Bristol - Back to "Racin the way it ought to be"?

In 2007 those in charge of Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) reconfigured the racetrack. No longer was the half mile track at Bristol a single groove racetrack, as progressive banking was introduced. Instead of running into the back of the slower driver ahead to get him loose and up out of the groove to make a pass, drivers could race side by side all the way around. Reconfiguring the track sounded like a great idea at first, after all at tracks such as Homestead-Miami Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway had been reconfigured to have progressive banking & the racing went from being a line of cars driving in circles to exciting side-by-side racing action. Imagine, side-by-side racing at Bristol - wouldn't that be something to see? Turns out, it was only something 80,000 people wanted to see at the race there two weeks ago. 80,000 people. This is a track that once had 55 consecutive sellouts. Fifty Five! 160,000 people filled this staduim twice a year for over 25 years. Season tickets rights were willed to heirs as people passed on. It was the most popular race to see. I never did manage to make it to a Bristol race prior to the reconfiguration, yet I always maintained that if I ever got an opportunity to go to a NASCAR race, Bristol would be the race I would go see. I got that opportunity in the summer of 2010. I got to go see the night race at Bristol! Whats more is that I got to go see the race with my Dad. The Father/Son trip of a lifetime! I will always cherish that trip. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the noise. It was an incredible experience to be there and a once in a lifetime opportunity to bond with my Father. The race itself? It was ok. Sadly I can remember looking up at the scoring tower and seeing there were still 300 laps to go and thinking: Wow... my butt is sore... holy cow we've been here for 2 hours and I've got to sit here for at least another 3? Better go to the concession stand to walk for a bit... Sure, they were racing side by side - but they weren't beating and banging & rooting each other up out of the way in the way they always had. There was still some good action on the track, Kasey Khane's car rode up the wall and drove along on its side through turn 1. But it wasn't the kind of racing I'd always dreamed of seeing at that track. It wasn't 'on the edge of your seat' excitement. It certainly wasn't what had come to be known as "racin the way it ought to be". I'd always kept that little bit of the story to myself - I guess I was afraid that by being upset with the race itself, it would take away from what was an otherwise amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. Truth be told, I'm glad that I was able to fufil my dream of seeing a race at Bristol. However, with the track in its current configuration, I'd never go back to see a race there. I'd go to Martinsville, Richmond, Darlington or Dover. I'd tour the entire NASCAR circuit before going back to Bristol. That was my thought up until today. Today I read that Bruton Smith, owner & CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc (SMI) - the company which owns Bristol Motor Speedway - announced yesterday afternoon that he would again be changing the surface at BMS. What the changes are has not yet been announced, however Bruton did say that the fans had spoken and in the majority of the responses he recieved were in favour of changes, and therefore changes will be made. Equipment will begin work within the next two weeks to allow for the changes to be made prior to this August's night race.  I doubt that it is possible for them to make changes that will bring Bristol back to its previous configuration, but I hope that the changes made do allow for a style of racing similar to that of which we used to see. I await the details and the results with baited breath. Hoping for more "racin the way it ought to be".

Danica Patrick Looking Good When Leaving LAS VEGAS!!!!

I did some surfing today during lunch and was astounded to see how many negative articles and comments there were in regards to the success of Danica Patrick over the weekend at LasVegas Motor Speedway.
During Saturday's Sam's Town 300 Danica overcame a rough start and an ill timed caution that combined to see her down two laps and ended up with a fuel mileage run and a 4th place finish.
Danica went down a lap early to Kyle Busch after starting towards the rear of the field. Later in the run, she pitted under green for tires and fuel. Shortly after her pit stop the caution flag flew trapping her down 2 laps. She took a wave around when the leaders took to the pits under caution to restart at the rear of the field still one lap down. Danica missed a couple of opportunities, but eventually fought her way into the lucky dog position which put her back on the lead lap. In what ended up being a fuel mileage race where many of the leaders were forced to pit for fuel, Danica had enough to see her through to a forth place finish.
Many of Danica's detractors claim that she only got the finish she did because of fuel mileage and if it weren't for that then she would not have finished as high as she did. They claim that she only has a ride because of her marketing potential, and that the JR Motorsports team that fields her #7 Go Daddy.com Chevrolet Impala in NASCAR's Nationwide Series favours her equipment and that anyone could end up with similar results if put in the same situation.
Firstly, it could easily be said that if only the drivers who had to pit for fuel would have had enough to get to the finish they wouldn't have finished as poorly as they did. Frankly that is a dumb argument. Danica fought back from a tough situation being down two laps and was able to put herself in a position where they didn't need to stop for fuel while other drivers did.
It also merits mention Danica would not have made it through all the feeder series to reach the IRL or NASCAR if she didn't have talent, desire and opportunity just like every other driver out there. I would argue she has been afforded opportunities similar to any of the other 42 drivers on the track over the thousands of drivers that run regional series throughout North America. Danica has talent and desire, she happens to be marketable, and was therefore given opportunity and she appears to be making the most of it, just like every other driver on the track. Danica wants to be successful and she wants to win races and championships. If you doubt that, look no further than her post race comments after Saturday's race when she was asked what it means to her to have set a record achieving the highest finish ever for a woman in NASCAR. Danica's response? 'It really isn't that big of a deal to me, I'm hoping to do a lot more'.
As for the argument that the #7 car is favoured over the #88 car, I seem to remember a number of drivers take the wheel of the #7 car last year when Danica wasn't running, and I don't remember their results being that much better than what Danica was achieving.
In two weeks Danica will be making her first start at a track less than 1 mile in length at Bristol Motor Speedway. Given that it is her first visit to this track, or anything resembling this type of track, I fully expect Danica to struggle and finish a number of laps down to the leader, however should Danica decide to continue running in NASCAR, I fully expect her to be much improved on her second visit to the track.
She has shown a commitment to improving herself as a driver, patience behind the wheel and the ability to learn from her mistakes. Not to mention she isn't afraid to stick up for herself should she get rubbed the wrong way out on the track.
I think we should give some credit where credit is due. Not only did she overcome adversity on Saturday, but she has also been good enough through 3 races to be scored 4th overall in the Nationwide Series standings. Good on Danica for keeping with it and showing improvement despite all of her detractors, and I wish her good luck at Bristol.