By Brian T. Smith
Assistant Sports Editor / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: August 18, 2008
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Bristol Motor Speedway President and General Manager Jeff Byrd got what he wished, hoped for and wanted. So did track owner Bruton Smith.
Byrd and Smith – the heart and brains of BMS – have spent months working behind the scenes with NASCAR to move the dates of spring races here farther back on the calendar.
The work has paid dividends.
The Bristol Herald Courier has learned that NASCAR will officially move the Sprint Cup and Nationwide spring races back to the weekend of March 20-22.
“It’s the first weekend of spring,” Byrd said.
The primary reason Byrd and Smith have worked to push back the dates is their inability to control one of mankind’s longtime foes – the weather.
Persistent rain and cold temperatures plagued qualifying for and the running of this year’s Food City 500 and Sharpie Mini 300, which were held March 14-16.
The NASCAR Nationwide Series Sharpie Mini 300, won by Clint Bowyer, was cut short at 171 laps because of rain. Meanwhile, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Food City 500 was run under a dark, rain-filled sky, while fans were forced to bundle up in the grandstands via winter coats, gloves and hats.
And while the date change for the NASCAR spring races at BMS is only one week later in the calendar year, it marks a huge step forward for Byrd and Smith.
The duo is sitting on one of NASCAR nation’s most-prized items: A NASCAR Cup sellout streak that reached 52 in March, and will hit 53 this Saturday with the running of the Sharpie 500.
“Bristol is so great within its own right,” Smith said. “I mean, if you’re trying to make a decision on whether to go to Bristol or Daytona [Motor Speedway], you quickly make the decision to go to Bristol. If you went to Daytona right now and interviewed people, if you interviewed people at NASCAR, they’ll say the one speedway they want to go to is Bristol.”
Meanwhile, Byrd, who has recently questioned whether Bristol Motor Speedway will be able to reach 54 straight sellouts next March, has said that sunshine and warmer weather will go a long way in helping BMS stay on top of the NASCAR world.
“Nobody [at Bristol Motor Speedway] has let down their guard. And, if anything, they feel more challenged than they ever have,” Byrd said. “To understand that, you have to understand how competitive I am. And hopefully that filters down. Anything other than No. 1 in this sport is unacceptable to us.”
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