Bristol Build-Up Bonanza!!!

#1
Nerd-Vol

Nerd-Vol

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#1
Anyone going to the night race? Or want to share great memories? Where are your seats? Will you drink alcohol?
 
#3
#3
Published: August 18, 2012
Updated: August 20, 2012 - 10:55 AM

Home / news / local /

Campers rolling into town for Race Week

By Allen Gregory


It’s beginning to look a lot like NASCAR time at Bristol Motor Speedway.

For the past two weeks, motorsports disciples from across the country have been arriving in luxurious recreational vehicles and humble trailers towed by pickup trucks.

Many fans already counting down the days until the four-event drama begins Wednesday night with the NASCAR modified and truck series.

One of the most popular components of the NASCAR experience involves debating with fellow fans over a cold beverage.

One hot topic has centered on an issue that has attracted national headlines since the March race when the 160,000-seat speedway attracted more than 80,000 fans.

In response to that lackluster attendance and spirited outcry over the bland form of racing, track owner Bruton Smith decided to spice things up with an expensive facelift on the concrete track.

The degree of banking on the upper groove was reduced from 30 to 28 degrees. Now that drivers have less room to negotiate, the contact between cars is expected to be amped up.

For fan Keith Baker, that’s good news.

“I hope it brings the racing back to the way it used to be, when racing was racing,” Baker said. “For the last couple years, the racing here has just been kind of boring.”

A pipefitter from DeKalb,Ill., Baker has made the trek to Bristol for nearly 20 years. According to Baker, the speedway’s attraction has long been the heavy metal fireworks.

“Bumping, banging and grinding – that’s why I come to Bristol,” Baker said.

Baker has witnessed many highlight reel sequences at Bristol, including a couple of memorable final-lap clashes between Terry Labonte and the late Dale Earnhardt. He feels that Bristol began to lose its must-see appeal after a 2007 renovation that added progressive banking.

“That’s when you noticed the crowds dropping. Last year’s crowd was terrible and the year before that was just as bad,” Baker said.

Baker doesn’t buy the argument that fans have stayed away from BMS due to the high cost of gas, lodging and expenses.

“A few years ago, some of the decline in attendance was probably due to the cost of gas. But the economy hasn’t changed much since then,” Baker said. “The racing just hasn’t been the same here.”

Kent Ross classifies himself as a hardcore fan who “enjoys everything about Bristol.” But the commercial glassworker from Columbus, Ohio, has grown increasingly frustrated by the lack of drama at his favorite track.

“It’s not so much the wrecks here, it’s more the bumping, rubbing, beating and banging,” Ross said. “That’s what madeBristol.

“Before a few years ago, the only way people could pass here was to bump somebody and get them out of the way. The changes made the racing kind of boring.”

Phyllis Ross, the wife of Kent Ross, was delighted when she heard that Smith decided to undertake the controversial process of renovating the track.

“I was all for it,” she said. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing the changes because the spring race was just really boring. I’m ready for some serious racing, with beating and banging.”

The ticket office inside the Bruton Smith building has been a hectic place as animated fans have snatched up race tickets. The main event of race week in Bristol is the Aug. 25 IRWIN Tools Night race.

Bud Campbell of Kingsport, Tenn., is anxious for a return of the wild and rowdy days.

“Something needed to happen here,”Campbellsaid. “For the last couple races, it was somewhat boring. You had lap after lap after lap with not much happening. It just wasn’t Bristol.”

Campbell doesn’t agree with many NASCAR drivers who feel that the alterations to the banking will harm the quality of shows.

“This change should put some excitement back into the race. And I think that’s why most fans people come to Bristol– for the excitement,” Campbell said. “I’m interested to see how the race turns out.”
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Pumped.
 
#4
#4
Going to be interesting to see how the changes work. I remember Burton and Tony saying the top groove was completely gone.
 
#5
#5
Burhead said:
Going to be interesting to see how the changes work. I remember Burton and Tony saying the top groove was completely gone.
Click to expand...

Good. I know I will catch the ire of Doozer, but I miss the old style of racing.

I am not sure if it will improve the turnout though.

Tickets have gone up in price since I bought my tickets.

I got seats in the Wallace tower, nosebleed seats.
 
#6
#6
I want to go. I just found out my sister got twenty free tickets through her work but I have to wait and see if anyone from her work doesn't go before I get the opportunity to go.

I really hope the changes in the track will bring back the racing and the fans. I have been to Bristol several times and had a blast everytime but last time I went was the Nationwide race two years ago and it was sad to see how empty the stands were.
 
#8
#8
I was there for the Nationwide race in March. Wish I was going this time, but I doubt I could get anyone to go with me on such short notice. It will be interesting to see if it is the old Bristol again.
 
#9
#9
SyxxSynse said:
I was there for the Nationwide race in March. Wish I was going this time, but I doubt I could get anyone to go with me on such short notice. It will be interesting to see if it is the old Bristol again.
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If you have tickets I will meet you there! :)
 
#11
#11
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m99LLWzyuZo[/youtube]


Skip to 52 seconds.
 
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#12
#12
Orangesmokey said:
If you have tickets I will meet you there! :)
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If I lived a little closer, like say Asheville (which is about halfway for me), I'd be there. I just can't handle the drive, especially when I'd probably be driving it on the way back in the early morning hours.
 
#13
#13
Nerd-Vol said:
Good. I know I will catch the ire of Doozer, but I miss the old style of racing.

I am not sure if it will improve the turnout though.

Tickets have gone up in price since I bought my tickets.

I got seats in the Wallace tower, nosebleed seats.
Click to expand...

You couldn't pay me to sit in the Wallace tower during Bristol even 'back in the day when the racing was good'.
 
#16
#16
I remember being at the Busch race when MW wrecked hitting the opening to the track. That car was destroyed. I just knew he was dead. I can remember seeing DW running on the track to check on him. That was the worst crash I have ever seen in person.
 
#17
#17
Orangesmokey said:
I remember being at the Busch race when MW wrecked hitting the opening to the track. That car was destroyed. I just knew he was dead. I can remember seeing DW running on the track to check on him. That was the worst crash I have ever seen in person.
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That was a terrible crash. I don't understand why the gate opens that way.

Never mind. Watched again and it just failed.
 
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#19
#19
Nerd-Vol said:
That was a terrible crash. I don't understand why the gate opens that way.

Never mind. Watched again and it just failed.
Click to expand...

It wasn't long after that they changed the entrance to the track and now they go under the track to get in. That car is in a musuem somewhere. 'Dega maybe?
 
#21
#21
It doesn't really compare to the Waltrip wreck, but I was at the Legends race they had a couple years ago after the Nationwide race when Larry Pearson got t-boned in a wreck. The eerie silence afterwards was scary. Pearson lived, but that was the death of the Legends races.
 
#22
#22
Skip to :19...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVlj7F8OJCY[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2VvkvrX18Y[/youtube]
 
#24
#24
Who was it that climbed the fence during a race back in the day? I was thinking it might have been Davey Allison. Can't remember.
 
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