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Author: Tucker White

  • Bristol in the Rear-View

    Bristol in the Rear-View

    It’s time to put a nice little bow on the events of this past weekend in Thunder Valley.

    At the end of every season, I make a list of the 10 best races of the season. After eight, yesterday’s Food City 500 would be at the top. It was a spectacular race. I would even say it’s been the best since the grinding down of the top lane back in 2012. Sitting in the media center watching the event, I was thinking to myself, “This is Bristol. This is Bristol at its finest.”

    The fact that we had such a fantastic race makes the lack of hindquarters in attendance even more baffling. We’ve had a run of truly great races at Bristol since August of 2012, and yet there’s still people out there who refuse to let go of the past and accept that this Bristol is far superior to Bristol of old. I’m sorry you don’t get the wrecks like you did back then even though we had plenty of wrecks yesterday with 14 of the 15 cautions being for wrecks. Don’t tell me it’s not the “lack of wrecks” because it is. I’ve studied the numbers inside and out for over a year now and the only metric that’s down is the number of wrecks. The number of lead changes and different leaders is comparable, and even over in many cases, to “old” Bristol.

    I’ll get off this by saying if you weren’t in attendance yesterday, you have no right to complain about the attendance.

    After falling back to 40th on lap 1 after making an unscheduled stop for battery issues, Dale Earnhardt Jr. rallied himself back to a runner-up finish in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Not too long ago, this would’ve caused Earnhardt to just give up and ride around until the end. The fact that he kept his eye on the prize, got himself back on the lead lap and finished second is quite impressive. When asked how he stopped himself from panicking, he said because he turned 40.

    “You know, as I got older, I tried harder to enjoy what I’m doing, and not get really upset and too out of shape when things aren’t going our way, plus I know Greg and them guys are on the pit box trying everything they can, and for me to ‑‑ they’re the only ones I’m going to be able to yell at, so for me to ‑‑ it doesn’t do any good to be hollering at them or upset or just lose your mind, and the over‑the‑wall guys especially, we don’t really spend a ton of time with the over‑the‑wall guys, and they’re real sensitive,” Earnhardt said. “They’re big ol’ guys and athletes, but they’ve got big hearts, too, so you can’t be screaming and coming unglued because they don’t want to work for people like that.

    “Yeah, just trying to have more fun and enjoy it,” he added. “We had a little trouble early, and it just made today more difficult and made the challenge more fun, made it a bigger challenge than it was, and to run second, it’s a great feeling to come back from what we did. It’s something to smile about.”

    I’ll end on Matt DiBenedetto. Yesterday, I reported on his sixth-place finish like I would with any driver. I gave his finish, added some quotes and said where he was in points. But I didn’t understand the emotion from DiBenedetto until I read a story on him by Dustin Long of NBC Sports.

    He started in the XFINITY Series at 17 as a development driver for Joe Gibbs Racing thanks to his success in the lower ranks. He ran seven races for them from 2009 to 2010 but was left on the outside looking after sponsorship went by the wayside because of the recession.

    After a season in the K&N East Series, he worked his way back to the XFINITY Series. But he was with a team that was starting and parking races.

    “I thought my career was over countless times,’’ DiBenedetto said yesterday while being congratulated by Denny Hamlin. “I got down, but I kept on digging deep. I said, ‘If I don’t give this everything I have, I’ll regret this the rest of my life.’ I don’t ever want to think back and say, ‘I wonder if I could have been racing with those guys.’”

    Some of the drivers he finished ahead of include Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch. Five of those names are champions in the Sprint Cup Series and all seven have won at least once at Bristol.

    Runs like DiBenedetto’s is showing me that Bristol is starting to be a bit more of an equalizer track. What I mean is that it’s starting to become a bit more of a track where drivers who normally wouldn’t even sniff the top-10 could realistically run well and possibly win.

    In the spring of 2014, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earned a career-best finish of second and Aric Almirola earned a then career-best third-place finish that he would best later that season with a win at Daytona.

    Last April, Danica Patrick earned a top-10 finish in a decent run at Bristol.

    Yesterday, Trevor Bayne earned his second career top-five finish in a No. 6 Ford of a Roush Fenway Racing organization that appears to be turning the ship around.

    I’m not talking anywhere near the degree of Daytona or Talladega. I just mean some drivers are running well here who don’t anywhere else.

    That’s my take on this weekend. This week, we head north on I-95 to race on Sunday afternoon at  Richmond International Raceway.

  • DiBenedetto Earns First Top-10 Finish

    DiBenedetto Earns First Top-10 Finish

    BRISTOL, Tenn.– Matt DiBenedetto was teary-eyed following his top-10 finish at Thunder Valley.

    The driver of the No. 83 BK Racing Toyota earned his career best sixth-place finish in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    “I’m sorry I’m so speechless – just I’m so thankful to everybody on this team, everybody at BK Racing, Cosmo Motors in Hickory, North Carolina – they’re local to me, he’s my best friend, sell some awesome cars, please check them out – everyone at BK Racing, Dustless Blasting,” DiBenedetto said. “These guys, man – that’s unbelievable for a team like to us to be growing this much and for us to get a sixth-place run – I’m sorry I’m so emotional, it’s just this is like a win for us. I am so excited. I see my family back here – my wife, Taylor, my brother is in town from the military and I’m so glad he got to experience this. This is just – this is incredible. I’m so blessed to be here.”

    It’s the first top-10 for the second year driver out of Grass Valley, California and first top-10 finish for the fledgling BK Racing organization.

    “A sixth-place finish for BK Racing and for all my guys, this is like a win for us,” DiBenedetto added. “I apologize for being so emotional, but this is an incredible run. I can’t thank my team enough, my crew chief Gene Need and everyone on this team for working so hard and busting their tails for me to be able to drive this race car in the Sprint Cup Series. This is such an honor and I’m so thankful to all the sponsors – Dustless Blasting, Cosmo Motors, Dr. Pepper and I know I’m forgetting people. Thank you to the fans most importantly – they are so great and so supportive. I’m just really thankful to be here, this was a great day.”

    The finish moves DiBenedetto up to 30th in points.

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. Overcomes Early Misstep to Finish Runner-Up

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. Overcomes Early Misstep to Finish Runner-Up

    BRISTOL, Tenn.– Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to overcome a loss of power and loss of laps to come home runner-up at Thunder Valley.

    After making an unscheduled stop on lap 1 for lack of power and falling two laps down, the driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet rallied back to a second-place finish in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    “Yeah, we got the Roush system on our cars for the stuck‑throttle issue, and just warming the brakes up, I engaged that system to kill the throttle,” Earnhardt said. “I was warming the brakes up like I always do, and apparently I applied too much pressure and it killed the motor.

    “We’ll work on that and maybe raise that threshold a little bit because I wasn’t really using the brake that much.

    “So I just needed to cycle the ECU, reset that, came to pit road and did that. I probably could’ve done it on the track and saved ourselves a lot of trouble, but you don’t know what’s going on at that particular point, and you listen to the first thing anybody tells you when it comes to direction, and the first thing that my spotter said was that if I need to pit, I need to come on now. We got on pit road, cycled it, lost a couple laps. Greg did a good job getting the wave‑arounds and knowing when to take them and stuff, and we got back on the lead lap. We had about a 10th‑place car. We weren’t really that good all day. We tried a setup that we’ve never really ran here before, just trying to learn a little something going forward, and we’ll go home and science it out a little bit.

    “We got real lucky the last three restarts to be on the outside line. We restarted 10th, 6th and 4th, and when you restart 4th you’re typically going to come out in second place after that. I was hoping we didn’t have any more cautions after that. So it was good. We’ll take it.”

    This runner-up finish is his second consecutive second-place finish this season after a runner-up the week before in Texas.

    “Well, I hope the second comes a little easier than this one did,” Earnhardt said. “I’d love to get a win. We weren’t really as close today as we were last week. We had a really good car last week, a top‑3 car. This car wasn’t that good, but we kind of understand why. We’re going outside the box as far as what we typically run here for setup.

    “And that’s good. You didn’t ‑‑ the setup didn’t quite work but you still had a good day and you can go home and learn and try to science it out and make that setup work. I like finishing good, and that’s going to help us get into the Chase pretty comfortably if we don’t have any major issues, but we certainly want to win. Going to victory lane is important to our sponsors, and it’s obviously fun. But it’s good for our team to set ourselves up to not have to worry about the Chase anymore. Even though you know you’re a top‑5 team or top‑10 team that should make the Chase without any issue, you can’t help but count them points to 16th or 17th each week.”

    Earnhardt leaves Bristol sixth in points trailing new points leader Kevin Harvick by 37.

  • Carl Edwards Tops the Field in Thunder Valley

    Carl Edwards Tops the Field in Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn.– Carl Edwards led over half the race on his way to scoring the victory at Thunder Valley.

    The driver of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 276 of the 500 laps on his way to winning the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s his 26th career victory in the Sprint Cup Series and fourth at Bristol.

    “There were so many different things happening out there,” Edwards said. “Different guys were fast at different times. I have to work on my drag racing stuff, Kurt (Busch) has those restarts figured out. He was tough. Just awesome. This is a real testament to my team. The guys have been working really hard. We’ve got Comcast Business folks here and they helped put this whole thing together with ARRIS and Toyota, TRD, Stanley – all the folks that made this 19 team happen. Just great and so awesome. Thanks to Sprint and Cessna and all the folks that make this happen. Now we’re in the Chase and we can go have some fun. Just so cool, awesome to be here.”

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. overcame an issue with a loss of power after making an unscheduled stop on the first lap and finished runner-up in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    “We had a lot of luck on those last several restarts,” Earnhardt said. “You start on the outside and just gain some spots just being on the right lane. We didn’t have a good enough car to run in the top-five today, but Greg (Ives, crew chief) and those guys did a great job getting our laps back. We had a dead battery at the start of the race; something bad like that, same thing I think happened to the No. 22. That cost us two laps early in the race and we worked real hard. Greg did a great job helping us get our laps back. The car was about a 15th or 10th-place car. We were just lucky on those restarts as to where we lined up. And that really helped us.”

    Kurt Busch led 41 laps to round out the podium in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet.

    “We just battled through it,” Busch said. “Junior had trouble at the start and I was 40th when we started the race. One car at a time. One set of tires at a time. And then we were in great position around lap 350. We got the lead from Edwards for a little bit. And we just kept working on it. And there’s nothing more that I could have gotten out of the car. I’m really happy with the way that everybody worked together. I shouldn’t be happy about finishing third, but I’ll take it. It’s just a great effort. And the way that this team has come together is perfect. We just need to find that last little bit.”

    Chase Elliott finished fourth in his No. 24 HMS Chevrolet.

    “The guys brought a fast car here this weekend,” Elliott said. “Started off a little slow. I didn’t qualify as well as we wanted to on Friday, but we hit on a couple of things, I thought, right there towards the end of final practice yesterday that we really liked. Fortunately that carried over to today and I was able to move forward. I hated to have a loose wheel, but stuff happens. The guys did a good job having a good pit stop under green. We only ended up losing two laps and that gave us a shot to get back. One down, and then trying to get back to the lead lap. It was a long day but I’m definitely proud of the effort. We’re chipping away, just not close enough.”

    Trevor Bayne overcame a commitment line violation to round out the top-five with his second career top-five finish in his No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

    “It was a lot of battling back,” Bayne said. “We went through a lot of adversity to get there, but we just didn’t give up. We had a really good race car. That’s what paid off. You can’t come back if you make mistakes and get back to a top-five finish. I kept getting on the bottom on restarts every time, but it came back me at the end. We were able to start on the top those last three and that’s really what got us in the top-five.”

    Matt DiBenedetto earned his first career top-10 finish with a sixth-place finish in his No. 83 BK Racing Toyota.

    “I’m sorry I’m so speechless – just I’m so thankful to everybody on this team, everybody at BK Racing, Cosmo Motors in Hickory, North Carolina – they’re local to me, he’s my best friend, sell some awesome cars, please check them out – everyone at BK Racing, Dustless Blasting,” DiBenedetto said. “These guys, man – that’s unbelievable for a team like to us to be growing this much and for us to get a sixth-place run – I’m sorry I’m so emotional, it’s just this is like a win for us. I am so excited. I see my family back here – my wife, Taylor, my brother is in town from the military and I’m so glad he got to experience this. This is just – this is incredible. I’m so blessed to be here.”

    Kevin Harvick led 13 laps on his way to a seventh-place finish in his No. 4 SHR Chevrolet.

    “Yeah, it was definitely the biggest challenge for us…We had the speed but it seemed like every restart we were just struggling to make ground on the restart and by the time you get to two or three spots back, you battle back to where you were and then the caution would come out again,” Harvick said. “But there’s nothing you can do about that. We raced hard all day and we’ll go to the next one.”

    Clint Bowyer earned his first top-10 finish of the season with an eighth-place finish in his No. 15 HScott Motorsports Chevrolet. Ryan Newman finished ninth in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Joey Logano led four laps on his way to rounding out the top-10 in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

    “We fought hard and we got all the way back, and then the car just shut off there at the end for some reason,” Logano said. “We’ve got to figure that out a little bit, but I just hate it because I feel like we’ve got a car that’s capable of winning this thing and every time we come here in the spring it’s the same story. We had a fast car and we just blow it somehow.”

    Aric Almirola, who finished 34th after a late-race wreck, was called to the NASCAR hauler for “not following proper race protocol” when he refused to get out of his car.

    The race lasted three hours, 15 minutes and 52 seconds at an average speed of 81.637 mph. There were 16 lead changes among seven different drivers and 15 cautions for 102 laps.

    Kevin Harvick leaves Bristol as the points leader.

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  • Ben Kennedy parts company with Red Horse Racing

    Ben Kennedy parts company with Red Horse Racing

    BRISTOL, Tenn.– In case you missed it, Ben Kennedy is looking for a new team for which to race.

    On Friday, Red Horse Racing announced that the driver of the No. 11 Toyota would part ways with the team. They had re-signed him through the 2016 season back in February, but he won’t continue as their driver.

    “We wish Ben all the best in his career,” said team owner Tom DeLoach. “Red Horse Racing will continue to focus on pursuing the championship with Timothy Peters and the No. 17. We expect to field two teams in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and we will announce further plans as they are confirmed.”

    Kennedy released a statement saying he “[wished] Red Horse Racing and Timothy [Peters] the best for the 2016 season and beyond. I thank them for their support since 2015 as I have enjoyed competing with them. However, I’m interested in pursuing other racing opportunities in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and possibly the NASCAR XFINITY Series. I love NASCAR racing and I’m eager to continue to compete, learn and improve.”

    Since joining Red Horse Racing in 2015, the son of Lesa France Kennedy, grandson of Bill France Jr. and great-grandson of Bill France Sr. amassed eight top-10 finishes and a career best third-place finish on three occasions at Atlanta, Mosport and Las Vegas.

  • Erik Jones Steals One in Thunder Valley

    Erik Jones Steals One in Thunder Valley

    BRISTOL, Tenn.– Erik Jones got a great restart in the closing laps and passed the leader to score the victory at Thunder Valley.

    The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota passed to the outside of Kyle Larson with three laps to go to win the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s the third win in the XFINITY Series for the 19-year-old rookie out of Byron, Michigan.

    “I don’t know, we had a really good restart there,” Jones said. “The 18 hadn’t been getting going. I lost my voice because I’ve been screaming so much on the cooldown lap. We got a really good restart and Kyle just left the top open and we went up there and he worked pretty hard to keep us behind him. We just kept digging and it worked out. Just an awesome feeling. I never thought we’d get our first win here at Bristol this year.

    “I figured at some point in the year we could get a win when those guys weren’t in the field, but it would be a tall task with them in the field. Here at Bristol for those two guys, this is one of their best tracks. I’m just so excited and you can tell, I’m out of breath. I wasn’t working that hard. Just so excited about the win and to be here in victory lane and beat those guys. This is a really big day for us.”

    Kyle Busch led 43 laps on his way to a runner-up finish in his No. 18 JGR Toyota.

    “When I went to the gas on the last two restarts, it just didn’t accelerate,” Busch said. “I lost all my acceleration and those guys were just gone. I didn’t even have a chance. Jones cleared me by the time we got to Turn 1, that’s how bad it was.

    “I ran too low for a lap and Erik got to my outside. I tried to slide him into (Turn) 1 and I was hoping he’d make a mistake and I’d get another shot at him in 3, but I just ran into the side of him. I did a really poor job the last two laps and I just blame myself.”

    Larson, who led the most laps at 94, was edged out by Busch at the line and settled for rounding out the podium. Austin Dillon finished fourth in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    “This was definitely a different race today,” Austin said. “It was interesting to have the heat races. The No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet was really strong for the second heat race. Danny (Stockman, crew chief) and the guys had the handling dialed in for me. After the heat race, a lot of rubber was laid down and the handling for the main changed. I got pretty tight in the center of the corners but with only 200 laps, it’s hard to make adjustments. I’m proud of the No. 2 team. We have some things we’re going to try next week at Richmond that I’m pretty excited about.”

    Justin Allgaier rounded out the top-five in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Daniel Suárez finished sixth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. Ty Dillon finished seventh in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet.

    “That was definitely a tough finish at the end,” Ty said. “I’m disappointed the way it turned out. We had a lot faster car than a seventh-place finish. It was difficult to pass and make a move today, unless you could really race the bottom of the track. I enjoyed the heat racing today, but wish we were there at the end to have a chance to win the Dash4Cash.”

    Kevin Harvick finished eighth in his No. 88 JRM Chevrolet. Joey Logano finished ninth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Aric Almirola rounded out the top-10 in his No. 98 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford.

    “We struggled,” Almirola said. “We were off on our balance. We did all of our practice in the morning yesterday and the track was never really the same today. That’s good though because I felt like I learned quite a bit that will help me tomorrow and we’ll go from there. All in all, it was a pretty good day for us…We qualified in the top-10 and pretty much raced in the top-10 all day, so I’m proud of that.”

    The race lasted one hour, eight minutes and 10 seconds at an average speed of 93.829 mph. There were 10 lead changes among four different drivers and three cautions for 29 laps.

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  • Hamlin Fastest in Final Practice

    Hamlin Fastest in Final Practice

    BRISTOL, Tenn.– Denny Hamlin topped the chart in final Sprint Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 15.213 and a speed of 126.129 mph. Chase Elliott was second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 15.250 and a speed of 125.823 mph. Martin Truex Jr. was third in his No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota with a time of 15.259 and a speed of 125.749 mph. Carl Edwards was fourth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 15.266 and a speed of 125.691 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 15.302 and a speed of 125.395 mph.

    Jimmie Johnson will start sixth in his No. 48 HMS Chevrolet. Kevin Harvick will start seventh in his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Kyle Larson will start eighth in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Kasey Kahne will start ninth in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet. Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-10 in his No. 20 JGR Toyota.

    Larson posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 124.657 mph. Busch was second at an average speed of 124.561 mph.

    All that remains for the Sprint Cup Series is to run the Food City 500 tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. ET.

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  • Jones on the Pole in XFINITY at Bristol

    Jones on the Pole in XFINITY at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn.– Erik Jones will lead the field to the green flag for this afternoon’s XFINITY Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota scored the pole for the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300 with a time of 15.239 and a speed of 125.914 mph. It’s his fifth career pole in the XFINITY Series and second of 2016.

    Austin Dillon qualified second in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.284 and a speed of 125.543 mph. Kyle Larson qualified third in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.337 and a speed of 125.109 mph. Daniel Suárez qualified fourth in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 15.347 and a speed of 125.028 mph. Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five in his No. 18 JGR Toyota with a time of 15.355 and a speed of 124.963 mph.

    Joey Logano qualified sixth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Justin Allgaier qualified seventh in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Aric Almirola qualified eighth in his No. 98 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford. Brandon Jones qualified ninth in his No. 33 RCR Chevrolet. Ty Dillon rounded out the top-10 in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet.

    Ross Chastain qualified 11th in his No. 4 JD Motorsports Chevrolet. Kevin Harvick rounded out the 12 drivers that made the final round of qualifying in his No. 88 JRM Chevrolet.

    Carl Long and Morgan Shepherd were the two drivers that did not qualify.

    Next up for the XFINITY Series will be the two heat races with race 1 at 12:30 p.m. and race 2 at 1:30, all times ET.

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  • Kyle Busch Fastest in Second Practice at Bristol

    Kyle Busch Fastest in Second Practice at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn.– Kyle Busch topped the chart in second Sprint Cup Series practice at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was fastest in the second practice session with a time of 15.184 and a speed of 126.370 mph.

    Chase Elliott was second in his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet with a time of 15.196 and a speed of 126.253 mph. Kurt Busch was third in his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet with a time of 15.212 and a speed of 126.137 mph. Aric Almirola was fourth in his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford with a time of 15.230 and a speed of 125.988 mph. Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five in his No. 19 JGR Toyota with a time of 15.232 and a speed of 125.972 mph.

    Joey Logano was sixth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford. Casey Mears was seventh in his No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet. Matt Kenseth was eighth in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. Kasey Kahne was ninth in his No. 5 HMS Chevrolet. Ryan Newman rounded out the top-10 in his No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    Kyle Busch posted the fastest 10 consecutive lap average at a speed of 125.569 mph. Edwards was second at an average speed of 124.762 mph.

    The Sprint Cup Series is back on track this morning at 11 a.m. ET for final practice.

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  • The White Zone: The bottom line is the way around Bristol again…for now

    The White Zone: The bottom line is the way around Bristol again…for now

    BRISTOL, Tenn.– “The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading…” and after the first day of race activity at Thunder Valley, It appears the bottom line is the way around Bristol again.

    After one day of practice and qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway, a number of things are noticeably different than in previous years. To start, the Sprint Cup Series cars are running around the bottom at Bristol. Since the top lane was grounded out back in the summer of 2012, the fast way around the track has been the high line up against the wall.

    During final practice for the XFINITY Series, the cars were running the against the wall again. But during Sprint Cup Series qualifying, everyone way hugging the bottom.

    During his media availability earlier today, I asked Carl Edwards why everyone was running the bottom line when the top had been the norm and he said he wasn’t sure why.

    “There might be some slight differences with the Goodyear tires, but probably the best reason or most likely reason for that is that we haven’t put a lot of rubber down on the track yet and it just seems like this place moves around a lot,” he added. “We talked about it in practice, I don’t think that the race will be run on the bottom like that. I think it will really widen out, but I don’t know when it will happen. I don’t know if it will happen today or all the way where we might have to wait until Sunday for it.”

    “I think you are going to see cars wherever the grip is,” Chase Elliott said. “If the grip is up top that is where you are going to see them and if it’s around the bottom that is where it’s going to be. The way the races have gone here the past few years, I’m sure, maybe not today or tomorrow, but definitely Sunday and I would expect by tomorrow afternoon you will see everybody up to if I had to guess.”

    I have to believe that the low-downforce package is playing a part in these cars hugging the bottom, although the drivers I’ve spoken to today can’t say for sure.

    When asked how the package will affect Bristol, Elliott said he thinks “you might see some difference. I don’t know, as you said, being a half-mile racetrack I’m not sure just how much it will play a role. Looking back to Martinsville, I do think on the braking side of things you didn’t have as much downforce and as much drag helping you get stopped, whereas here you have a lot of the banking to catch you. I don’t know that you will see a big difference in that this weekend.”

    Cars running against the wall the last many years has been among the biggest complaints fans have lumped at Bristol since the surface was revamped into a progressive banking surface. Now that cars are running the bottom this time around and if this continues through the weekend, those of you who’ve begged and pleaded for a return to “old Bristol” may finally get your wish.

    My plane is about to take off, so I must get going. Until next time, I’ll leave you with this fact. You can be fined up to a thousand dollars for whistling on Sunday in Salt Lake City.

    *The opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author. They may or may not represent the views of SpeedwayMedia.com.