Race Review: Sharpie 500

Welcome race fans to Thunder Valley, home of the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN. This is the 24th race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The Sharpie 500 takes place at the World’s Fastest Half Mile, and being that this race is held at night, it’s one of the most exciting races of the year. Qualifying took place on Friday, with 5 Mark Martin grabbing the pole with a speed of 124.484. 16 Greg Biffle sits next to him on the front row.

08 past Champion Terry Labonte got in on speed. The 4 car is back with Scott Wimmer driving. Failing to make the race were 36 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Mike skinner, 13 Max Papis, 64 Mike Wallace (no Wallace will be in this race!) and 09 Aric Almirola. He did, however race on Wednesday in his 15 truck. The children of the track Outreach sang the National Anthem. I always love it when they sing. They know all the words and sing the song like it was written. Most entertainers who sing it never looked at the words or notes.

A few years ago, they repaved this .533 mile track. And made it concrete, and put in progressive banking. There is now more room to race and more grip to stay on the track. Some say they ruined it. I say they made it more raceable. You can now get by another car without crashing them out of the way. And I really don’t like all that follow the pace car racing after all the many caution flags. I like to watch racing, not bumping and crashing. So, for me, the track is better. They go around the track in less than 16 seconds. That’s “racing the way it ought’a be”.

So, here we go. 16 Biffle leads the first lap. 82 Scott Speed goes with him past 5 Martin who was on the pole. 5 and 82 battle again, and 5 takes second. The first caution comes out on lap 3 when 20 Joey Logano gets into the wall. 43 Reed Sorenson was there, where 20 wanted to be. 99 Carl Edwards battles with 24 Jeff Gordon. 11 Denny Hamlin battles 99. 00 David Reutimann and 07 Casey Mears get together. 48 Jimmy Johnson and 29 Kevin Harvick race side by side for position. 48 takes it. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gets by 07. 17 Matt Kenseth battles with 5 for second.

The second caution comes out when 11 gets a flat tire. 5 led a lap on pit road. 14 Tony Stewart stays out in front of the leader and gets waved around. However, he may not pit this caution. 16 comes out of the pits first to lead. 5 and 16 battle side by side for the lead. 2 Kurt Busch and 33 Clint Bowyer trade places. 5 takes the lead. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya and 48 get by 33. 17 and 00 battle, with 18 Kyle Busch trying to make it three wide. 24 gets by 7 Robby Gordon. 00 and 18 get by 17. 42 and 48 battle for fourth. 5 puts points leader 14 a lap down. 1 Martin Truex, Jr. is really fast on the top of the track. 5 laps 99.

The third caution comes out on lap 135 for debris. A brake rotor from 44 A. J. Allmendinger. 19 Elliott Sadler is the Lucky Dog, and gets his lap back. 14 gets held back so he can go to the back of the field for the restart. 5 chooses the outside. 48 and 2 battle for second. 48 takes the spot, and 2 takes it back.

The fourth caution comes out during the commercial. 96 Bobby Labonte spins in front of 11. 11 Denny Hamlin is the Lucky Dog and stays on the lead lap. 24 is too tight and pits. Stewart is having trouble communicating with his crew. 18 gets by brother 2 for second. 2 gets back by him by getting into him. 24 gets into 31 Jeff Burton. They are racing three wide around this tiny track! 42 and 00 battle side by side. 47 Marcos Ambrose gets by 48 for fourth. 47 gets by 18 for third. 31 battles to stay on the lead lap. 34 John Andretti gets into the wall. He broke something, and pits. Which brings on the fifth caution for debris.

5 is out of the pits first again. As the pole sitter, he had his choice of pits. And the choice is working for him. 14 still has radio problems. The crew of 2 didn’t get the tear away completely off the windshield. 1 takes second from 48. 2 and 47 battle for fourth. 2 takes it. The tear off flies off 2’s car and it goes up and up and into the fence. 48 takes the lead. 5 takes it back. He really didn’t want to let him lead because Jimmy didn’t really need the points. 24 and 11 get together. 88 gets by 24. 48 takes the lead in traffic. 83 Brian Vickers who won the last race battles to stay on the lead lap. 2 and 18 battle for third. 18 gets the spot.

The sixth caution comes out when something breaks on 71 David Gilliland’s car and he gets into the wall. 83 Brian Vickers is the Lucky Dog and is back on the lead lap. 78 Regan Smith gets waved around before the restart. 48 chooses the outside. 18 takes second from 5. 1 and 11 battle for fifth. 18 and 5 battle for second. 5 takes the spot. 39 Ryan Newman and 16 race side by side, with 39 taking the spot. 48 puts 83 back a lap down.

The seventh caution comes out for rain drops on the track with 79 to go. 83 Brian Vickers is again the Lucky Dog. 48 has lug nut issues and has to come back in to get rid of the loose tire. 55 Michael Waltrip stays out to lead. 18 goes through the middle of 55 and 39 to take the lead. 2 is having troubles.

The eighth caution comes out when 2 gets spun while racing three wide. 33 and 29 got together. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. got into 07, when he was slowing for 33 and 29. 07 turns 2 and he spins. But there’s not too much damage. 14 is stalled on the track and the wrecker has to push him to the pits. 99 Carl Edwards is the Lucky Dog this time. 33 is pitting for repairs each time they go around. 42 is falling back.

The ninth caution comes out because 77 was spouting water from overheating, the water gets on the tires and he spins into the wall. 42 has a flat and falls way back. 17, 48 and 00 battle for seventh, eighth and ninth. The tenth caution comes out during the commercial with 20 to go. They went to a commercial with 28 to go!!! At Bristol. They couldn’t wait for the caution to come out. 1 cut a tire and got into the wall. 31 Jeff Burton is the Lucky Dog. 55 and 00, team mates, get together.

The eleventh caution comes out with 8 to go. 55 (who didn’t take tires) cuts a tire and takes 33 with him. There is a Red Flag for the clean up so they don’t run off all the laps under caution. When they get back to racing, 18 chooses the outside. 5 isn’t letting 18 run away. 5 and 18 battle for the lead.

And Kyle Busch wins the Sharpie 500. He does his donuts, gets the Checker Flag from the official, and gives it to his fan. He then gets back into the car and drives a lap backward like his brother did at Atlanta. The kid has no imagination. He copied Dale Earnhardt, Jr.’s bow and now this.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

NASCAR Racing Martinsville

Welcome to NASCAR’s shortest track on the circuit. This track is a classic paper clip. Long straightaways and short, tight corners. The average speed is quite slow. And it’s hard to get around someone on this track because there’s not much room to pass. You almost have to follow someone for quite awhile before you can “set them up” for the pass.

In my opinion, Martinsville Speedway is not my favorite short track. I prefer something more oval. The high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway or the d-shaped oval of Richmond International Raceway. Martinsville is flat with tight corners. So, it’s hard to complete a pass. However, I sure would hate it if this track was not on the schedule.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series just left Bristol Motor Speedway. This track has high banking and is wider, so there is more side by side racing and passing. There’s just more room at Bristol, even though Bristol is only slightly larger than Martinsville.

The third short track on the schedule is Richmond International Raceway. In my opinion, this track is the best short track. It’s more of an oval. And there is lots of room to race and pass. It’s about the right size in my opinion. 3/4ths of a mile, and a d-shaped oval. It’s also always run under the lights on Saturday nights. So it brings you back to memories of your local short tracks.

Okay, the good parts of Martinsville. It’s short track racing at it’s finest. Close quarters, so that if you want to get by, you almost have to move the car ahead out of the way to get by. None of this door-to-door racing for lap after lap like Bristol can be. And tight corners, unlike Richmond, where you can just keep on turning left. Martinsville is definately a track that is hard to get around. And, really, isn’t that what racing is all about?

However, this weekend the weather is not cooperating. Qualifying was rained out for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. They will line up according to owner points. That puts Jeff Gordon on the pole. He hasn’t won in quite a long time. And being on the pole is quite the advantage. Maybe he can finally break that loosing streak. Of course, just starting on the pole, doesn’t mean you will win. But just maybe…

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, scheduled for today was rained out. They will race on Monday at noon. (Isn’t that costing the teams a lot of money to stay for the whole weekend?) But I look forward to the Truck race on Monday.

I’ll be back tomarrow for the race review. That is, if the weather cooperates and there is a race.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

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Race Review: Food City 500

Welcome race fans to the fifth race of the season. The Food City 500 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor speedway. Also known as Thunder Valley and “The fastest half mile in the world”. #5 Mark Martin starts from the pole with a speed of 125.773 and #39 Ryan Newman starts second. 66 is again Dave Blaney. 71 again is David Gilliland. 64 is Todd Bodine from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. 87 is Joe Nemechek in his own car. 09 is veteran Sterling Marlin. Two teams failed to qualify. 36 Scott Riggs and 41 Jeremy Mayfield. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had to change the transmission and will start from the rear. 11 Denny Hamlin is the in-car reporter.

So, here we go! 5 Martin leads from the pole. A few laps later 39 Newman takes the lead. 48 Jimmy Johnson gets by 5 for second. The first caution comes out during the commercial. 34 John Andretti looses it in the corner and spins, ending up in the pit barriers. 48 Johnson stays out to lead.

The second caution comes out when 34 Andretti  drives up into 66 Blaney and spins him out. 17 Matt Kenseth gets loose and hits the wall. The third caution comes out, again, during the commercial. 64 Bodine spins into the wall. 2 Kurt Busch gets into the rear of 47 Marcos Ambrose trying to slow down after the accident. 8 Aric Almirola is too fast exiting the pits. 48 Johnson stays out again. 18 Kyle Busch and 48 Johnson battle for the lead. 18 takes the lead. 16 Greg Biffle gets by 5 for fourth. 7 Robby Gordon and 29 Kevin Harvick battle. 29 finally gets by. 18 tries to lap 20 Joey Logano, and finally does it.

The fourth caution comes out when 26 Jamie McMurray and 42 Juan Pablo Montoya get together, and 42 spins 26. It looked to me like retaliation, and I thought that would not be allowed. 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. is the Lucky Dog.  Out of the pits, the top ten are: 18, 11, 48, 00 David Reutimann, 47, 24 Jeff Gordon, 39, 16, 42 and 9 Kasey Kahne. 14 Tony Stewart gets by 9 for tenth. 26 gets into the wall. 88 is up to eighteenth after starting in the rear. 26 battles with 18 to stay on the lead lap. 18 finally gets by. 18 finally laps 29.

The fifth caution comes out again during the commercial. 26 got into the wall again. The top ten are 18, 48, 11, 24, 47, 42, 00, 9, 39 and 16. 18 tries to lap 14. 24 has a tire going down. 71 Gilliland slides on the track, then pits. They stay Green. 11 bounces off the lapped 17 Kenseth car to challenge for the lead. 11 takes the lead. The sixth caution comes out again during the commercial. Someone cut a tire. Out of the pits, it’s 48, 11, 18, 47, 9, 5, 24, 42, 00 and 39. 18 and 11 battle for second. 18 finally gets by. 16 Biffle goes to the garage. 18 catches leader 48 and 48 lets 18 by to take the lead. 9 and 5 get by 47. 88 fights to stay on the lead lap.

The sixth caution comes out when 29 Harvick cuts a tire and gets into the wall. Out of the pits, it’s 18, 11, 9, 5, 48, 24, 31, 47, 39. The seventh caution comes out when 12 David Stremme gets loose,  88 touches 12 and 12 spins. After the Green Flag comes back out 48, 9 and 24 battle for third. The eighth caution comes out when 20 Rookie Joey Logano blows up. His team mates 18 and 11 are running first and second. 33 Clint Bowyer bumps 00 Reutimann.

18 Kyle Busch wins the Food City 500 after a Green, White, Checker restart. They ran a total of 503 laps.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

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NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series arrives in “Thunder Valley” this week. That is, Bristol Motor Speedway. This short track in the hills of Tennessee is labeled “the fastest short track in the world!” Today starts practice. The drivers have this one practice session before qualifying later on this afternoon (3:00 EST).

While on the track, Michael Waltrip, in his own #55 NAPA car got loose and spun into the inside wall. He was trying to go as fast as his team mates, #47 Marcos Ambrose and #00 David Reutimann. Now he will be qualifying in a backup car.

For those of you out there who are unfamiliar with NASCAR rules, I’d like to explain what this means. Everyone brings two cars in their haulers to every track every weekend. One of them is a backup car. Just in case something like this happens. The car is ready to go, just like the primary car.

In Michael’s case, they will unload the backup and replace certain parts that made the primary car fast, or improve on the overall performance of the backup car. As long as they do this before qualifying, and don’t touch the engine, Michael keeps his qualifying position.

What would happen if someone crashes after qualifying? If the team can repair the car, that car keeps the qualifying position. However, if the team has to go to the back up car after qualifying, the car will have to go to the rear for the start of the race.

Michael didn’t change engines with the switch in cars. If he had changed engines, he would have had to start from the rear. Even if he changed the engine before qualifying. That’s what happened to pole sitter #18 Kyle Busch at Las Vegas. There is a one engine rule, for the weekend. Any change in engine results in starting from the rear.

The backup car is different. Officials consider the backup car as one engine, as long as the change was done before qualifying. And Michael was able to get onto the track and practice the backup car. The officials decided not to penalize cars that go to backups because they feel that just using a backup car is penalty enough.

So, let’s review. If you crash during practice, before qualifying, and have to go to a backup car, NASCAR considers this backup car to be your primary car. And you qualify with it and start from that position. If you have to replace an engine at any time during the weekend, your car will start from the rear. If you crash after qualifying, and have to go to a backup car, you will start from the rear.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley. See you after the race.

Race Review

Sharpie 500

Bristol Motor Speedway, TN

Welcome, race fans to the twenty-fourth race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. This week is the bull ring in Bristol, TN. The .533 mile, high banked track is “racing the way it ought to be”. It’s a Saturday night race, with loads of excitement. 21 is Bill Elliott, who got in on speed. 96 is Ken Schrader. 70 is Tony Raines. 8 is Aric Almirola. 09 is sterling Marlin. Kyle Petty is back in the #45. 00 is Mike Skinner from the Craftsman Truck series to evaluate the 00 car. 34 Jeff Green, 10 Patrick Carpentier and 08 Johnny Sauter failed to qualify. 6 David Ragan crashed in qualifying and will be in a back up car and starting from the rear. 500 laps comes out to 266.5 miles. 99 Carl Edwards is the in-car reporter, and starts from the pole. 44 David Reutimann starts second.
So, here we go! 99 leads from the pole. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. passes three cars before reaching the Start/Finish line. You can only pass on the high side before the Start/Finish Line on a restart. At the start of the race, you must reach the Line before passing. So, Jr. will serve a pass through penalty, which puts him three laps down.  84 A. J. Allmendinger and 21 are holding up points leader 18 Kyle Busch. 48 Jimmy Johnson gets into the wall, much like he did in the Craftsman Truck race here on Wednesday. He pits to repair the damage. There is no caution, and he goes seven laps down. The splitter is touching when he comes back out, so he has to go back into the pits. 48 is now thirteen laps down.
42 Juan Pablo Montoya doesn’t want to be lapped and won’t let leader 99 get by him. While 99 is racing 42, 24 Jeff Gordon takes the lead. 24 can’t get by 42 and 99 takes the lead back. 18 Kyle Busch goes low and gets by 24 and 99 for the lead and gets by 42. 99 backs off and 24 takes second. 24 can’t get by 42. 42 is now holding up 24, 99, 01 Regan Smith, 44  and 12 Ryan Newman. The first caution comes out when 1 Martin Truex, Jr. and 84 get together. 1 had a tire going down and got into 84 who was on the top of the track. They both get into the wall. Everyone pits, and the top ten coming out of the pits are: 18, 99, 24, 12, 29 Kevin Harvick, 31 Jeff Burton, 9 Kasey Kahne, 44, 01, and 07 Clint Bowyer. 19 Elliott Sadler slides into his pit stall and has to back up and straighten out to change the left sides.
09 Sterling Marlin, 88 and 11 Denny Hamlin are three wide. 07 taps 88. 88 taps 07. 19 heads into the pits with a loose seat belt. (How does that happen?) 18 battles 28 Travis Kvapil, trying to put him a lap down. 9 and 20 Tony Stewart battle for sixth. The second caution comes out when 20 gets into 09 when 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. doesn’t clear 09. 31 slows up, but 78 Joe Nemecheck doesn’t and plows 31 into 09. 2 Kurt Busch may have been the Lucky Dog, but the announcers didn’t say.
The third caution comes out and is turned into a Red Flag, with 9 on fire. 55 Michael Waltrip and 5 Casey Mears get together when 5 doesn’t clear 55, but moves up in front of him. (The spotter’s fault.) 5 gets into 07. 9, 7 Robby Gordon, and 77 get into it. 41 Reed Sorenson can’t get by. 44 gets into 21. 96 slowly goes high and gets around it all. 2  goes on the apron to get by. 17 Matt Kenseth is the Lucky Dog. 31 is out of the race. 11 cuts off 24. 20 taps 24.
The fourth caution comes out when 22 spins hard into the wall. 15 Paul Menard is the Lucky Dog. 6 gets by 2. The fifth caution is for debris from 44. Out of the pits, it’s 18, 99, 24, 11 and 29. 99 catches 18. 99 and 18 battle for the lead. The sixth caution comes out on lap 364. The top 8 stay out, but 9th through 15th pit. Note: in March, 1973 Cale Yarborough led all 500 laps at Bristol! The seventh caution comes out with 49 to go, for debris, when 8 got loose and into the wall. So the caution was not because 8 got into the wall, but because he left debris on the track when he did it!
They go Green with 42 to go. The eighth caution is also for debris. A patch flies off 2 who is the first car a lap down. Does he get the Lucky Dog? They never say. 2 pits. 99 bumps 18 to take the lead lap 470. 11 and 18 battle for second. 11 gets by 18 for second. 11 and 18 battle again. 18 takes second from 11. It looks like 99 made better adjustments during that pit stop. 07 and 20 battle for seventh. 07 takes the spot. 99 Carl Edwards wins for the sixth time this year. After the Checkers, Kyle Busch gets into Carl Edwards. To show he didn’t like being nudged. Carl turns Kyle. And Kyle will go to the Trailer after the race.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

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