by Jonathan Lintner  |  About The Author   |  Discuss

The impending mayhem happening this weekend at Bristol won’t be the mind numbing, gut wrenching, teeth clenching racing every NASCAR fan wants to see.  Instead, it will be like last year’s 500 lap anticlimactic thriller where Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne led over 95% of the laps.

But that’s just fine, and here’s why.  Picture scenic Bristol Motor Speedway: the lights are on, flashbulbs popping, and two stylishly painted stock cars are racing side by side – for the lead.  Yes, side by side.  Think about it for 16 seconds.  That’s the time its taken for that battle to heat up more and more, making the drivers truly push the envelope, just not each other.

It’s no longer the game of tag where Subject A puts the Bristol Stomp on Subject B, sending them up the track to get freight trained by 12 of his closest friends before forcing his way back into the conveyor belt of madness.  Some people like that.  Some people also need to open their eyes.

“It’s funny because the tracks the drivers say they enjoy the most are tracks where we have options and we can pass. Typically they are tracks that the fans aren’t too receptive to,” Jimmie Johnson said.

The racing seen now at Bristol is a marvel of technology.  Progressive banking is allowing unforeseen acts to occur.  The little concrete bowl nestled in a small Tennessee valley can now be known more for its fantastic racing than its bump and grind messes.

"Bristol used to be a one-groove race track where it was a little bit of Russian roulette. But now, we've got multiple grooves and I love it. I think the racing is three times better,” four time Cup champion Jeff Gordon said.

“Crashes don't happen as much. You're still going to see them but not as often as you used to. When it was a one-groove track, drivers would get frustrated with the car in front of them and just take them out. And that's not racing, in my opinion - it's more bumper-cars.”

Let’s add another reason to list of why the new Bristol absolutely annihilates the old one.  The year is 2006, and the date is August 26.  The Nextel Cup Series was prepared to show the fans some carnage that night, and it didn’t happen.  Instead, 39 cars finished the race.  The field became spread out enough to slide two pieces of paper between every car instead of the normal one, and people were bored.  Mind you, this was the old Bristol.

Fans blamed the Chase for the Cup, but just like a movie that gets old the 15^th time, stereotypical Bristol racing was over with..  Sometimes guys just don’t want to tear each other up.  The “dig for every spot” mentality was probably outgrown by a big group of professionals sick of risking it all twice a year.

Now Bruton Smith and Speedway Motorsports give drivers a place where they can race, Chase or no Chase.  It’s safe to fly a car into the corner right next to the wall.  It’s also fast enough to keep up with the low line.  But some things about Bristol are always going to stick.

“Things just happen a lot quicker there and they really have to look ahead because we are all stacked on top of each other. There can be a crash in Turn 3 while you’re coming out of Turn 2 and you can get caught up in the accident in a matter of seconds,” David Reutimann said.

So now, a challenge to the viewer.  Watch Bristol a different way than you normally would.  Monitor the aggressiveness of Chase contenders when they near each other.  Take notice of the multiple racing lines, how cars are handling, and who is actually making time through the field because they have room to do so.

“From a driver’s standpoint, Bristol is much more enjoyable now than it’s ever been. You can really race people, try different lines, explore around the track, and explore set-ups. So I like the challenges that Bristol gives us now, but it’s because I can control my own destiny,” Johnson said.

The crashes aren’t coming, so don’t wait for them.  See the race for what it is, and that’s 43 cars flying around a half mile in 16 seconds.  But this time around we’ll need two blankets to cover the field.  One for the low line, and one up high.

You can contact Jonathan at jlintner@gmail.com

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