The concrete surface at Bristol Motor Speedway was re-done over the summer of 2007, with variable banking added in the already steeply-banked corners.
The change ultimately changed the form of racing at the legendary bull ring from single groove knock-em-to-pass-em racing to multi-groove, pass-em-high-or-low racing. Or, that change was in effect until the final restart on Sunday during the waning laps of the Food City 500 when Kevin Harvick body slammed Tony Stewart in to the wall. Watch below:
Harvick took blame for the accident as he should have. Stewart -- who is on probation -- was awkwardly calm though he got flat taken out by Harvick.
For the past three seasons at Bristol Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart has led a combined 769 laps during the famed short-track's springtime races.
And for the past three seasons, Stewart has walked away without so much as a lump in his throat about "what could have been."
The No. 20 has led 51.3% of all Food City 500 laps in the past three years but has only managed an average finish of 20th thanks to horrible luck or on-track incidents.
Sunday, Stewart had the familiar Bristol swagger going throughout much of the race and even showed plenty of patience in letting cars by him at times. Towards the end, it was shaping up to be a great finish with Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and Denny Hamlin.
If you would have told Jeff Burton with ten laps left during Sunday's Food City 500 the directions to victory lane, he would have probably looked at you like you were crazy.
Burton, though, with a strange set of circumstances ended up needing those directions to Bristol Motor Speedway's victory lane.
With 15 laps to go, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and Denny Hamlin were shaping up for a three-way battle for the lead when Brian Vickers cut a tire on his No. 83 Toyota and slammed the turn 3 wall, bringing out a caution.
Stewart, Hamlin, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. stayed out as the rest of the lead-lap cars -- including Harvick and Burton -- dove to pit road for fresh tires. On the restart with 5 laps to go, Stewart jumped out to a lead before Hamlin caught him and drove past.
What: Food City 500 Where: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee When: Sunday, March 16, 1:30p/ET on FOX (Green Flag 2:00p/ET) Distance: 500 laps, 250 miles Weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 53. North wind around 10 mph. 2007 Winner: Kyle Busch Predictions: Keep Reading
With Dale Jarrett racing in his final points-paying NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway, plenty of memories come flooding back about his storied NASCAR career.
The top of that list? The "Dale and Dale Show" from the 1993 Daytona 500. Watch below as his father, Ned Jarrett, calls his son (Green No. 18 car) to victory past Dale Earnhardt and others -- and try not to smile as he crosses the finish line.
That moment, with Ken Squier stepping out of his role in CBS booth in play-by-play to allow Ned to seemingly instruct his son to victory in the sport's biggest event, is definitely one of the tops in Daytona 500.
Saturday's 300-lapper started nearly two hours later after thunderstorms rumbled through the Tri-Cities of northeastern Tennessee just following Sprint Cup Series final practice. The race finally got underway just past 4:30pm/ET.
171 laps -- 21 past halfway -- were completed before more rain drenched the track. NASCAR wanted to restart the event, but the rain showers wouldn't stop.
The victory was Bowyer's sixth-career Nationwide Series win.
Kasey Kahne was visibly upset when the rain brought the cars to pit road on lap 171 saying that he "pretty much blew that." Kahne had been all over the rear bumper of Bowyer's No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet for many laps, but wanted to make the pass clean.
Denny Hamlin led early until a flat-tire forced him to pit road on lap 37 and Martin Truex Jr. got tapped by David Ragan off of turn 2, spun into turn 3, and was clipped by Kyle Busch very early in the event. Both Truex and Busch were knocked out of the race.
And yes, there apparently were some Nationwide Series regulars in the event, with Brad Keselowski finishing 4th.
Thankfully, NASCAR was able to get a majority of its schedule completed Saturday afternoon despite the heavy threat of rain. The forecast for Sunday's Food City 500 looks sunny and clear.
Jimmie Johnson will start out front for the second time in 2008 because of rain.
Bristol Motor Speedway was hit with several rain showers Friday afternoon that first delayed practice and finally canceled Sprint Cup and Nationwide qualifying.
Johnson started on the pole of the season's first race at Daytona, at California because of rain, and now at Bristol -- leaving Atlanta and Las Vegas as the two tracks Johnson didn't start out front in.
The lineup for Sunday's Food City 500 was set based on owner points at the end of the 2007 season in addition to a myriad of other processes for non-Top 35 drivers. Missing the race were Jeff Green, John Andretti, and Patrick Carpentier.
Saturday's schedule at Bristol looks even worse for practice and racing. Rain is possible before 2pm/ET and is highly likely (including heavy downpours) after that.
I'll be surprised if NASCAR gets most of their scheduled show in on Saturday, though Sunday's forecast looks much more promising.
Bristol Motor Speedway announced this week that beginning with the Food City 500 race weekend in March, all events -- at the speedway and dragway -- will be smoke-free in accordance with Tennessee state law.
NASCAR fans will now be limited in their smoking arrangements, with grandstands, terraces, suites, and restrooms off-limits for those who want to light up. The concourses below the grandstands will, though, still allow smoking in the area.
BMS is following along with the recent "Non-Smoker Protection Act" legislation in the Tennessee state government that prohibits smokig in sports arenas.
While some may argue that smoking is a right, I'd argue that because I'm not a fan of lighting it up, this is a good measure. I'm just not the biggest fan of inhaling smoke though I've certainly dealed with it in the past. A minor inconvenience for some for the health of all?
Sounds good to me.
(Feel free to let me know if you won't be heading to Bristol anymore because you can't smoke, I'll gladly buy your tickets) Monster Mile Building 46-foot Monster Statue
A few years ago, Dover International Speedway started handing out race-winner trophies with "Miles", a fictional monster who has a penchant for destroying race cars that goes along with the 1-mile concrete track's nickname of the "Monster Mile".
The Thunder Valley production team has put together another cool video for fans--this one of the skydiver flying the American flag into "The Last Great Colosseum."
It's not your typical Bristol Motor Speedway video feature set to rockin' music like "Thunderstruck." That would have drowned out the wind ... the silence ... and the anticipation.
Now if they can just keep the racing exciting in the COT ...
So much for better racing at Bristol--it wasn't anything better than B-O-R-I-N-G. At least not for the fans. And I certainly don't think the Thunder Valley promo masters got any new footage for their usually fantastic commercials.
The new surface made for easier passing, which meant no more beatin' and banging your way by. Passing was so much easier, that green flag passes during Saturday night's Sharpie 500 more than doubled that of the spring race at Bristol – from 991 to 2,147.
Tony Stewart: "Guys were running over each other to pass each other. It's the most fun I've had at Bristol in my career. I can't give it a better grade than an A-plus."
Unfortunately, it wasn't any fun for the fans. All that passing amounted to only two drivers leading 487 of 500 laps. A huge snoozefest for millions of fan who've been anticipating the excitement of Bristol night race all season long.
Clint Bowyer
Jimmie Johnson will start out front for the second time in 2008 because of rain.
This isn't going to go over well.
The 
