I miss the old Bristol

By Mike Smith (contact)

Monday, March 23, 2009 | 9 p.m.

I used to look forward to the racing at Bristol with the anticipation of Pavlov’s dog. Next to watching the Daytona 500, the races at Bristol were my favorite events of the Sprint Cup season. I would always make sure I had no other commitments on those race dates and I would even go so far as to send the wife and kids to the mall for the day so I could watch the race uninterrupted.

But since the track has been resurfaced, I only salivate mildly at the prospect of watching a Bristol race. The racing there doesn’t have the exciting feel of a bunch of fighter jets rattling around the inside of a school gymnasium like it used to.

The physical nature of Bristol racing has been greatly diminished because the track now has two racing grooves. The extra width of the track has made the passing--when it’s possible-- lot less eventful. I miss the old Bristol where drivers had to use a car’s bumper to make a pass and, as a result, there was always drama on and off the track.

Now Bristol almost seems like a mini version of a mile-and-a-half track with cars driving high on the straightaways and then diving down low into the corners.

Why did the powers that be have to break something that wasn’t broken?

Why does Fox continue to hype Bristol as a wreckfest of cars and emotions when it no longer is?

Frankly, I now find Martinsville to be my short track of choice.

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Darrell Waltrip commented during the race that one way to beat Kyle Busch would be for other drivers to start getting inside his head to throw him off his game. But, based on Kyle’s comments after the race, it sounds like he’s the one capable of playing head games.

Kyle mentioned that he’s more concerned with winning than selling T-shirts. And then he took a shot at Dale Earnhardt Jr. by saying, “For me, I don’t think I would enjoy having the most fans out there. I actually like the way I am, the role I portray. And I think there’s probably too much pressure on one guy’s shoulders who doesn’t seem to win very often.” Ouch!

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Last week’s Bloggity poll asked if Dale Jr. would make it into the Chase this season: 54 percent said absolutely, 28 percent said no way, and 16 percent said who cares.

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Lastly, in an automotive story that’s unrelated to NASCAR, Sweden has refused to give the automaker Saab a government bailout. The story was published in The New York Times.