Bristol Cup Race Thread

[Jonesi]

45 cars on entry list, 2 will DNQ
Top 35 (last race on '08 owners points)
24 JEFF GORDON
33 CLINT BOWYER
2 KURT BUSCH
99 CARL EDWARDS
17 MATT KENSETH
18 KYLE BUSCH
29 KEVIN HARVICK
9 KASEY KAHNE
16 GREG BIFFLE
83 BRIAN VICKERS
--
00 DAVID REUTIMANN
48 JIMMIE JOHNSON
11 DENNY HAMLIN
31 JEFF BURTON
55 MICHAEL WALTRIP
19 ELLIOTT SADLER
1 MARTIN TRUEX JR
26 JAMIE McMURRAY
42 JUAN P MONTOYA
6 DAVID RAGAN
--
96 BOBBY LABONTE
07 CASEY MEARS
88 DALE EARNHARDT JR
12 DAVID STREMME
43 REED SORENSON
47 MARCOS AMBROSE
7 ROBBY GORDON
34 JOHN ANDRETTI
77 SAM HORNISH JR
39 RYAN NEWMAN
--
20 JOEY L0GANO
5 MARK MARTIN
8 ARIC ALMIROLA
82 SCOTT SPEED
98 PAUL MENARD

GOGH
14 TONY STEWART (has Champ Prov)
44 AJ ALLMENDINGER
71 DAVID GILLILAND
28 TRAVIS KVAPIL
36 SCOTT RIGGS
87 JOE NEMECHEK
41 JEREMY MAYFIELD
66 DAVE BLANEY
35 TODD BODINE
09 STERLING MARLIN

[Mark in Oshawa]

I must say, the ole boy wont give up. Second pole in a row and held off a determined Ryan Newman for the pole. Two guys who need good runs and two guys I think most want to see do well and escape the fate of Go or Go Home....

[Jonesi]

Starting grid
5 MARK MARTIN
39 RYAN NEWMAN
48 JIMMIE JOHNSON
16 GREG BIFFLE
9 KASEY KAHNE
00 DAVID REUTIMANN
43 REED SORENSON
66 DAVE BLANEY
26 JAMIE McMURRAY
24 JEFF GORDON
--
82 SCOTT SPEED
47 MARCOS AMBROSE
42 JUAN P MONTOYA
71 DAVID GILLILAND
14 TONY STEWART
35 TODD BODINE
28 TRAVIS KVAPIL
8 ARIC ALMIROLA
18 KYLE BUSCH
1 MARTIN TRUEX JR
--
55 MICHAEL WALTRIP
19 ELLIOTT SADLER
20 JOEY L0GANO
11 DENNY HAMLIN
77 SAM HORNISH JR
44 AJ ALLMENDINGER
83 BRIAN VICKERS
87 JOE NEMECHEK
12 DAVID STREMME
29 KEVIN HARVICK
--
33 CLINT BOWYER
2 KURT BUSCH
17 MATT KENSETH
88 DALE EARNHARDT JR
7 ROBBY GORDON
96 BOBBY LABONTE
07 CASEY MEARS
99 CARL EDWARDS
34 JOHN ANDRETTI
31 JEFF BURTON
--
6 DAVID RAGAN
98 PAUL MENARD
09 STERLING MARLIN

DNQ
36 SCOTT RIGGS
41 JEREMY MAYFIELD

[Fred Basset]

Has there ever been a more boring race at Bristol? That re-surface may of made it 2 wide, but it took away the entertainment factor.

[willracefan]

bristol is over with now, time for harvick to find a replacement track and a crew chief as well. toad strikes again.

[harvick#1]

just wait for the night race, since its too close to the chase, everyone is afraid to race the event. but the resurface job killed the track. sure theres passing, but for 15th on back.

[harvick#1]

bristol is over with now, time for harvick to find a replacement track and a crew chief as well. toad strikes again.

umm, Harv was caught up in a chain reaction crash that destroyed the right side of the car, then a tire blew

[Fred Basset]

At least jnr finished in one of his highest positions all year :laugh:

[Jonesi]

At least jnr finished in one of his highest positions all year :laugh:

14th, 5th of 6 Hendrick cars/motors at least he beat Stewart.

[willracefan]

umm, Harv was caught up in a chain reaction crash that destroyed the right side of the car, then a tire blew




exactly why did todd have to bring him down pit road after that first caution. kevin's car usually isnt good on restarts so i think it was not a smart move to come down pit road only to have waltrip hit him.

whatever i'm not watching nascar anymore until i hear about a harvick win. i'm sick of seeing drivers i dont like win.

[willracefan]

also i noticed harvick was moving up before that first caution.

[colinspooky]

I thought the race was pretty good - plenty of passing - hard driving. Maybe the bringers of doom wanted a crash fest? :p

[Fred Basset]

No.. we actually wanted the "real" Bristol. A bit liike how they advertise it with all those spare tickets they had to sell..

[colinspooky]

No.. we actually wanted the "real" Bristol. A bit liike how they advertise it with all those spare tickets they had to sell..


You confuse the heck out of me. What was the "real" Bristol. When there was only one lane round the whole track? Had to bump and run every pass? Slower? :confused:

Spare tickets? Yes, there is a recession. Lots of people losing their homes and jobs - sport always suffers. It's a shame - but I don't think you can blame an entire sport for that.

And what does "a bit like how they advertise it" mean? :confused:

Utterly baffled..... :(

[Fred Basset]

You confuse the heck out of me. What was the "real" Bristol. When there was only one lane round the whole track? Had to bump and run every pass? Slower? :confused:

Spare tickets? Yes, there is a recession. Lots of people losing their homes and jobs - sport always suffers. It's a shame - but I don't think you can blame an entire sport for that.

And what does "a bit like how they advertise it" mean? :confused:

Utterly baffled..... :(

Dear Utterly baffled...
Yeah , the "real" Bristol.. not the watered down crap we were fed yesterday and as for the ad on tv.. yeah it wasn't as advertised. I have no intention of explaining any more though as i always seem to go round and round in circles with you

[willracefan]

please lets not blame the economy here, the fans just dont like what's on the track these days and winning. i mean the ratings are going down, people cant afford fox on local tv?

[Fred Basset]

there were "walk up" tickets for sale at Bristol for as little as $25..anyone can afford that.. its not the economy

[muggle not]

Come on guys, common sense tells you that the ticket is a small part of the price for going to a race. When the economy gets back on its feet, assuming it does, we will see more seats filled. Same for all sports, not only Nascar.

In the meantime Nascar is doing pretty well.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Has there ever been a more boring race at Bristol? That re-surface may of made it 2 wide, but it took away the entertainment factor.


Here's a clue Fred. Watch wrecks on Youtube. Bristol now has side by side racing the way a good track should. It also doesn't have 5 hours of TV chewed up because we would have 22 cautions and 111 laps under yellow. Nothing more exciting than watching the cars follow the pace car every 4 minutes....

Bristol had some good side by side stuff, some bumping and grinding. That said, a guy can pass there now. No skill except being a dork was required to bump and run all night. If knocking the hell out of someone is racing, then you can go to the demo derby.

[Fred Basset]

Yeah Mark, thats true.. but its not "Bristol" that the fans know and love..

Its like taking "Eau Rouge" out of Spa in F1 and sticking a roundabout in there instead :laugh:

[wedge]

Bristol today is now the short track that drives like a superspeedway. Racing at Bristol is now like racing at a mini-Michigan.

It's just isn't the same anymore.

Damn, I feel old and I'm not even 30 yet....

[slorydn1]

umm, Harv was caught up in a chain reaction crash that destroyed the right side of the car, then a tire blew


Yep, u r right on here, however, I am kind of scratching my head as to why they pitted when they did after the lap 27 caution...
Harvick said the car was just a little too free off, but that the car was basicly good (usually he will say he is way loose if he doesn't like how the car rotates up off the corner). He also said "whatever you do, don't hurt the car through the center." So, Todd tells him to pit, and everyone around him takes two tires, he starts to debate wether to take 2 or 4, right up until Kevin is in the stall, then decides on taking 4. They added only 0.3 lbs to the right front and took 0.2 lbs out of the right rear. Race restarts on lap 32, caution back out on lap 33 (when lap down andretti dumped the 2nd place car! too soon to figure out if the change helped. Race restarted on lap 38, and just 9 laps later Kevin exclaimed (WAAAAAY TOOO TIGHT....We are in deep sh*t, boys)
Even with that he still fought his way back up to 26th when on lap 59 Mikey ran out of talent at Bristol, again.
Harvick was basicly done after that.

What I don't get is Mikey's total lack of remorse (oh well, my spotter cleared me so I just went up and the 64 was there). Later in the race when kevin was still just 1 lap down and was fighting to hold onto the lucky dog (until Busch started lapping the field again Billy, who rarely makes a mistake, cleared Harvick high when he wasn't. Did Kevin move up and cream they guy who had a nose in outside? Nope, he checked for himself and saw he wasn't clear, then asked Billy if they needed to get another spotter just for turn 4 because Billy obviously see that part of the track well enough to clear him. Its called the driver actually DRIVING the car, not the spotter.....

I belive Kevin would have had a descent day if not for Mikey's screw up, yes, I do. But he never should have been back there to start with.

Kevin's best quote of the day was "we lost this race on Friday.....We got what we deserved, I guess..."

For those who didn't get to see friday's practice, Kevinm got just one lap of practice in before Qualifying because they put an untested setup under the car to try to get the pole, because they thought they had a car good enough to do that with (at least the enigineers thought so). It took the whole practice to diagnose that it was the setup, not the steering box, that was causing the steeering to lock up (his one timed lap was almost 20 seconds!!!!!!)

SO they guessed an and threw last years qualifying set up under it and qualed 30th. So, they lost on the race on Friday.....

[Mark in Oshawa]

Yeah Mark, thats true.. but its not "Bristol" that the fans know and love..

Its like taking "Eau Rouge" out of Spa in F1 and sticking a roundabout in there instead :laugh:


I tihnk people wanted to see the fastest car actually drive around people. The way it was before, you just kept shoving people into the wall until you got the lead.

If you had a race that close as far as fender to fender racing goes on a one mile or 1.5 mile, no one would complain.

Bristol put in the new banking to try to make it more of a race than a demo derby. I don't think much of the character of the place has changed radically but it has taken away the constant wreck fest. Some like it....but I was bored with that. There are still wrecks and tempers to flare there and at Martinsville. They manage to get nasty with each other. We don't need a one groove race track....

[colinspooky]

Here's a clue Fred. Watch wrecks on Youtube. Bristol now has side by side racing the way a good track should. It also doesn't have 5 hours of TV chewed up because we would have 22 cautions and 111 laps under yellow. Nothing more exciting than watching the cars follow the pace car every 4 minutes....

Bristol had some good side by side stuff, some bumping and grinding. That said, a guy can pass there now. No skill except being a dork was required to bump and run all night. If knocking the hell out of someone is racing, then you can go to the demo derby.


Thank goodness for that - thought I was the only one. I am convinced there are people here who just don't like this sport anymore, which is fair enough - freedom of speech and such. But one thing remains odd - why bother watching and then bitching about it not being the old days. Move on, and watch another form of motorsport. Simples....

:rolleyes:

[Oli_M]

I actually thought it was a really good race. Possibly the best of the season.... IMO anyway.

You actually saw passes for the lead on track, not just on pit row, and cars could actually pass each other all through the field. Pretty much everything I want from a NASCAR race really......

[colinspooky]

I actually thought it was a really good race. Possibly the best of the season.... IMO anyway.

You actually saw passes for the lead on track, not just on pit row, and cars could actually pass each other all through the field. Pretty much everything I want from a NASCAR race really......


Cool - so there ARE more of us still interested in actual racing - not some misguided non-existent nostalgia.

[wedge]

Yes, you can now race and use the high groove but Bristol has lost some of its soul.

It was a race track with a single groove but still able to produce close racing, not the aero push induced borefest on the cookie cutter 1.5 milers.

If Monaco was widened like any Tilke track in F1 then the same magic is lost. You have to have tracks where some are easy to pass some harder to pass and yet still produce close racing.

[Fred Basset]

Cool - so there ARE more of us still interested in actual racing - not some misguided non-existent nostalgia.

Your not interested in the nostalgia of Bristol? wow.. you have a lot to learn.. thats POTD material right there

[colinspooky]

If Monaco was widened like any Tilke track in F1 then the same magic is lost.



Monaco should should have been scrapped years ago - cars just too big now.

Just money keeping it there

That of course doesn't mean all the other tracks are ok - they're not - but at least at Bristol cars went past each other.

I am still not sure why you would think Bristol has lost its soul and is now dull.

[wedge]

Monaco should should have been scrapped years ago - cars just too big now.

Just money keeping it there

You could say the same thing about Darlington......


I am still not sure why you would think Bristol has lost its soul and is now dull.

Never said it was dull.

It's lost its unique character. Much easier to pass now when in the old days you were stuck bumper to bumper and had to muscle your way past.

[Fred Basset]

Thank You Wedge re Bristol!

read any legit Nascar forum over here right now and they're saying that Bristol has sold its soul.. and it has :(

But i can not agree with you over Darlington, been there 3 times in the last 4 years and that track rocks!! Just be sure to bring your grill for grilling with after, as you'll never leave that place in a hurry!

[Lee Roy]

I like the new surface at Bristol.

If Bristol is losing fans because there aren't as many wrecks, then I think that is a very good thing. If people were just tuning in, or attending the race, because of the number or wrecks, then as a long time NASCAR fan (first attended a NASCAR race in 1968), I say GOOD RIDDANCE, YOU ARE AN EMBARASSMENT TO US LONG TIME NASCAR FANS.

May I recommed demoliltion derbies.

[colinspooky]

But i can not agree with you over Darlington, been there 3 times in the last 4 years and that track rocks!!




Good God, we agree on something? :D

[wedge]

But i can not agree with you over Darlington, been there 3 times in the last 4 years and that track rocks!! Just be sure to bring your grill for grilling with after, as you'll never leave that place in a hurry!

There is no way in hell would I dare diss Darlington!

You've mis-read my quote. Colin was dissing Monaco but I was using Darlington as an analogy - apart from glamour, both tracks too tough to tame; great history; Colin claims its just money keeping Monaco on the F1 calender, you can use the same argument with Darlington.

[Fred Basset]

There is no way in hell would I dare diss Darlington!

You've mis-read my quote. Colin was dissing Monaco but I was using Darlington as an analogy - apart from glamour, both tracks too tough to tame; great history; Colin claims its just money keeping Monaco on the F1 calender, you can use the same argument with Darlington.

Thats ok, i read your post maybe 4 times thinking i must be reading this wrong but it had been a long day :D

Great track and great racing but some of the weirdest people on the planet that go there :up:

[Lee Roy]

BTW for the noobies. Bristol was not always a high-banked track that induced wreck-fests instead of races. Some of us, who've been around for a while, are happy that Bristol has gone back to being a track where you can have a proper race, like it was many moons ago.

[willracefan]

the problem was who won the race and how the usual contenders there didnt do well.