Old-style racing may return at Bristol as drivers face narrower track for Food City 500
Fans could see more old-style racing at Bristol Motor Speedway during this weekend's Food City 500.
// Archive, NASCAR Illustrated
Bristol Motor Speedway, which has had at least two racing grooves since it added about four feet of width to the concrete racing surface in 2007 resurfacing, won’t have as much racing room for this weekend’s NASCAR races.
Track officials have extended the SAFER barriers more than 160 feet at the exits of Turns 2 and 4 combined. That will eliminate some of the additional four feet of width added to the racing surface in 2007.
And that could change the racing at the track, which fans have complained about the past two years. Fans have begged for a return to the old-style Bristol racing, which featured more bumping and banging, while the drivers have enjoyed having more racing room.
“The racer in you, I liked the two-wide racing,” said Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer. “I still think you’ll be able to do it. I don’t think it will change much. It is going to narrow it up.
“It seems like the fans, they like the emotion, they like the beating and banging on each other and having to knock somebody out of the way to pass them.”
The drivers will adjust to the change when they hit the track Friday and Saturday for practice and hope to be ready for having less room to race in the Food City 500 on Sunday.
“The good thing about us as drivers, after all these years of doing this, it doesn’t matter where they put [the wall], we have to stay a fraction of an inch off of it and use every bit up to it,” said Stewart-Haas Racing’s Tony Stewart. “I am sure it is going to make a difference, there is no doubt about it,
“I mean we all use every bit of room we can get there anyway. It will make the exits of the corners a little tighter but I think the racing will still be good there because of it.”
Drivers might adjust, but there might be some painful lessons before adjusting. Hendrick Motorsports’ Jeff Gordon said some body work might be sacrificed to see just how far into the corner a driver can get.
“I am anxious to get there and see how many right sides we take off the first hour of practice,” Gordon said. “It is like anything else, eventually you get used to it. Then it is going to come down to the side-by-side racing and how that is going to affect that aspect of it.
“I think the most important thing is that you are really going to have to get your car working well because [when] you narrow the track up that means it might be a little harder to pass.”
Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards said he expects the track to remain fun.
“If anything, it’ll make it a little tougher, which, I could tell by the [news] release they put out there that that’s what they want,” Edwards said before joking, “It sounds like they’d put a jump on the back straightaway if they could, which is fine by me if they want to try that.”
