Cup Racing at Bristol

With all the views these threads are getting, I'm assuming that they're being enjoyed. If you enjoy these, then you're welcome. I enjoy writing them.

With that, we're at the palatial Race Guy mansion for the Cup race at Bristol.

1:22 PM
Work concerns intruded on all the pre-race nonsense and the first few laps, we're getting a late start on the race and are 15 laps into it. While we were eating lunch, I noted that Darrell has no voice and the hope is that he'll talk less because of it.

1:24 PM
Diet Mountain Dew ad comes on and I kinda like it. And, Diet Mountain Dew is the Nectar of the Gods to me. I even named my fantasy baseball teams "Mountain Dew Kid" this year. Diet Mountain Dew Kid just didn't have the same ring to it.

1:27 PM
This race in the spring always reminds me of one the saddest things I've ever seen, which was the hauler for the late Alan Kulwicki's team making one lap around Bristol 3 days after he was killed in a plane crash. There's a clip on Youtube that shows a little bit of it, but it's not exactly what I was looking to post.

1:32 PM
DW sounds horrible. My wife thinks he sounds like Yoda and she does her Yoda voice. "Racing is good, yes." "Going fast he is." Her impersonation is hysterical. She's killing.

BTW, I love impressions. When I was a kid, I loved Rich Little. I used to work with a guy who could do a spot on Jabba the Hutt, among others.

1:45 PM
Oh boy, I'm so glad that Digger is back. *insert eyeroll here*

My oldest son is too, but he's 9.

2:04 PM
This race is looking more like the Bristol of old rather than that abomination of a race we saw last August.

2:05 PM
Is DW hard up for cash or something, or is he just contractually bound to be there regardless of his health? It's very difficult to understand a word he's saying.

2:05 PM
Hey, you guys! You can a Digger tee shirt! Personally, we just want to see him become a Sail-Gopher at this point.

2:07 PM
Earlier, DW said that the track is incredibly smooth, but Larry just said how bumpy it is. Can something be smooth and bumpy at the same time?

2:16 PM
Larry just said that Earnhardt is diamonding the track, but I'm not seeing it. It looks like he's just running the high line all the way around. When you diamond the track, I always thought you ran low going into and coming off of the turns, but Junior's running high going in, through the middle, and coming off.

2:25 PM
I would like to blame the McMurray wreck on Jamie, because I don't really care for him, but I think it was just wunnem deals.

2:42 PM
That thing they just talked about where lapped cars should get out of the way of lead lap cars has always rubbed me the wrong way. If the driver isn't good enough to drive his superior car around the lapped car, then what is he doing driving a race car in the first place?

I agree with DW that the crew chiefs complain and everybody else complains, but the driver knows he can get around the lapped car and he's the one not complaining. That makes sense to me. Really, I don't want to hear anybody whining about lapped cars. Spend your energy getting around the lapped car, not whining about how it needs to move out of the way.

2:48 PM
They showed DW getting the #11 Mountain Dew car again and I think that's very cool. DW won 12 races in both 1981 and 1982 driving that car for Junior Johnson.

2:50 PM
Speaking of going 3-wide at Bristol, it was this race in 1993 when that famous shot of Earnhardt going 3 wide, through the middle, happened. Sorry, but I couldn't find it on Youtube for you.

That '93 race was also the race that started changing how pit stops are done. Rusty Wallace's team was getting him out before most teams were even off the jack on the left side. Before that race, it would take the jackmen 3 or 4 pumps to get the car up. After that race, everybody started moving to jacks where 1 pump was enough to get the car up.

2:55 PM
Again, do you remember the abomination of a Bristol race we had last August? Fans ought not worry that something disastrous has happened to Bristol since the reconfiguration. This has gone back to the Bristol of old. Which is a very, very, very good thing. :thumbs:

3:21 PM
Toyota finally showed the remote control race car commercial again. Even though nobody outside this board (or, even on this board) is paying attention to anything some idiot racing fan from Illinois writes, I'm still taking it as a shoutout.

3:25 PM
So, the #48 team says that they're working on setups for later in the season and they're working on "The Big Picture", and that's why they haven't a) won or b) run up front.

Anybody buying that nonsense? Yeah, me neither.

3:29 PM
I have 3 memorable Dale Jarrett moments. #1 is the end of the Daytona 500, even though my guy lost. #2 is DJ's first win at the August 1991 Michigan race. This finish still gives me goose bumps. #3 is when DJ threw his helmet at Bobby Hillin at this race in '93. Enjoy the Youtube clips.

3:44 PM
There should be no complaints about this race with Harvick and Stewart exchanging the lead lap after lap. That was the big complaint, as I recall, about Bristol last August, that there was racing, but there weren't any lead changes. I don't know what the number is, but I'd guess we've seen at least 15 under green lead changes.


3:55 PM
I love this run for Junior, even though I don't think he has a car that can win. This is the kind of the run the #48 team made a habit of doing where they would make a car that wasn't very good become good at the end.

4:05 PM
15 to go and I think this is a race between Stewart and Harvick. Hamlin's just too far back.

4:06 PM
Well, that is, until Vickers' wreck.

4:08 PM
Harvick absolutely made the right call to get 4 tires.

4:09 PM
What is going on with the #88 team? What is it about these late cautions where they can't seem to decide whether to get tires or not? I don't understand what's going on here.

4:12 PM
Mike Joy just said that none of the fans have left. Are we supposed to be surprised by this?

4:13 PM
The Harvick-Stewart wreck is obviously Harvick's fault for hitting the apron. BTW, wasn't there an incident last year where Stewart got into Harvick and took Harvick out of contention to win. What goes around, comes around.

4:14 PM
Fantastic move by Burton to take 2nd there.

4:15 PM
RCR cars running 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

4:16 PM
Mike Joy just said something about feeling bad for Stewart leading the most laps again and not winning. Why should I feel bad about this? I don't feel bad for him at all. He's not my driver. If anybody feels bad about it, it's PastorSBC.

4:17 PM
RCR finishes 1,2,3. Very impressive. An AT&T sponsored car wins in the Sprint Cup series. Heh.

This is my 2nd favorite outcome of a race.

Excellent race. More of this please.

 

Ironically, getting spun at The Winston was the start of fans going from hating DW to loving DW. In fact, I think Darrell once told Rusty that the best thing that ever happened to him was when Rusty spun him in that race.

I didn't make any note of it and had forgotten about it.

"I don't know where he gets this stuff." :laugh:

 

You probably live relatively close to Bristol, don't you, Tom? When you get your hands on a ticket, maybe you could get another one and invite your friend from Illinois to come see the race too? :wavey: