busch for the win, Busch would have been bumped and dumped, and it was incredible that Burton sacrificed the win for the sake of sportsmanship. But that's just Jeff Burton. It all goes to show you don't have to be a Schrub fan to appreciate that kind of talent and that kind of win. It was a very close finish--Burton was faster in the drag race to the finish line, but ran out of time.
What is great about NASCAR Nextel Cup racing is the long season. If your driver hasn't done well in the first four races, there are still twenty-two races to go to make up points position before the Chase for the Championship. And, there is always next week. Tony Stewart had a great car for Bristol, and he is saving it for next week, another short track race at Martinsville. Even the fact that Martinsville is a different kind of short track from Bristol--it is very flat, compared to the thirty-three degree banking we saw Sunday--should not deter Stewart, who will dominate any race on any track in a car that is running and handling that well.
So, this early in the season, with so many drivers looking like they're on top of their game, there is plenty to look forward to.
Some other thoughts:
The new car for NASCAR racing really does look like the car NASCAR was running until the mid '90's. Darryl Waltrip has been saying that, but rather than "Car of Yesterday," as DW suggests, how about "Retrocar," at least until it becomes the "Standard Car."
Greg Biffle's bad luck may be over. We just have to hope he didn't pass that luck on to somebody else, namely Tony Stewart. Still, it would be fun this season to be able to say "Da Biff is back," even if he isn't one of our favorite drivers.
I gave up on Performance Radio Network this week. I realize they have to pay the expenses of broadcasting, but everything they say on the radio commentary is an advertisement. They even had commercials at the same time the commercials were on television. Maybe it will be MRN's turn next week, but listening to the race on the AM radio has become frustrating, and was not worth muting and unmuting the TV.
Carl Edwards looked a little out of practice on his celebratory backflip after winning the Busch race at Bristol. The flip was good, but the landing was rough. He's lucky he didn't wreck a knee.
Did Speed TV's Race Day steal my metaphor? Not really, I'm certain I wasn't the first to use the "gladiator" image in describing Bristol racing, and it was probably a coincidence. Still, it makes me wonder if whoever wrote the lead-in for Sunday morning's show reads my blog.
Before she wrecked, in Saturday nights Indy race at Homestead, Danica Patrick was showing us that she is for real. After qualifying badly, the handling of the car improved after several pit stops, and Danica was passing cars on a track where, for the high-powered, light weight-Indy cars, passing is difficult. She made her way up to seventh place, making some very good racing moves on the way, when, on what was to be her last green-flag pit stop, she spun and hit the wall. It was tough luck that could, and has, happened to the best of them.

The racing world lost another hero, Saturday, when NHRA funny car racer Eric Medlen succumbed to injuries he suffered last week while testing a car in Tennessee. Condolences and prayers are given to his family, and his friends, who include John and Ashley Force. Medlen was a driver for John Force Racing, with seven victories, in a too short professional career. He drove for John Force racing.
Meanwhile, life goes on, and onward must we go.

The House of Pain

With an unnatural roar, the Gladiators enter the ring. The crowd greets them with an equal, perhaps even louder roar. Forty-three seasoned fighters join in a free-for-all battle. For each of them, it is all or nothing. Many of the warriors will fall, but they will survive to fight another day, for this is a bloodless battle. They will be battered and bruised, but their resolve for future battles will be hardened.
Not one of the Gladiators will remain untouched during this battle. The crunch of metal against metal, the screeching of stressed equipment--these sounds combine with the tumultuous sounds of the crowd and the warriors to underscore the intensity and violence of the battle. In the end, emerging from the smoke, only one will be crowned Victor.

The Arena is known as Bristol Motor Speedway, near Bristol, Tennessee, also known to racers as Thunder Valley. It is a Mecca of racing on the same scale as Daytona and Darlington. Though a win at Bristol may not be seen as prestigious as a win at the Daytona 500, it is probably much tougher to win. The race car driver is never out of traffic--there is no such thing as "clean air." Aerodynamics are not involved, tires will outlast the green flag runs, and success depends mostly on the skills of the driver.
To attempt to predict the outcome of a race at Bristol is a foolish thing, but "fools rush in where angels fear to tread," and it is too much fun to try to answer the question. "who do'ya think is gonna win?"

Here are the ten drivers whom this writer thinks have the best chance.
Kurt Busch always seems to do well at Bristol. It is the kind of racing he likes, perhaps his favorite kind of racing. His former teammate, Matt Kenseth, can almost always be counted on to finish in the top ten. The statistics can be misleading for Denny Hamlin, because he doesn't have as many starts as most of the other drivers, but he does have the best finishing position to starts ratio among the current drivers at Bristol. "Smoke," aka Tony Stewart has everything it takes to win at Bristol, as does Jeff Gordon. Scott Riggs is going to win a race sometime this season, and his skills seem to fit Bristol fairly well. Greg Biffle needs a change of luck, but he too is a good short track racer, and perhaps that change of luck will come Sunday. Kasey Kahne won his first Cup race--I believe his first NASCAR race, in fact, in the fall of 2005 at Bristol. We have to believe he will remember that, and count him among those with the best chance to win. Dale Earnhardt, Jr knows how to race Bristol. It was the most difficult track for him to learn, but he has learned much at that track, and is almost a Bristol specialist.

The Victor stands tall among the fallen, raising the trophy high above his head, to the great adulation of the crowd. He is tired, but the emotions of the battle are still raging within him.
Counting only on gut feeling, my prediction of that winner is...Kevin Harvick. I can't even tell you why, except to throw in the phrase, "Richard Chilldress Racing." This is RCR's season of dominance, and it is Harvick's turn to carry the standard--at least for a week.
Godspeed to all these Gladiators, and may the best man win.