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Lots of words to plow through, but some interesting stuff here: 
http://www.motorsport.com/news/series.asp?S=NASCAR-WCS
Bristol II: Dale Earnhardt Jr. preview
Dale Jr. Quotes for Bristol
"I'm ready! Bristol at night is something I think everyone in the garage looks forward to. It's fun and exciting, and I enjoy it, but Bristol is hard work for the driver. I mean, 500 laps at less than 16 seconds per spin is like being thrown around a wild, violent carnival ride for four hours at a time. It's super hot inside of those cars and you just sit in there workin' your butt off with all kinds of fumes that make you sick. Did I say I enjoyed it? Hell yeah"
"We had a great run there in the spring. We finished fourth and led a lot of laps (181 to be exact). This week, we're gonna try to do the same, except gain three spots at the finish.
"Yeah, Robby Gordon and I had a little disagreement there at the end of that race (March 2002), but we're buddies, so it's past. I think that kind of thing (occasional driver 'conflicts') adds to the sport. I know it's fun for the fans, ya know what I'm saying? Sometimes NASCAR can be a little too perfect, a little too slick, so some genuine emotion from the drivers is a good thing. I think it's a big reason the fans really look forward to this one. Bristol is a lot like a bottle of Budweiser it represents a lot of things that are fun: you know, like chillin' out with your buddies having a cold one on Saturday night. Bristol is like all of the best traditions of local, Saturday-night racing bottled up into one big show."
Bristol II: Tony Stewart preview
Late Season Surge Continues at Bristol
ATLANTA (Aug. 20, 2002) - Since joining the NASCAR Winston Cup Series as a rookie in 1999, Tony Stewart has always enjoyed a late season surge that saw him rack up a bevy of wins and climb upward in the championship point standings. The 2002 season is proving no different.
Stewart enters Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway as the defending race winner along with a win and a runner-up finish in the last two Winston Cup races. Stewart is currently fourth in points, a meager 84 markers behind series lead Sterling Marlin.
While Marlin has held the point lead since the second race of the season at Rockingham (N.C.), Stewart has weathered a roller-coaster season that has seen The Home Depot Pontiac driver go from 43rd in points following the season-opening Daytona 500 to fifth three weeks later at Atlanta, only to move back and forth between seventh and fifth for 10 straight weeks before winning at Watkins Glen (N.Y.). With that win two weeks ago and the strong second-place finish last Sunday at Michigan, Stewart's fourth-place standing and 84-point gap between himself and Marlin is the closest he has been to the point lead all season.
Perhaps even more daunting to his competitors is the fact that of Stewart's 15 career Winston Cup victories, seven have come during the four-month span between August and November - two of which were at night, at short tracks - Richmond (Va.) in 1999 and Bristol last year.
Past history, recent momentum and statistical jargon all point in Stewart's favor for the second to last night race of the 2002 season - the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
You've often said that Bristol is your favorite race track on the entire Winston Cup circuit. Why?
"Bristol is about what driver and which team does the best job and not about who's car is more aerodynamic or who has more horsepower. It's back to basics, really. We'll take a seven-year-old Pontiac body and put it up against the latest from Dodge and Ford and it won't make any difference. You won't hear anybody talking about aero pushes or downforce or dyno numbers. You'll hear them talking about handling and getting up on that wheel and making sure you keep the fenders on the car all night. It's nice to know that we can throw out some of those variables from the equation for one week and worry about beating guys because we did a better job of setting our race car up and I did a better job driving. If you can do that, it doesn't matter what you're driving."
"It's where the most exciting racing is, for sure. I don't know how many people they pack in that place, but you know it's always packed. The racing is great, so I don't know why all these 1.5-mile, cookie-cutter race tracks are being built. How many of those do we go to? Six, seven, eight? It's pretty unimaginative. Bristol is where it's at. It's a driver's track, plain and simple. There's no politicking, just driving."
How big of a win was your trip to victory lane in last year's night race?
"It was one of the most satisfying. I don't think it was the biggest. I still think the biggest was beating Dale Earnhardt in last year's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona (Fla.). It would have been nice to have beat him again that night at Bristol, but it still meant a lot just to win there. It was more of a personal triumph for me than anything. I've always liked Bristol and I've always wanted to win there. I'm just glad we had the opportunity to do that last year."
What were your thoughts the first time you came to Bristol?
"The first time I went there I was amazed. I went there in '96 with Harry Ranier's Busch Series team. We came through that gate and got down into the infield, I looked up and never saw a sight like what I saw that day, and each year it's kept getting bigger and bigger. It has always been my favorite track. Anytime anybody has ever asked me what my favorite track was, I've always said, 'Bristol.' It's just because it's exciting. You can't rest there at all. You can be patient, but you can't rest.
"It's one of those places where there are so many variables and so many things that can go wrong during your race that everything has to be absolutely perfect for you to even stay in the top-five. If you have a perfect day you might run fifth. It's awesome when you can come away with a win like we did last year."
Do you go into Bristol knowing that a little more give-and-take will be needed to ensure a strong finish?
"You've got to make sure that you keep the fenders on your car all night and that you're not beating up your race car. If that means a guy gets underneath you and you've got to let him go, then that's what you do. But at the same time, you still have to race hard and not give up track position and lap times because it doesn't take long before you're in lapped traffic. It's a track where you need to be really aggressive, but at the same time, taking care of your equipment all day is key."
How do you deal with lapped traffic at Bristol?
"You just have to be real patient. Most of the time they're pretty good about letting you go. It's hard. The track's crowded. But I felt that in traffic was where The Home Depot team excelled at times last year. We seemed to get through traffic at the right times and we were able to pull away afterward. I actually look forward to lapped traffic because I'm able to use it to my advantage. It seems like you've got to work lapped traffic at Bristol more than you have to work lapped traffic anywhere else we go."
How important is it to qualify up front at Bristol?
"It's real important. Track position is a big deal at Bristol because it's so hard to pass. It sure makes your night a lot easier if you can qualify up front and stay there during the race."
Because Bristol is so fast and so small and things happen so quickly, are your senses heightened more so than they are at other tracks?
"You just don't have time to relax. Everything happens so fast. At the end of the night when the race is done and your adrenaline wears off, you're worn out. But when you're in the car the adrenaline's pumping, you don't get in that smooth, calm rhythm that you do at a place like Michigan or California where you've got big, sweeping corners and long straightaways. There's no time to relax. You don't get that luxury at Bristol. It's standard short track racing."
Does driver fatigue play a bigger role at Bristol than at other tracks?
"There are some other places where it's big, but you hear a lot of drivers talk about how physical Bristol is. If your car's not right or you're nursing an injury, it can make for a really long race. If your car's right it's not a big factor. But if it's off, it can be a problem."
You seem to thrive during night races, whether they're at Bristol, Richmond (Va.) or Charlotte (N.C.). Why?
"I'm nocturnal basically, so I love the night races. For me, the best hours of the day are when it's dark. After I sleep into 11 o'clock in the morning, I just feel a little more fresh when the green flag drops for a night race. I'm a lot sharper and a lot wider awake at night."
The championship is pretty wide open. You and a lot of other drivers are still very much in the running. Do you think about that with still 13 races remaining in the season?
"No. Winning races is all we care about, to be honest. If you win races the points will take care of itself. There are too many guys and too many variables to even think about point racing. No one really has anything to protect. Everyone has to go out there and try to win as many races as they can. Everyone needs the points because there are just too many good teams bunched together at the top of the standings for anyone to start going conservative."
JIMMY SPENCER (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T)
NOTE: Spencer, a 45-year-old driver from Berwick, Pa., scored a season-best second-place finish in March at Bristol Motor Speedway. Spencer talks about the possibility of breaking his 259-race winless streak under the lights Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
"We had a really good car there in the spring. We were struggling in practice and had a little meeting with Tony and Andy. We talked about the thing that was making us better qualifying, and we actually qualified pretty good (fourth). Then in the race the same thing happened. We were running real good in the race. I feel like the 24 had one of the best cars, and he got in an accident. I felt like we were one of the better cars then. I felt like we were one of the better cars right off the bat, but there's some stiff competition out there.
"We got bumped and ended up finishing second, but that's part of Bristol. Those things can happen. I've got a lot of seconds there. I've got a lot of top fives there. I'm looking forward to it. I've always run well at Bristol. I guess it's a track that fits my style. You can't get caught sleeping there. You've got to stay on top of it all the time and drive it.
"I've always got pumped up for the night race. It's real hot, but there's something about that night race at Bristol. The fans and the lights, to walk out there across that stage and see that crowd of people and the noise. It's just a happening at Bristol. I don't think it's the best track we go to by any means, yet it's the atmosphere. The mental attitude you take because of the excitement of the fans and being real close to the fans. It definitely has the atmosphere of a college ball game where you've got the fans cheering. We have 43 teams there, and it's something a lot of fans look forward to. They've been coming for years and a lot people want to come to the race, but it's sold out. There's always something happening at Bristol, no matter what turn you're in. There's not many tracks that can say that. Bristol is one that can because there's always something happening.
"I think I've done well at Bristol because of that (controlling temper). A lot of times you say, 'he shouldn't have hit me. I'm going to retaliate and take him out.' You always have a chance of taking yourself out, too, if you do that. When you put 43 cars out there you can't focus on one or two cars that bump you. Everybody is going to bump you during the night. It's normal at Bristol. The people who can stay focused on what they do will have a good night there. I always seem to do well there.
"I feel like I should have won the race there in March. I got pushed out of the way so a guy could win the race. The thing that bothers me about the whole deal is that I didn't bump the car that I passed to take the lead. There's been a lot of fault with that particular car with a lot of drivers in the garage area, not just me. I think NASCAR is addressing it the way it should be addressed and the drivers are, too. They're leaving it in NASCAR's hands. You just don't go out there and spin people out deliberately. He did it. At Charlotte he spun out Robby Gordon for no reason and admitted it. You just don't do stuff like that. He'll learn. Without question NASCAR will send him to the principal's office more than once.
"You have to know why you got roughed up. Were you holding a guy up deliberately? Did you make a mistake? You have to know as a driver if you made a mistake and that's why the guy bumps you. Guys don't go out there with full intentions of bumping and knocking their way to the front. I don't think anybody in the garage has that driving attitude. You've got to ask yourself, 'why did Jeff Gordon bump me?' I've bumped Jeff and I've bumped Sterling. You've got to say you made a mistake and that's why you got bumped. Jeff Gordon is no different. Gordon says to himself that he made a little mistake and that's why he got bumped. That's why he's a championship driver. To me, I think if you just keep after your own car, talk to your own crew, focus on what your car is doing, you'll be ahead of the game. Track position is so critical. It's so hard to pass, yet we're seeing a lot of passing done because a lot of guys are pitting and putting tires on and their cars aren't handling quite as good. Then they put two tires on and they come back through there. It's a track that's worse than any track we go to to test your temper.
"I'm not a fan of concrete tracks. I think Bristol was one of the first concrete tracks. I guess it had something to do with the banking. I think Goodyear has done a really good job there over the years with tires. I don't think the concrete is forgiving as asphalt racetracks. I don't think concrete is the answer. It works fairly good at Bristol, but it's still not the Bristol of old. When it was asphalt you could really race at Bristol.. You could race two or three wide and on a half-mile track that's unheard of. It's hard to race at Bristol with the concrete and tires and conditions we run under. It puts that much more emphasis on the car handling good and the tempers not flaring.
"Earnhardt and I had some good races at Bristol. It actually started at South Boston in the Busch Series years ago. We were coming through the field and we got together at South Boston. We were coming through the field again at Bristol one night. We were parked next to each other. I was driving the Lowe's 87 and he was driving the Goodwrench 3. We were racing each other hard. I loved to race Dale Earnhardt. That night, NASCAR thought we were getting out of hand. We ended up finishing third and fourth. I think I beat him. We both got called into the trailer after the race. It went on to the next day, and they called us in. It was fun. We didn't jeopardize anyone else, but NASCAR didn't like what they saw. We agreed with them, but we did race hard. Earnhardt spun me out there one time. It was a deal where I was a little slow through the apex of the turn and he just got a run at me and bumped me. We both spun out. I felt like it cost both of us a shot at winning. I think he thought I was going to get out of the way and I didn't and it crashed both cars. We talked about it, and I miss things like that. I miss Dale Earnhardt a lot. A lot of [guys] don't like encountering people. They don't want to race to the point.... A lot of guys just want to move out of your way. I don't think that's racing. I think racing is when you get underneath a guy, that guy will race you back. A lot of guys when you get underneath them, they just roll out of the throttle and let you go. Earnhardt never would. He was race you until there was no more fight in him. That's something I miss about him.
"I think Tony Stewart races that way, and a lot of people don't like Tony Stewart. I think Tony is a hell of a racer. Ryan Newman has stepped up to the table and I like it. I like the idea of being able to race people.
"I think I've learned a lot through the years. I think I've learned how you're supposed to race in certain situations. I don't think I was treated right at Bristol. I don't know what saved the car, but it was crashed. He didn't hit me once. He hit me twice. Then we came right back to Richmond and Jimmie Johnson got me leading the race at Richmond. I look at that and it cost me a shot at winning two races this year. Maybe if drivers with a little more experience in these cars had been in those situations, those things wouldn't have happened. It's part of growing up. I went through those stages, but it's tough some times.
"I know I can still win races. Today the sport is so competitive. I don't care what you're driving, it's about team chemistry - the driver having confidence in the crew and the crew having confidence in the driver. That's the thing I think you need more than anything.
"I don't think Bristol is our best chance to win. I think we run good at a lot of race tracks. We've run well this year at Darlington, Las Vegas, Richmond, Charlotte. Sterling won Charlotte last fall. I think this team has been in some tough situations. We missed the Daytona 500. We started running good after Daytona and then got off track a little bit. We stumbled, lost confidence in each other or something, but whatever we did we got sidetracked.
"Lots of people were asking last week (at Watkins Glen) what was going on. I think he (Chip Ganassi) did the right thing. The 41 car finished good. I know I could have qualified. I've never missed a race at Watkins Glen before. The transmission went out in the first corner. I missed the race. I don't miss the race if it don't go out. I still think this team can win at a lot of tracks, but the first thing we've got to do is get back where we were banging out the top 10s and top fives. I'm looking forward to Bristol. I think we've got a top 10 car, and that's what we've got to do right now. We've got to start building this team for next year. That starts at Bristol, Richmond trying to get top 10s. To say you're going to a race and try to win cold turkey, I think you've got to be a top 10 car before you can win.
"I led one night at Bristol for 200 and something laps and the throttle linkage broke. I had everybody lapped except the fifth-place car. Travis Carter told me not to lap the guy, and he goes on and wins the race. I never look back. I had Rockingham won one year going away and Earnhardt wasn't even a factor that day. He bumps Bobby Hamilton. He ends up winning the race. My fan belts twisted and spun off the car. I was two to three tenths quicker than any car on the track. Racing is funny. You never know what's going to happen. You can't look back and say I should have done this or I should have done that. You look back as a team and see what you did wrong. You don't need to do it again. Then you look at what you did right. You can go back to Bristol and blow up on the first lap or get caught up in an accident on the first lap. You can't look back and say the track owes you something. You've got to approach Bristol with the attitude that if you can run in the top 10, you've had a good day. Then after the first half of the race and you've got a top10 car, you asked yourself what you can do to the car to make it a winner. There are so many variables to go through. You can change tires and the car goes away. I've gone to Bristol every year knowing that if I do my job right we should have a good night. I love Richmond, too. I've run well there. You just don't go in with the attitude that something happened to you last time so the track owes you something. I'm going to Bristol with the attitude that we'll see what we've got in practice, see what we have in qualifying and then if you do your job right, I think you'll have a chance to do well there."
Bristol II: Kevin Harvick preview
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (August 19, 2002) - For the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, racing at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway is a time warp. For Kevin Harvick, it is a kick back to the old school days of Saturday night racing in the local track feature... under lights, with a packed field, and a bunch of cars with remnants of what used to be fenders.
Already on a disco ball's roll, Harvick now stands as the guy with the momentum in the Winston Cup Series. A better bet than the Pittsburgh Steelers were to win their fourth Super Bowl in 1979, Harvick historically has his best runs at Bristol and will once again go for his first Winston Cup win at the venue.
This weekend, Harvick has the opportunity to race both the NASCAR Busch and Winston Cup Series races. In the Friday night event, Richard Childress Racing will field a No. 29 Sylvania Chevrolet Monte Carlo. And for Saturday, Harvick will run his standard No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet Monte Carlo, talks about Bristol, old school style:
Bristol lovin', had me a blast
"Bristol. I love it. Period. I grew up racing high banked half miles at home in Calif. racing late models. We all grew up racing Saturday night features. I always talk about that when we get to run races under the lights. It's probably getting old that I say that, but it really does take you back. It gets you pumped and makes you remember the old times when it was just about racing.
"A lap around Bristol is intense. Your head's pinned to the right side, you're rubbing up against other cars constantly. If it weren't for cautions I don't now that anyone would survive it. But, we'll never know what that's like because I doubt there will ever be such a thing as a 'Caution Free Bristol.' That'd be impossible. You can win that race in a lot of ways. But if you come away with fenders, you probably weren't the guy who won. Either that or you weren't racing. You can't come away with fenders there. It's just impossible."
Gambling Man
"Bristol is a 50/50 gamble. You may finish, you may not. You smash everything on your car in - you win. You smash everything on your car in - you lose. It's one of the few places that the way a person's car looks at the end has no relation to how they finished. Really, what it comes down to is the guy who finishes the most laps, wins. True, that's every race, but it takes on a whole new meaning at Bristol.
"You can do anything there. Coming from two laps down and doing something out-of-the-ordinary is pretty cool like we did in the Busch car in August last year (coming to win from two laps down). That's Bristol. Nothing is over there until the checkered flag drops."
Working hard for the money "It's a harder race than to get through than most. There's so much banking and you never really have time to breathe, except under cautions. And under the cautions, your body ends up hanging to the left because you contort yourself so much hanging to the right and pulling the car to the right. There's just always something leaning on you. And, it's a short track so it's a little hotter than say a 1.5-mile."
Lady luck
"A lot of everything at Bristol has to do with luck. There are so many things that can happen. Being in the right place at the right time is the best kind of luck you can get. At any given moment someone can wreck you or you can get caught up in a bunch of stuff you had nothing to do with. Out of nowhere three, four, 10 cars can pile up and you get caught in the middle of them. Half the time, it isn't your fault - it probably isn't their fault, but that's where you'll find yourself."
Fishbowl
"You feel like you're on display at Bristol. The fans are right on top of you the way they have built the grandstands. When you're in a racecar at a place like Bristol - where it's so loud just from the cars - it's hard to even hear your team on the radio. But you can see and hear the fans. It really pushes the pit crews too and I owe part of my success at Bristol to the crowd for taking it to the next level."
Notes:
-The No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service team will pit Harvick for both the NASCAR Busch and Cup Series events.
-Kevin Harvick once again leads the NASCAR Winston Cup field in the last six races.
Bristol II: Matt Kenseth preview
Originally-From: [email protected]
MATT KENSETH'S THOUGHTS ON BRISTOL:
"Qualifying is very important at Bristol because it's the only track left on the circuit with a backstretch pit area. If you don't qualify in the front you pit on the back so qualifying well at Bristol is probably more important than any other track this year. We ran very well last spring at Bristol so we expect more of the same this time around. This race is more or less the most exciting race for the fans on the circuit."
CREW CHIEF ROBBIE REISER'S THOUGHTS ON BRISTOL:
"We are taking car 10 this weekend to Bristol. It is the car that finished fourth last year at Loudon and Phoenix and sixth at Bristol and Richmond this season. We are looking to keep this top-10 streak in car 10 alive."
SPOTTER MIKE CALINOFF'S THOUGHTS ON BRISTOL:
"The biggest challenge at Bristol is the fact that you not only have to watch your car and ahead, but you have to be aware of everything that's going on behind as well. Things happen so fast that a wreck behind your driver can turn into something right in front of him in a heartbeat."
NOTES OF INTEREST:
APPEARANCEMatt Kenseth will make an appearance at DEWALT's Rolling Thunder display at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday August 24th. Please check at the No. 17 Roush Racing DEWALT souvenir trailer for times.
BLOOMIN' FAVORITEMatt Kenseth still leads the series in the Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Favorite Driver of the race award. The payoff is $75,000 at the end of the season.
LAP LEADERS...Kenseth has led at least one lap in 11 of the 23 races run this season.
DEWALT MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGEBe the fastest to drive five screws into a piece of wood and you could have a chance to win a million dollars during a nationwide contest from DEWALT Power Tools. DEWALT, the familiar yellow-and-black power tool company, is launching the Million Dollar Challenge, a promotion that runs from April to November to see who's quickest with a cordless drill. DEWALT will hold qualifying events in more than 50 cities nationwide, stopping at various power tool distributors, construction sites, NASCAR races, and other special venues to see who can drive screws the fastest.
Those with the fastest times from each city will advance to one of 16 regional contests, which will be held at select Chevrolet Truck dealerships throughout the country. From there, the top 16 winners will each receive a new 2003 Chevy Express utility van filled with DEWALT tools. They also earn an expense paid trip to the Million Dollar Challenge finals to be held November 8-10 in Phoenix, AZ during NASCAR's race weekend.
http://www.motorsport.com/news/series.asp?S=NASCAR-WCS
Bristol II: Dale Earnhardt Jr. preview
Dale Jr. Quotes for Bristol
"I'm ready! Bristol at night is something I think everyone in the garage looks forward to. It's fun and exciting, and I enjoy it, but Bristol is hard work for the driver. I mean, 500 laps at less than 16 seconds per spin is like being thrown around a wild, violent carnival ride for four hours at a time. It's super hot inside of those cars and you just sit in there workin' your butt off with all kinds of fumes that make you sick. Did I say I enjoyed it? Hell yeah"
"We had a great run there in the spring. We finished fourth and led a lot of laps (181 to be exact). This week, we're gonna try to do the same, except gain three spots at the finish.
"Yeah, Robby Gordon and I had a little disagreement there at the end of that race (March 2002), but we're buddies, so it's past. I think that kind of thing (occasional driver 'conflicts') adds to the sport. I know it's fun for the fans, ya know what I'm saying? Sometimes NASCAR can be a little too perfect, a little too slick, so some genuine emotion from the drivers is a good thing. I think it's a big reason the fans really look forward to this one. Bristol is a lot like a bottle of Budweiser it represents a lot of things that are fun: you know, like chillin' out with your buddies having a cold one on Saturday night. Bristol is like all of the best traditions of local, Saturday-night racing bottled up into one big show."
Bristol II: Tony Stewart preview
Late Season Surge Continues at Bristol
ATLANTA (Aug. 20, 2002) - Since joining the NASCAR Winston Cup Series as a rookie in 1999, Tony Stewart has always enjoyed a late season surge that saw him rack up a bevy of wins and climb upward in the championship point standings. The 2002 season is proving no different.
Stewart enters Saturday night's Sharpie 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway as the defending race winner along with a win and a runner-up finish in the last two Winston Cup races. Stewart is currently fourth in points, a meager 84 markers behind series lead Sterling Marlin.
While Marlin has held the point lead since the second race of the season at Rockingham (N.C.), Stewart has weathered a roller-coaster season that has seen The Home Depot Pontiac driver go from 43rd in points following the season-opening Daytona 500 to fifth three weeks later at Atlanta, only to move back and forth between seventh and fifth for 10 straight weeks before winning at Watkins Glen (N.Y.). With that win two weeks ago and the strong second-place finish last Sunday at Michigan, Stewart's fourth-place standing and 84-point gap between himself and Marlin is the closest he has been to the point lead all season.
Perhaps even more daunting to his competitors is the fact that of Stewart's 15 career Winston Cup victories, seven have come during the four-month span between August and November - two of which were at night, at short tracks - Richmond (Va.) in 1999 and Bristol last year.
Past history, recent momentum and statistical jargon all point in Stewart's favor for the second to last night race of the 2002 season - the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
You've often said that Bristol is your favorite race track on the entire Winston Cup circuit. Why?
"Bristol is about what driver and which team does the best job and not about who's car is more aerodynamic or who has more horsepower. It's back to basics, really. We'll take a seven-year-old Pontiac body and put it up against the latest from Dodge and Ford and it won't make any difference. You won't hear anybody talking about aero pushes or downforce or dyno numbers. You'll hear them talking about handling and getting up on that wheel and making sure you keep the fenders on the car all night. It's nice to know that we can throw out some of those variables from the equation for one week and worry about beating guys because we did a better job of setting our race car up and I did a better job driving. If you can do that, it doesn't matter what you're driving."
"It's where the most exciting racing is, for sure. I don't know how many people they pack in that place, but you know it's always packed. The racing is great, so I don't know why all these 1.5-mile, cookie-cutter race tracks are being built. How many of those do we go to? Six, seven, eight? It's pretty unimaginative. Bristol is where it's at. It's a driver's track, plain and simple. There's no politicking, just driving."
How big of a win was your trip to victory lane in last year's night race?
"It was one of the most satisfying. I don't think it was the biggest. I still think the biggest was beating Dale Earnhardt in last year's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona (Fla.). It would have been nice to have beat him again that night at Bristol, but it still meant a lot just to win there. It was more of a personal triumph for me than anything. I've always liked Bristol and I've always wanted to win there. I'm just glad we had the opportunity to do that last year."
What were your thoughts the first time you came to Bristol?
"The first time I went there I was amazed. I went there in '96 with Harry Ranier's Busch Series team. We came through that gate and got down into the infield, I looked up and never saw a sight like what I saw that day, and each year it's kept getting bigger and bigger. It has always been my favorite track. Anytime anybody has ever asked me what my favorite track was, I've always said, 'Bristol.' It's just because it's exciting. You can't rest there at all. You can be patient, but you can't rest.
"It's one of those places where there are so many variables and so many things that can go wrong during your race that everything has to be absolutely perfect for you to even stay in the top-five. If you have a perfect day you might run fifth. It's awesome when you can come away with a win like we did last year."
Do you go into Bristol knowing that a little more give-and-take will be needed to ensure a strong finish?
"You've got to make sure that you keep the fenders on your car all night and that you're not beating up your race car. If that means a guy gets underneath you and you've got to let him go, then that's what you do. But at the same time, you still have to race hard and not give up track position and lap times because it doesn't take long before you're in lapped traffic. It's a track where you need to be really aggressive, but at the same time, taking care of your equipment all day is key."
How do you deal with lapped traffic at Bristol?
"You just have to be real patient. Most of the time they're pretty good about letting you go. It's hard. The track's crowded. But I felt that in traffic was where The Home Depot team excelled at times last year. We seemed to get through traffic at the right times and we were able to pull away afterward. I actually look forward to lapped traffic because I'm able to use it to my advantage. It seems like you've got to work lapped traffic at Bristol more than you have to work lapped traffic anywhere else we go."
How important is it to qualify up front at Bristol?
"It's real important. Track position is a big deal at Bristol because it's so hard to pass. It sure makes your night a lot easier if you can qualify up front and stay there during the race."
Because Bristol is so fast and so small and things happen so quickly, are your senses heightened more so than they are at other tracks?
"You just don't have time to relax. Everything happens so fast. At the end of the night when the race is done and your adrenaline wears off, you're worn out. But when you're in the car the adrenaline's pumping, you don't get in that smooth, calm rhythm that you do at a place like Michigan or California where you've got big, sweeping corners and long straightaways. There's no time to relax. You don't get that luxury at Bristol. It's standard short track racing."
Does driver fatigue play a bigger role at Bristol than at other tracks?
"There are some other places where it's big, but you hear a lot of drivers talk about how physical Bristol is. If your car's not right or you're nursing an injury, it can make for a really long race. If your car's right it's not a big factor. But if it's off, it can be a problem."
You seem to thrive during night races, whether they're at Bristol, Richmond (Va.) or Charlotte (N.C.). Why?
"I'm nocturnal basically, so I love the night races. For me, the best hours of the day are when it's dark. After I sleep into 11 o'clock in the morning, I just feel a little more fresh when the green flag drops for a night race. I'm a lot sharper and a lot wider awake at night."
The championship is pretty wide open. You and a lot of other drivers are still very much in the running. Do you think about that with still 13 races remaining in the season?
"No. Winning races is all we care about, to be honest. If you win races the points will take care of itself. There are too many guys and too many variables to even think about point racing. No one really has anything to protect. Everyone has to go out there and try to win as many races as they can. Everyone needs the points because there are just too many good teams bunched together at the top of the standings for anyone to start going conservative."
JIMMY SPENCER (No. 41 Target Dodge Intrepid R/T)
NOTE: Spencer, a 45-year-old driver from Berwick, Pa., scored a season-best second-place finish in March at Bristol Motor Speedway. Spencer talks about the possibility of breaking his 259-race winless streak under the lights Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
"We had a really good car there in the spring. We were struggling in practice and had a little meeting with Tony and Andy. We talked about the thing that was making us better qualifying, and we actually qualified pretty good (fourth). Then in the race the same thing happened. We were running real good in the race. I feel like the 24 had one of the best cars, and he got in an accident. I felt like we were one of the better cars then. I felt like we were one of the better cars right off the bat, but there's some stiff competition out there.
"We got bumped and ended up finishing second, but that's part of Bristol. Those things can happen. I've got a lot of seconds there. I've got a lot of top fives there. I'm looking forward to it. I've always run well at Bristol. I guess it's a track that fits my style. You can't get caught sleeping there. You've got to stay on top of it all the time and drive it.
"I've always got pumped up for the night race. It's real hot, but there's something about that night race at Bristol. The fans and the lights, to walk out there across that stage and see that crowd of people and the noise. It's just a happening at Bristol. I don't think it's the best track we go to by any means, yet it's the atmosphere. The mental attitude you take because of the excitement of the fans and being real close to the fans. It definitely has the atmosphere of a college ball game where you've got the fans cheering. We have 43 teams there, and it's something a lot of fans look forward to. They've been coming for years and a lot people want to come to the race, but it's sold out. There's always something happening at Bristol, no matter what turn you're in. There's not many tracks that can say that. Bristol is one that can because there's always something happening.
"I think I've done well at Bristol because of that (controlling temper). A lot of times you say, 'he shouldn't have hit me. I'm going to retaliate and take him out.' You always have a chance of taking yourself out, too, if you do that. When you put 43 cars out there you can't focus on one or two cars that bump you. Everybody is going to bump you during the night. It's normal at Bristol. The people who can stay focused on what they do will have a good night there. I always seem to do well there.
"I feel like I should have won the race there in March. I got pushed out of the way so a guy could win the race. The thing that bothers me about the whole deal is that I didn't bump the car that I passed to take the lead. There's been a lot of fault with that particular car with a lot of drivers in the garage area, not just me. I think NASCAR is addressing it the way it should be addressed and the drivers are, too. They're leaving it in NASCAR's hands. You just don't go out there and spin people out deliberately. He did it. At Charlotte he spun out Robby Gordon for no reason and admitted it. You just don't do stuff like that. He'll learn. Without question NASCAR will send him to the principal's office more than once.
"You have to know why you got roughed up. Were you holding a guy up deliberately? Did you make a mistake? You have to know as a driver if you made a mistake and that's why the guy bumps you. Guys don't go out there with full intentions of bumping and knocking their way to the front. I don't think anybody in the garage has that driving attitude. You've got to ask yourself, 'why did Jeff Gordon bump me?' I've bumped Jeff and I've bumped Sterling. You've got to say you made a mistake and that's why you got bumped. Jeff Gordon is no different. Gordon says to himself that he made a little mistake and that's why he got bumped. That's why he's a championship driver. To me, I think if you just keep after your own car, talk to your own crew, focus on what your car is doing, you'll be ahead of the game. Track position is so critical. It's so hard to pass, yet we're seeing a lot of passing done because a lot of guys are pitting and putting tires on and their cars aren't handling quite as good. Then they put two tires on and they come back through there. It's a track that's worse than any track we go to to test your temper.
"I'm not a fan of concrete tracks. I think Bristol was one of the first concrete tracks. I guess it had something to do with the banking. I think Goodyear has done a really good job there over the years with tires. I don't think the concrete is forgiving as asphalt racetracks. I don't think concrete is the answer. It works fairly good at Bristol, but it's still not the Bristol of old. When it was asphalt you could really race at Bristol.. You could race two or three wide and on a half-mile track that's unheard of. It's hard to race at Bristol with the concrete and tires and conditions we run under. It puts that much more emphasis on the car handling good and the tempers not flaring.
"Earnhardt and I had some good races at Bristol. It actually started at South Boston in the Busch Series years ago. We were coming through the field and we got together at South Boston. We were coming through the field again at Bristol one night. We were parked next to each other. I was driving the Lowe's 87 and he was driving the Goodwrench 3. We were racing each other hard. I loved to race Dale Earnhardt. That night, NASCAR thought we were getting out of hand. We ended up finishing third and fourth. I think I beat him. We both got called into the trailer after the race. It went on to the next day, and they called us in. It was fun. We didn't jeopardize anyone else, but NASCAR didn't like what they saw. We agreed with them, but we did race hard. Earnhardt spun me out there one time. It was a deal where I was a little slow through the apex of the turn and he just got a run at me and bumped me. We both spun out. I felt like it cost both of us a shot at winning. I think he thought I was going to get out of the way and I didn't and it crashed both cars. We talked about it, and I miss things like that. I miss Dale Earnhardt a lot. A lot of [guys] don't like encountering people. They don't want to race to the point.... A lot of guys just want to move out of your way. I don't think that's racing. I think racing is when you get underneath a guy, that guy will race you back. A lot of guys when you get underneath them, they just roll out of the throttle and let you go. Earnhardt never would. He was race you until there was no more fight in him. That's something I miss about him.
"I think Tony Stewart races that way, and a lot of people don't like Tony Stewart. I think Tony is a hell of a racer. Ryan Newman has stepped up to the table and I like it. I like the idea of being able to race people.
"I think I've learned a lot through the years. I think I've learned how you're supposed to race in certain situations. I don't think I was treated right at Bristol. I don't know what saved the car, but it was crashed. He didn't hit me once. He hit me twice. Then we came right back to Richmond and Jimmie Johnson got me leading the race at Richmond. I look at that and it cost me a shot at winning two races this year. Maybe if drivers with a little more experience in these cars had been in those situations, those things wouldn't have happened. It's part of growing up. I went through those stages, but it's tough some times.
"I know I can still win races. Today the sport is so competitive. I don't care what you're driving, it's about team chemistry - the driver having confidence in the crew and the crew having confidence in the driver. That's the thing I think you need more than anything.
"I don't think Bristol is our best chance to win. I think we run good at a lot of race tracks. We've run well this year at Darlington, Las Vegas, Richmond, Charlotte. Sterling won Charlotte last fall. I think this team has been in some tough situations. We missed the Daytona 500. We started running good after Daytona and then got off track a little bit. We stumbled, lost confidence in each other or something, but whatever we did we got sidetracked.
"Lots of people were asking last week (at Watkins Glen) what was going on. I think he (Chip Ganassi) did the right thing. The 41 car finished good. I know I could have qualified. I've never missed a race at Watkins Glen before. The transmission went out in the first corner. I missed the race. I don't miss the race if it don't go out. I still think this team can win at a lot of tracks, but the first thing we've got to do is get back where we were banging out the top 10s and top fives. I'm looking forward to Bristol. I think we've got a top 10 car, and that's what we've got to do right now. We've got to start building this team for next year. That starts at Bristol, Richmond trying to get top 10s. To say you're going to a race and try to win cold turkey, I think you've got to be a top 10 car before you can win.
"I led one night at Bristol for 200 and something laps and the throttle linkage broke. I had everybody lapped except the fifth-place car. Travis Carter told me not to lap the guy, and he goes on and wins the race. I never look back. I had Rockingham won one year going away and Earnhardt wasn't even a factor that day. He bumps Bobby Hamilton. He ends up winning the race. My fan belts twisted and spun off the car. I was two to three tenths quicker than any car on the track. Racing is funny. You never know what's going to happen. You can't look back and say I should have done this or I should have done that. You look back as a team and see what you did wrong. You don't need to do it again. Then you look at what you did right. You can go back to Bristol and blow up on the first lap or get caught up in an accident on the first lap. You can't look back and say the track owes you something. You've got to approach Bristol with the attitude that if you can run in the top 10, you've had a good day. Then after the first half of the race and you've got a top10 car, you asked yourself what you can do to the car to make it a winner. There are so many variables to go through. You can change tires and the car goes away. I've gone to Bristol every year knowing that if I do my job right we should have a good night. I love Richmond, too. I've run well there. You just don't go in with the attitude that something happened to you last time so the track owes you something. I'm going to Bristol with the attitude that we'll see what we've got in practice, see what we have in qualifying and then if you do your job right, I think you'll have a chance to do well there."
Bristol II: Kevin Harvick preview
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (August 19, 2002) - For the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year, racing at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway is a time warp. For Kevin Harvick, it is a kick back to the old school days of Saturday night racing in the local track feature... under lights, with a packed field, and a bunch of cars with remnants of what used to be fenders.
Already on a disco ball's roll, Harvick now stands as the guy with the momentum in the Winston Cup Series. A better bet than the Pittsburgh Steelers were to win their fourth Super Bowl in 1979, Harvick historically has his best runs at Bristol and will once again go for his first Winston Cup win at the venue.
This weekend, Harvick has the opportunity to race both the NASCAR Busch and Winston Cup Series races. In the Friday night event, Richard Childress Racing will field a No. 29 Sylvania Chevrolet Monte Carlo. And for Saturday, Harvick will run his standard No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Kevin Harvick, driver of the No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service Chevrolet Monte Carlo, talks about Bristol, old school style:
Bristol lovin', had me a blast
"Bristol. I love it. Period. I grew up racing high banked half miles at home in Calif. racing late models. We all grew up racing Saturday night features. I always talk about that when we get to run races under the lights. It's probably getting old that I say that, but it really does take you back. It gets you pumped and makes you remember the old times when it was just about racing.
"A lap around Bristol is intense. Your head's pinned to the right side, you're rubbing up against other cars constantly. If it weren't for cautions I don't now that anyone would survive it. But, we'll never know what that's like because I doubt there will ever be such a thing as a 'Caution Free Bristol.' That'd be impossible. You can win that race in a lot of ways. But if you come away with fenders, you probably weren't the guy who won. Either that or you weren't racing. You can't come away with fenders there. It's just impossible."
Gambling Man
"Bristol is a 50/50 gamble. You may finish, you may not. You smash everything on your car in - you win. You smash everything on your car in - you lose. It's one of the few places that the way a person's car looks at the end has no relation to how they finished. Really, what it comes down to is the guy who finishes the most laps, wins. True, that's every race, but it takes on a whole new meaning at Bristol.
"You can do anything there. Coming from two laps down and doing something out-of-the-ordinary is pretty cool like we did in the Busch car in August last year (coming to win from two laps down). That's Bristol. Nothing is over there until the checkered flag drops."
Working hard for the money "It's a harder race than to get through than most. There's so much banking and you never really have time to breathe, except under cautions. And under the cautions, your body ends up hanging to the left because you contort yourself so much hanging to the right and pulling the car to the right. There's just always something leaning on you. And, it's a short track so it's a little hotter than say a 1.5-mile."
Lady luck
"A lot of everything at Bristol has to do with luck. There are so many things that can happen. Being in the right place at the right time is the best kind of luck you can get. At any given moment someone can wreck you or you can get caught up in a bunch of stuff you had nothing to do with. Out of nowhere three, four, 10 cars can pile up and you get caught in the middle of them. Half the time, it isn't your fault - it probably isn't their fault, but that's where you'll find yourself."
Fishbowl
"You feel like you're on display at Bristol. The fans are right on top of you the way they have built the grandstands. When you're in a racecar at a place like Bristol - where it's so loud just from the cars - it's hard to even hear your team on the radio. But you can see and hear the fans. It really pushes the pit crews too and I owe part of my success at Bristol to the crowd for taking it to the next level."
Notes:
-The No. 29 GM Goodwrench Service team will pit Harvick for both the NASCAR Busch and Cup Series events.
-Kevin Harvick once again leads the NASCAR Winston Cup field in the last six races.
Bristol II: Matt Kenseth preview
Originally-From: [email protected]
MATT KENSETH'S THOUGHTS ON BRISTOL:
"Qualifying is very important at Bristol because it's the only track left on the circuit with a backstretch pit area. If you don't qualify in the front you pit on the back so qualifying well at Bristol is probably more important than any other track this year. We ran very well last spring at Bristol so we expect more of the same this time around. This race is more or less the most exciting race for the fans on the circuit."
CREW CHIEF ROBBIE REISER'S THOUGHTS ON BRISTOL:
"We are taking car 10 this weekend to Bristol. It is the car that finished fourth last year at Loudon and Phoenix and sixth at Bristol and Richmond this season. We are looking to keep this top-10 streak in car 10 alive."
SPOTTER MIKE CALINOFF'S THOUGHTS ON BRISTOL:
"The biggest challenge at Bristol is the fact that you not only have to watch your car and ahead, but you have to be aware of everything that's going on behind as well. Things happen so fast that a wreck behind your driver can turn into something right in front of him in a heartbeat."
NOTES OF INTEREST:
APPEARANCEMatt Kenseth will make an appearance at DEWALT's Rolling Thunder display at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday August 24th. Please check at the No. 17 Roush Racing DEWALT souvenir trailer for times.
BLOOMIN' FAVORITEMatt Kenseth still leads the series in the Outback Steakhouse Bloomin' Favorite Driver of the race award. The payoff is $75,000 at the end of the season.
LAP LEADERS...Kenseth has led at least one lap in 11 of the 23 races run this season.
DEWALT MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGEBe the fastest to drive five screws into a piece of wood and you could have a chance to win a million dollars during a nationwide contest from DEWALT Power Tools. DEWALT, the familiar yellow-and-black power tool company, is launching the Million Dollar Challenge, a promotion that runs from April to November to see who's quickest with a cordless drill. DEWALT will hold qualifying events in more than 50 cities nationwide, stopping at various power tool distributors, construction sites, NASCAR races, and other special venues to see who can drive screws the fastest.
Those with the fastest times from each city will advance to one of 16 regional contests, which will be held at select Chevrolet Truck dealerships throughout the country. From there, the top 16 winners will each receive a new 2003 Chevy Express utility van filled with DEWALT tools. They also earn an expense paid trip to the Million Dollar Challenge finals to be held November 8-10 in Phoenix, AZ during NASCAR's race weekend.
