Here’s the scoop on this week’s stop on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit. Today, you’ll get the run down on Bristol Motor Speedway: it’s history, the record holders, track information, and even a primer on NASCAR terminology. A must for history buffs, trivia fanatics and fantasy players.
Make sure you bring a helmet and pads for this week’s race. The bullring at Bristol offers full contact, door bangin’, track poundin’, old school racin’.
What?: The Food City 500- a 500 lap, 266.5 mile race. The 5th of the NASCAR Sprint Cup’s 36 races on the 2009 schedule.
Where?: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee. A place often referred to as “Thunder Valley.”
When?: March 22, 2009. TV Time- 1:30 PM Eastern, 10:30 AM Pacific. Green Flag start- 2:00 PM Eastern, 11:00 AM Pacific.
TV Broadcast: Presented by FOX. Hosted by Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond. Race call by Mike Joy, Larry Mc Reynolds and Darrell Waltrip.
TRACK DIMENSIONS
Track Length: .533 miles
Race Length: 500 Laps
Grandstand Seating Capacity: 160,000
Banking: Turns vary from 26 to 30 degrees, front stretch varies from 5 to 9 degrees, back stretch from 4 to 8 degrees.
Front Stretch: 650 feet
Back Stretch: 650 feet
TRACK RECORDS
Jeff Burton is the defending champion of the Food City 500. He led a Richard Childress 1-2-3 finish- ahead of teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer.
First Race: Volunteer 500 on July 30, 1961.
First Winner: Driver/owner Jack Smith in a Pontiac.
All-Time Winner in Cup racing: Darrell Waltrip has 12 overall wins. Ol’ D.W. won 7 in a row between 1981 and 1984. Dale Earnhardt, Rusty Wallace and Cale Yarborough each won 9 victories at BMS.
Active Wins Leaders: Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon have 5 wins each.
The Most Poles?: Cale Yarborough won the pole 9 times. Active pole leader is Mark Martin with 7.
The Fastest Qualifier: Ryan Newman turned a qualifying lap of 14.908 seconds or 128.709 miles per hour in a Dodge on March 21, 2003.
Race Record: Run by Charlie Glotzbach in the July 11, 1971 Volunteer 500. His speed? 101.074 miles per hour in a time on 2 hours, 38 minutes and 12 seconds.
Most Lead Changes: 40- April 14, 1991 in the Valleydale Meats 500.
Fewest Lead Changes: 0- Cale Yarborough led the 1973 Southeastern 500 from flag-to-flag on March 25, 1973.
Fewest Cautions: No yellows waved in the July 11, 1971 Volunteer 500.
Most Cautions: 20, on 3 occasions. The most recent being the 2003 Sharpie 500 on August 23, 2003.
25 Drivers finished on the lead lap in the March 25, 2001 running of the Food City 500.
7 finished on the lead lap in the March 20, 1966 Southeastern 500.
TRACKSIDE TALK
Kurt Busch is getting more than 15 minutes of fame thanks to a week off following his win in Atlanta. The recent outrageous statements by track owner Bruton Smith are dying down, as is the talk about “Tiregate”- the unfortunate error by gas man Jimmy Watts from the team of Marcos Ambrose to run out to a loose tire in the AMS infield.
There’s an ever increasing sense that Jeff Gordon is drawing ever-nearer to his first win since Martinsville in the fall of 2007.
After this race, the top 35 will be based on this year’s standings. Some racers sitting perilously close to NASCAR’s “Mendoza Line” are the legendary Mark Martin, ballyhooed rookies Joey Logano and Scott Speed, and Ryan Newman- a pretty reiable top 15 guy most of his career.
Just a opinion- The Cup seasons need to get off to better starts. If it were up to me, I;d run this race after Daytona, along with some of the other old school tracks like Martinsville and maybe even Richmond and Darlington after the Great American Race. If you have a good Daytona, it builds momentum to get the season off to a better start that generates more in the way of positive buzz. If the race isn’t so great, you know that more than a few of these tracks will provide better racing than what is offered at Auto Club or Atlanta for that matter.
NASCAR TERMINOLOGY
Roof flaps- I’ll never forget the NASCAR promo with the guy and his comb-over flapping in the breeze. These were developed in 1994 to help a car from going airborne when it gets spun around.
Flat-out- A slang term for racing a car as fast as possible under the given weather and track conditions.
Flywheel- A heavy metal rotating wheel that is part of the race car’s clutch system, used to keep elements such as the crank shaft turning steadily.
