Classic Bristol doesn't mean good race and the Irwin Tools Night race was classic Bristol, but a bad race. Where was the passing?
As the buzz still continues to be centered around the "entertainment" that was the Irwin Tools Night Race last Saturday night. I've been thinking about this race all week long and I've actually have a unique prospective if you will.
I see this as 2012, the tale of two different races at Bristol Motor Speedway that saw a big difference between what Bristol fans want to see and what NASCAR fans including me want to see at the famous bullring.
On one hand, you had the 2012 Spring race at Bristol with the progressive banking that was filled with plenty of passing, lead changes and action all day long from the bottom grove to the top grove.
Of course there is always room for improvement and I believe that that race under the lights on Saturday night with a better Goodyear tire would have improved the racing even more while still having plenty of passing. The Spring race in my book was a good race to say the least. Its what Bristol should be known for.
But one the other hand, after SMI decided that fans weren't happy and made a drastic move to bring back the old Bristol racing from before 2007 by resurfaced the top grove, grinding down the progressive banking, the classic August Saturday night race under the light changed in fact into the old Bristol.
And the end result was what fans saw last Saturday night in the Irwin Tools Night Race, the old Bristol of racing on a one-grove racetrack, but instead of that grove being on the bottom, it ended up being on the top grove with drivers having to drive single file around the top of the racetrack on a thin grove. In other words, they created the short-track version of Talladega Superspeedway and demolition derby if you will.
Sorry Bristol Motor Speedway, but you went from good races with the progressive banking that featured plenty of passing and action in the Spring race to a single-file race with drivers racing along the top grove with very little passing, yes a demolition derby in the classic August night race.
Sure there was a few classic moments in the race including Tony Stewart getting wrecked by Matt Kenseth and then Smoke throwing his helmet at Kenseth's car, Danica Patrick getting wrecked and then letting Regan Smith know it and more. But it was still a bad race. I really hope the Bristol fans are happy with the old Bristol and single-file racing. What a disappointment.
Just one thing, I wonder if having the old Bristol back will do what the changes were suppose to do, bring fans back to the grandstands?
Well, last Saturday night didn't change much as I saw the same amount of fans that the speedway had in August 2011. Back as for next April, who knows. I know one thing, if NASCAR and Bristol want any shot at coming close to selling out Bristol twice in 2013, the races need to be both Saturday night, under the lights races and fans need major help with the very expensive hotel rooms. Otherwise come next April, there will most likely be 110k fans in the grandstands again.
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| (Photo Credit: Wikipedia - Bristol Motor Speedway) |
I see this as 2012, the tale of two different races at Bristol Motor Speedway that saw a big difference between what Bristol fans want to see and what NASCAR fans including me want to see at the famous bullring.
On one hand, you had the 2012 Spring race at Bristol with the progressive banking that was filled with plenty of passing, lead changes and action all day long from the bottom grove to the top grove.
Of course there is always room for improvement and I believe that that race under the lights on Saturday night with a better Goodyear tire would have improved the racing even more while still having plenty of passing. The Spring race in my book was a good race to say the least. Its what Bristol should be known for.
But one the other hand, after SMI decided that fans weren't happy and made a drastic move to bring back the old Bristol racing from before 2007 by resurfaced the top grove, grinding down the progressive banking, the classic August Saturday night race under the light changed in fact into the old Bristol.
And the end result was what fans saw last Saturday night in the Irwin Tools Night Race, the old Bristol of racing on a one-grove racetrack, but instead of that grove being on the bottom, it ended up being on the top grove with drivers having to drive single file around the top of the racetrack on a thin grove. In other words, they created the short-track version of Talladega Superspeedway and demolition derby if you will.
Sorry Bristol Motor Speedway, but you went from good races with the progressive banking that featured plenty of passing and action in the Spring race to a single-file race with drivers racing along the top grove with very little passing, yes a demolition derby in the classic August night race.
Sure there was a few classic moments in the race including Tony Stewart getting wrecked by Matt Kenseth and then Smoke throwing his helmet at Kenseth's car, Danica Patrick getting wrecked and then letting Regan Smith know it and more. But it was still a bad race. I really hope the Bristol fans are happy with the old Bristol and single-file racing. What a disappointment.
Just one thing, I wonder if having the old Bristol back will do what the changes were suppose to do, bring fans back to the grandstands?
Well, last Saturday night didn't change much as I saw the same amount of fans that the speedway had in August 2011. Back as for next April, who knows. I know one thing, if NASCAR and Bristol want any shot at coming close to selling out Bristol twice in 2013, the races need to be both Saturday night, under the lights races and fans need major help with the very expensive hotel rooms. Otherwise come next April, there will most likely be 110k fans in the grandstands again.
