Fan's Eye View ~ Bristol: Punch And Crunch, Or Out To Lunch?
8/27/2013
Jim Fitzgerald
It’s the tight turned, high banked, concrete surfaced,
black walled, stadium-like venue we call Bristol Motor Speedway. It has a history of kicking butt and taking
names, and taking a big bite out of race cars, chewing them up, and sometimes
spitting them out. It can make the calmest
driver angry (Dale Jarrett), and the feistiest drivers fight (Greg Biffle/Kevin
Harvick). It gets tempers flaring and
eyeballs glaring.
At least, it used to.
Somewhere, between reconfigurations,
introduction of a new points system, a new method of how to determine a
Champion, and another reconfiguration, has Bristol become benign?
The answer to that question would probably
depend on who you asked? For the
drivers, it is still a kettle ready to boil over at any time. The slightest rub with another competitor can
be enough to end the best driver’s day, and most likely a few of their fellow
drivers as well, as we saw with Denny Hamlin’s cut tire on Saturday night. Hamlin and Kevin Harvick appeared to be
headed for a confrontation after the altercation which effectively ended both
of their bids for a great finish.
Harvick parked his car in Hamlin’s pit box, and Hamlin pushed the empty
vehicle right through it so his team could evaluate the No. 11 Toyota. Harvick came over to “talk” with Hamlin, and
then… They agreed on what happened, and walked away?
Pardon my French, but what the Fleur de Lis is up with that?
At a track which has become famous for on
track confrontations, both in an out of the car, two guys who never back down
actually backed down! These were the
same two guys who, at Dover a few years ago, scrapped on the first lap of
practice after trading a few verbal barbs during the week.
The incident at Bristol was just a case of an
explanation needing and waiting to happen.
However, if you heard any of the radio conversations throughout the
evening, you know that there were definitely some hot tempers in the cars and
on the pit boxes. Crew chiefs were
sighing and colorful metaphors were flying.
Same old Bristol.
Now, ask the fans if Bristol has become
benign, and the answer is not unanimous, but the weight of the vote is heavily
on the “heck yes” side. The fans want
beating and banging and side by side racing, they want
tempers rising and patience falling.
They want Dale Earnhardt ratting Terry Labonte’s cage, and they want
Tony Stewart winging helmets at Matt Kenseth.
They want Carl Edwards spinning out Kyle Busch on the cool down
lap. They want Jeff Gordon bumping Rusty
Wallace out of the way on the last lap…again, and they want Danica Patrick
wagging her finger after being put into the wall. They want pushing and shoving, and fingers in
faces, middle and otherwise.
But that is all history. The fans have seen it before, and have gotten
a taste of it, and unfortunately, those are the Bristol moments they remember,
and the ones they want to see again. If
a race doesn’t deliver some sort of extracurricular drama, some fans will walk
away disappointed, just because of the reputation Bristol has. Unfortunately, that is the crown Bristol
wears, and it is heavy, and in many cases, unfair.
So, whether you thought that Bristol is just
as good as it used to be, or you thought it was horrible and yearn for the “good
ol days,” remember that these are merely small moments
in history, one day out of many. There
will be more days like it in the future, whether you think it sits next to a
200 laps snooze fest, or a race which is celebrated by so many, even years
later. Races such as
the 1979 Daytona 500, or 1997 at Darlington. 1987 at Talladega. 2004 at Homestead. The 1987 Winston. 2001 at Atlanta. 2012 at Watkins Glen. The 1998 Daytona 500.
2002 at Bristol. 1984 Firecracker 400, and any other race you
can remember which still makes you shake your head in disbelief, or smile in remembrance.
After all, not every race can be the 1992
Hooters 500 at Atlanta…but we can always hope.
Be sure to follow me @Forewasabi on Twitter