Is the Bristol Night Race the 4th Jewel?

Daytripper said:
I don't think the brickyard should be a jewel. Indianapolis is the jewel of a different series, and it doesn't put on a good race with stock cars.
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And if it does, it's the fifth. Bristol night race was a jewel long before NASCAR ran at Indy. D500, Southern 500, the 600, and Bristol night race; and THEN Indy.
 
As long as the garage maintains that the Brickyard is a crown jewel, I’m not anyone to tell them they’re wrong. For as long as I can remember, drivers and crew members alike have valued Indy more than the hardcore fan - and I understand either argument. I just can’t say they’re wrong if that’s what it really means to them. Certainly one of the more interesting disconnects between the teams and fans that exists. I thought it was fascinating that it was the first one Chase mentioned when he has yet to win a crown jewel event and could’ve picked any of them.
 
StandOnIt said:
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Some of the best racing produced by this car and absolutely the best short track racing produced by it. Not even close.
I'm glad I had the privilege of enduring biblical flooding and 3 straight years of wondering if it was going to be a wash out to be able to witness this event.
Easter service with a nice cold Busch Light and hearing Tim Tebow speak was amazing, but I'll be enjoy my ham at home this year.
 
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Old 97 said:
Some of the best racing produced by this car and absolutely the best short track racing produced by it. Not even close.
I'm glad I had the privilege of enduring biblical flooding and 3 straight years of wondering if it was going to be a wash out to be able to witness this event.
Easter service with a nice cold Busch Light and hearing Tim Tebow speak was amazing, but I'll be enjoy my ham at home this year.
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Glad you enjoyed, to me it was just a gimmick that didn't work. Seems the powers that be agree with me as it didn't last very long. I don't think cup cars should be running on dirt, but if they do at least put them on a real dirt track.
 
Daytripper said:
Glad you enjoyed, to me it was just a gimmick that didn't work. Seems the powers that be agree with me as it didn't last very long. I don't think cup cars should be running on dirt, but if they do at least put them on a real dirt track.
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TV must have totally sucked if they couldn't showcase the actual racing. All 3 years were full of action from flag to flag.
Hopefully NASCAR has a better short track package this year. If not, then we will just have one more suckfest at Bristol.
 
Five jewels....Bristol Night Race, Indy, 600, 500, and Southern 500. The 500 is the most important....and then the ranking of the rest is open to discussion IMO.
 
I’d say it’s the Daytona 500, Coca Cola 600, Brickyard 400 and Southern 500 based on those that drive the cars for a living say and those involved with the teams say. Not going to disagree with them.
 
sdj said:
Having been to the Bristol Night Race 6 times and the Daytona 500 5 times, the COKE 600 12 times, Dega 2 times, Pepsi 400 over 10 times. I would take Bristol Night Race over all that I have been to. The electric atmosphere at Bristol is intoxicating.
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You talk about a NASCAR being a sensory experience, Bristol is an assault on all of those. The noise and action is shocking at first
 
I've never considered Indy to be a NASCAR crown jewel. The Indy 500, Grand Prix of Monaco, and Daytona 500 are the three most important races in the world (and the order is interchangeable, depending on fandom), but I don't think NASCAR's history at Indy warrants it being a crown jewel for NASCAR. If anything, it feels like piggybacking off of IndyCar's history.
 
sdj said:
Having been to the Bristol Night Race 6 times and the Daytona 500 5 times, the COKE 600 12 times, Dega 2 times, Pepsi 400 over 10 times. I would take Bristol Night Race over all that I have been to. The electric atmosphere at Bristol is intoxicating.
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Denny beat your favorite driver....but don't worry.....he beat all of them!
 


Marty Snider said it was a Crown Jewel....so the question is answered.....and Denny beat your favorite driver.
 
sdj said:
Thank you for making it make sense to all of us.

Denny is still a card carrying asshoe though.
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So, we have Most of Us (MOU), Some of Us (SOU), and now All of Us (AOU).....Hard to keep up around here.
 
StandOnIt said:
Not sure? lol. That pigeon craps on every thread.
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28car said:
don’t put off going
had a chance to go to Bristol back when Davey was still racing……said no, don’t have the money
going to Bristol in September…….roughly 30 years later from my first chance
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Davey won the first ever race I went to and it was Bristol 1990. Beat Mark by 8 inches. Day before Mikey about killed himself in a wreck like nothing ever seen before.
Needless to say, I was hooked.

And I'm old school so I always refer back to the Winston Million.
Daytona 500-Richest (still?)
Southern 500-Oldest?
Talledega-Fastest
Coke 600-Longest

Birstol Night and Indy are on everyone's list of wins they want though.
 
donthaveanickname said:
Le Mans is WAY more prestigious than Daytona and always has been
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I don't know how I forgot about Le Mans, especially since it forms part of the historic Triple Crown.

Like I said, your ordering of the 4 big races depends on your fandom and preferences. Le Mans is way more prestigious in Europe but I don't think that carries in North America.
 
donthaveanickname said:
Le Mans is WAY more prestigious than Daytona and always has been
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That depends on which side of the pond you live. If we had better coverage of LeMans in the U.S. and decent U.S. efforts for the race it would help. But it seems the way they shuffle things around sometimes that they are making it difficult to compete at times.
 
The Nature Boy said:
I don't know how I forgot about Le Mans, especially since it forms part of the historic Triple Crown.

Like I said, your ordering of the 4 big races depends on your fandom and preferences. Le Mans is way more prestigious in Europe but I don't think that carries in North America.
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Sports car racing is on the rise. Le Mans just needs to be put in front of American eyeballs.
 
StandOnIt said:
If we had better coverage of LeMans in the U.S. and decent U.S. efforts for the race it would help.
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AndyMarquisLive said:
Sports car racing is on the rise. Le Mans just needs to be put in front of American eyeballs.
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I dunno. I keep hearing how generations younger than mine want their sports entertainment delivered in shorter packages. Those two-hour races may be one reason why F1 is increasing in popularity in the US. (It's also doing so without a 'decent U.S. effort'.) If there's increased interest in sports car racing, I don't see how the extended endurance races fit what the young'uns want.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
I dunno. I keep hearing how generations younger than mine want their sports entertainment delivered in shorter packages. Those two-hour races may be one reason why F1 is increasing in popularity in the US. (It's also doing so without a 'decent U.S. effort'.) If there's increased interest in sports car racing, I don't see how the extended endurance races fit what the young'uns want.
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I don't think an endurance race is going to hook the youth unless you make an event out of it. Weekend festivals and things like that are popular with young people these days (see: Coachella, Burning Man, and the failed FIRE festival), so there is a space where an endurance race could thrive but I don't think it's a space where current fans would be happy.

Charlie Spencer said:
Those two-hour races may be one reason why F1 is increasing in popularity in the US. (It's also doing so without a 'decent U.S. effort'.)
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I would argue though that F1 has put a lot of effort into the U.S. market. The Netflix show "Drive to Survive" was a big catalyst for F1's recent boom. The short racing (with no commercials to boot) combined with a reality show that humanized the drivers played a huge role in getting people interested. F1 also added a second and third race in the United States in Miami and Las Vegas in the last couple of years. F1 saw an opening in the U.S. and they're smartly leveraging it.
 
IMO: The distinction of a “Crown Jewel” should be a collective acknowledgement by drivers and fans. It must (by its nature) be linked to deeper historic values beyond the fan experience. There Is no real debate around the “triple crown”; Daytona 500, Charlotte 600, Southern 500. All three are among the most historic tracks, with these races being the most valued. Agree that drivers would make Indy a fourth jewel. it checks all the boxes and then some…EXCEPT its major history is tied to a different series. But they and the teams love it. Fans would make the Bristol night race the 4th jewel. It is an awesome event and has some history but really is more of an invention of the changes made to it over time.

Frankly I’d consider the fall race at Martinsville to be the fourth jewel. Martinsville Speedway is only track which has hosted NASCAR Cup Series races every year since the division’s inception in 1949, making it the most historic track of NASCAR. Its unique design, in its original configuration, delivers classic short track competition. It is prestigious to drivers and fans alike.
 
Conover said:
IMO: The distinction of a “Crown Jewel” should be a collective acknowledgement by drivers and fans. It must (by its nature) be linked to deeper historic values beyond the fan experience. There Is no real debate around the “triple crown”; Daytona 500, Charlotte 600, Southern 500. All three are among the most historic tracks, with these races being the most valued. Agree that drivers would make Indy a fourth jewel. it checks all the boxes and then some…EXCEPT its major history is tied to a different series. But they and the teams love it. Fans would make the Bristol night race the 4th jewel. It is an awesome event and has some history but really is more of an invention of the changes made to it over time.

Frankly I’d consider the fall race at Martinsville to be the fourth jewel. Martinsville Speedway is only track which has hosted NASCAR Cup Series races every year since the division’s inception in 1949, making it the most historic track of NASCAR. Its unique design, in its original configuration, delivers classic short track competition. It is prestigious to drivers and fans alike.
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The TV ratings for the Brickyard 400 say the fans consider it a crown jewel.
 
The Nature Boy said:
Like I said, your ordering of the 4 big races depends on your fandom and preferences. Le Mans is way more prestigious in Europe but I don't think that carries in North America.
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Unlike the other races the Daytona 500 has zero relevance on the global stage. It's a purely national event.
The Nature Boy said:
I don't think an endurance race is going to hook the youth unless you make an event out of it. Weekend festivals and things like that are popular with young people these days (see: Coachella, Burning Man, and the failed FIRE festival), so there is a space where an endurance race could thrive but I don't think it's a space where current fans would be happy.
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The Nürburgring 24h week is one huge party. That's what endurance racing needs to create a bigger fanbase.

The Nature Boy said:
I would argue though that F1 has put a lot of effort into the U.S. market. The Netflix show "Drive to Survive" was a big catalyst for F1's recent boom. The short racing (with no commercials to boot) combined with a reality show that humanized the drivers played a huge role in getting people interested. F1 also added a second and third race in the United States in Miami and Las Vegas in the last couple of years. F1 saw an opening in the U.S. and they're smartly leveraging it.
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I agree. F1 has been caring more for the US than any other market since Liberty purchased F1 Group in 2017. They added two races in the states in the last two years and seem to be open to adding more.
DTS is targeting a mainly American audience and they also moved European races to a later start time to make them more accessible to American viewers.
European fans on the other hand think that F1 takes them for granted and puts little effort into keeping them interested.
 
As far as short tracks go I like Bristol the best. You can actually pass there. There isn't a driver now days in Nascar that wants to goon it up and and run another driver out of the groove to pass. Any that do are quickly suffocated by angry fan outrage and possible penalties by Nascar. Drivers want to avoid the wrath from all of that if possible except Hamlin.
 
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