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(Prepared Specially for NASCAR_Nation)

What’s Next- The Food City 500, Bristol, Tennessee, Sunday, March 16, 2008, 2:20 p.m. EDT, 11:20 Pacific, Broadcast on FOX.

Track History- This is a .533 mile oval track affectionately known as a “bull ring” or short track with 36-degree banking in the turns and 16 degree banking on the straights. The track surface is concrete, though it started out as an asphalt track.

The first NASCAR race ran here on July 30, 1961. Jack Smith took the checkered flag that day. In the last race ran here, Carl Edwards won on August 25, 2007.Kyle Buschwon the first 2007 race, when the “Car of Tomorrow” made its debut. Shrub will be remembered for saying he thought the car sucked.

Flyin’ Ryan Newman owns the qualifying record at the “Volunteer State” track with a time of 14.908 seconds on March 21, 2003. Cale Yarborough has earned the most poles with 9.

The immortal Charlie Glotzbach ran the fastest race at Bristol Motor Speedway with a speed of 101.074 m.p.h. (2 hr. 38 min. 12 sec.) on July 11, 1971.

20 caution flags flew at Bristol in the Spring of 2003, 0 flew on July 11, 1971.

Many of the issues currently facing NASCAR revolve around change. There’s been a lot of change going on this decade from the Chase to the ”Car of Tomorrow”. Issues like this and controversies over the “Lucky Dog” and invasion of open wheel drivers to stock car racing’s top level have pitted long time fans versus NASCAR leadership and a newer wave of fans who may be fewer in number.

It is a popular notion among NASCAR traditionalists that the sport is pure American with a particular emphasis on the southern U.S. When you consider that NASCAR was Florida born and its top legends from places like North Carolina, Alabama and the Sunshine State- you’d tend to agree. These same traditionalists have tended to cringe at the building of new tracks throughout the North and West, and they, as a general rule, are not fans of West Coasters such as Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Adding to the angst is the presence of a foreign manufacturer (Toyota), and a flood of drivers from foreign lands with names like Franchitti and Carpentier who used to drive funny looking race cars.

Many traditionalists will argue such events are ruining NASCAR, taking it away from its roots. Some will tell you that your dad’s NASCAR was just fine without all of this, and they point to falling TV ratings and ticket sales as evidence to their point. You can imagine the delight of some when owner Bill Davis replaced former open wheeler Jacques Villenueve with Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner on an indefinite basis after the Canadian failed to qualify for the Daytona 500. Then, just this week, former open wheeler A.J. Allmendiger’s NASCAR Cup career was put on hold by Team Red Bull.

Such prejudice is short-sighted at best, and downright prejudicial at worst.

First of all, this is not the first time open wheelers have been present in NASCAR. Do names like Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt and Johnny Rutherford ring a bell? They all ran part time NASCAR racing schedules back in the 60s and 70s. In fact, Foyt earned 7 NASCAR victories and even once won the Daytona 500. What about Tony Stewart? He came over from Indy Car racing. J.J. Yeley and A.J. Allmendinger are also just a couple of NASCAR’s drivers of today who have made the switch- so this is nothing new.

Some argue that these drivers, by jumping from IRL and Formula One without rising through the ranks, are depriving up and coming drivers from sitting in a Sprint Cup ride. Oh really! So if the likes of Scott Wimmer or Jason Leffler were truly ready for the big time, wouldn’t they be given full time Cup rides? Well, considering the expense of competing and the need to be as successful as possible, I think it’s safe to say NASCAR car owners will put the most successful fannies in the seats of their cars, even if it’s a 74 year old from Botswana. What’s more- these are not unproven neophytes, but accomplished drivers. There’s a learning curve, but the open wheelers are just as qualified, if not more to master the learning curve. I submit Sam Hornish’s solid run Sunday as evidence of a guy who’s "getting it" quite quickly.

Besides, if our home grown guys are so great, let them prove it on the track against the likes of Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish (an American born Indy champ). Given the pressure and need to make money in this expensive business, the open wheelers will be gone quicker than you can say Patrick Carpentier if they can’t perform.

I know many fans think the sport was just fine the way it is. In this ever change day and age, NASCAR would have stagnated without the growth brought about by the infusion of new blood behind the wheel. No major sport can sustain itself on purely regional support. Just ask the National Hockey League.

NASCAR fans hate it when I compare it to other sports, but what if baseball kept out the Latinos? There’d be no Juan Marichal or Big Papi Ortiz. What if the NBA shut out Europeans? Say good-bye to Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitski. Without the presence of foreign born players, the NFL would be deprived of Christian Okoye and Usi Omenyura. So why should NASCAR be any different?

I, a proud American of conservative political leanings, want to go on record as being supportive of the presence of the open wheel drivers. It’s a great topic for debate and its good for growing the fan base of the support. Think about it. Your favorite driver is someone you relate personally….more than anything else.

Welcome to NASCAR open wheelers…..let’s see what you’ve got.

(A Weekly Special Edition of Bump-Drafts prepared for letsgoracingfans.com)

You could see the race was effectively over on the last two re-starts. Each time, Carl Edwards-in his #99 Dish Network Ford- took off like a scalded jack rabbit to win the UW-Dodge 400. This makes 6 wins for Team Roush at Las Vegas, to go with a pair of victories each by Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth, as well as Mark Martin, who took the #6 to Victory Lane back in 1998.

Roush Racing did themselves proud. Not only was Edwards strong, Kenseth looked good up until the Gordon incident at the end, Greg Biffle finished 3rd, and even David Ragan got in on the fun by edging Kasey Kahne out for 6th. Jack Roush must have some magic in his hat that he uses for Vegas, because his teams are good to the point of making you think that somebody at the “Diamond In The Desert” must owe him a favor or two.

I was just sure this was Kyle Busch’s race to lose, in spite of the fact that no one has ever won from the pole at Sin City. The younger Busch made me look like a prophet for a bit until the handling on his car went south on him late in the race. Edwards ran with the #18 M&M’s Toyota all day, first overtaking Shrub on lap 21. By lap 117, Busch surrendered the lead, and although Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon had good runs- today seemed destined to be a Roush day.

It didn’t look that way at first. Roush driver Jamie Mc Murray almost took flight in the infield after a spin-out and Edwards darn near got penalized for a pit road incident involving a stray tire. Fortunately, crew chief Bob Osborne kept a cool head, stayed on top of officials, and they ultimately ruled in favor of Edwards, blaming a TV camera man for being in the way (Dang media types anyway).

There were a record number of cautions as it seems that NASCAR teams are still figuring out how to work the “new” car at Las Vegas. Accidents cut short the days of Tony Stewart (who bit the wall hard on lap 109) and Robby Gordon (victimized by a lfat tire on lap 144), Patrick Carpentier, DaleJarrett, Kurt Busch, and Scott Riggs.

Speaking of Riggs……it was nice to see some less familiar names up front. I thought the Haas-CNC cars of Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield looked great in stretches, and it was good to see another solid performance by Elliott “Rabbit Release” Sadler. It was also weird seeing Ken Schrader up front, though he gave way later in the race.

It wasn’t a good day for Open Wheelers. Sam Hornish, Patrick Carpentier and Dario Franchitti all saw their best laid plans go up in smoke.

I’m glad Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon weren’t hurt too seriously.Gordon had two words for track owner Bruton Smith concerning the inner wall “Safer Barriers.”

Though it was a bummer to see wrecks mess up otherwise good days, there’s no doubt this race belonged to Edwards. The Columbia, Missouri native was just too much. He and his Roush teammates (Kenseth and Biffle) were easily the most consistent cars out there, with apologies to RCR teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, and the HMS combo of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It just hit me- another random thought- no Jimmie Johnson today. Apparently, Johnson was a victim of Murphy’s Law. Everything that could go wrong apparently did to the #48.

This may not have been the best race I’d ever seen, but it was a good one. Today’s outcome springs forth yet more new story lines in a 2008 season that bears no resemblence to 2007.

Will Carl Edwards make it three in a row, to turn At-lanta into Hot-lanta? I wouldn’t bet against it.

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It’s like the country singer Jerry Reed used to sing "When you’re hot, you’re hot." NASCAR fans haven’t seen a streak like this since 1998 when Jeff Gordon reeled off four consecutive wins en route to his 3rd Cup title and 2nd in a row. Jimmie Johnson picked up his 4th victory in a row today and a Nextel Cup high 10th for 2007 in the the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Speedway.

For a while, it looked like pole-sitter Carl Edwards had something for the #48. Edwards ticked off 87 laps before becoming afflicted with a little bad luck I sadly call"Junior-itis." With a little hiccup of the engine, Edwards goes from hero to zero.

Edward’s teammate Matt Kenseth once again looked like a potential winner. He was at or near the front all day. But if Edwards caught "Junior-itis," then Kenseth has "Mark Martin-itis." This syndrome is also known as "always a bridesmaid, but never a bride." Sadly Kenseth ran another near perfect race, but unfortunately, near perfect is not perfect enough when up against the Johnson juggernaut.

It’s pure and simple. Johnson is in a zone. I would liken it to the night when Joe Montana completed 21 passes in a row, or when Kobe Bryant scored 81 points. If you’ve experienced "the zone" then you know what I’m talking about. If you’re an auto racer, the events on the track are frozen in time, but you’re still going 200 miles an hour. Nothing can touch you. It’s as if destiny has called your number.

Johnson was at the front or near it all day. Every pit stop ran with surgical precision. Chad Knaus seems incapable of making a bad call. Short runs, long runs, it’s all going Jimmie’s way. Making more smooth the path to victory are the declining fortunes of 2nd place chaser Jeff Gordon.

Gordon just didn’t have it today. Gordon never captured the lead. His car never handled quite right. The #24 Chevy just didn’t have the juice, and compounding his frustration was trading paint late in the race with Kevin Harvick. Gordon was quick to point out in his post race interview that he was fading before the incident, so in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t affect the outcome.

Other drivers looked promising to push Johnson. Tony Stewart made a great late run, as did Ryan Newman. Unfortunately, Newman looked wimpy on the restarts. For Stewart, it was a case of being good, but not quite good enough. Greg Biffle looked great late, but ran out of laps. The same can also be said for Kyle Busch, who was unable to pull a series sweep at Phoenix. 

The open wheel defectors were a topic of much conversation going into today’s action, but they were relatively quiet today. Jacques Villanueve showed us that racing NASCAR isn’t as easy as it looks. A loose car led to a minor collision, but the impact was enough to crash him out. Patrick Carpentier was nearly invisible, running quietly in the back, and Sam Hornish had an inauspicious Cup debut. For these guys, success is measured by finishing the race and not causing trouble. Hornish and Carpentier acquitted themselves nicely today.

The way this season is playing out is disappointing to many observers, but you have to give J.J. credit. He can do no wrong right now. What else can you say? To put in perspective remember that Johnson has won four in a row- Bobby Labonte won a Cup title in 2000 having won four ALL season.

It’s like watching the Patriots or the Yankees win. You may not like it, but you have to respect that they do all the things all things needed to do to win.

Jimmie Johnson is carving out a little piece of history for himself, and we’re all eye witnesses to it.