MOTORSPORTS MONDAY - SEPTEMBER 23
A TIRED AFFAIR
This Spring's Bristol race, with its unusual tire wear that led to confusion, a record number of lead changes, and one of the most entertaining races at the Tennessee short track in recent years, set high expectations for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.
It turned out to be a huge let down.
Kyle Larson's dominant run, leading 462 laps, was punctuated even further by the near complete lack of tire degradation, with long green-flag runs and little to no passing. Why the supposed exact tire Goodyear brought for the teams Saturday night, also used in March, didn't behave anywhere near the same is now one of the season's great mysteries.
Two possible reasons are the temperature different of approximately 20 degrees, as well as the application of the PJ1 traction compound, which was applied on top of the resin used in the Spring.
There’s also the dynamic of the September Bristol race being in the Playoffs versus the regular season affair. Several teams said going into Saturday night they would be much more conservative trying to maintain their Playoff position compared to more of the no-holds-barred “win and you’re in” philosophy earlier in the year. Teams also had more than five months to work on setups and adjustments after evaluating the data gathered in the spring.
Whatever the recipe that created the Saturday night main course, it left many fans with a bitter taste in their mounts... unless of course, they were wearing Kyle Larson hats.
COLUMN - CHRISTIE: Night Race at Bristol Didn't Lie Up to the Hype
THE NEW NORM?
Inevitably, when this track rolls around on the schedule, the discussion about the "old" Bristol versus the "new" Bristol becomes front and center. When parent company Speedway Motorsports Inc. reconfigured the track in 2007 adding progressive banking to the high-banked half-mile track, it changed the competition. No longer was Bristol a one-groove track that basically demanded contact to make a pass. In its place were multiple grooves and opportunities for drivers to use different lines around the track.
SMI made a modification to those changes again in 2012 and in recent years the application of some kind of track compound has also been used in an attempt to up the competition level.
The effort has at best generated mixed results.
The reality is Bristol’s reputation was built on the days of conveyer belt racing, events that featured lots of contact and in turn many caution flags. But what’s lost in some fans’ nostalgia for those days is for every “I Just Meant to Rattle His Cage” moments, there were thousands and thousands of tedious laps run in single file. I mean think about it, haven’t we all seen the same 10 Bristol highlights for what seems like forever, a small percentage for a track that opened its doors in 1961.
So, the idea of trying to bring more side-by-side racing to the track rather than just being a more big-league version of Bowman-Gray Stadium was the right idea.
However, it doesn’t help those still longing for the good old days when a race like Saturday night happens with a car that continues to baffle drivers and teams trying to find separation. Tire management is one way to achieve that goal as has been proven during this Next Gen car era. When there isn’t any wear and cars can go 150 laps without changing tires, the blemishes become more pronounced.
DOMINATION NOT A SENSATION
NASCAR fans are no different than most sports fans these days in that domination is a turn off. The nuances of watching Larson and the No. 5 Hendrick team completely overwhelm the field are appreciated by a very few number of fans, who would rather see more action, contact and a close finish.
It’s no different than a baseball fan that can appreciate a well-pitched, strategically calculated 1-0 game versus those who want a home run derby, 10-9 slugfest.
It’s even more magnified in this age of instant gratification. NASCAR is somewhat different than other sports in that every week is a referendum, not just on that week’s race but the sport in general. A race is either “good” or “bad,” without room for any nuance or texture.
Social Media was ablaze Saturday night with posts from fans not just disappointed with the lack of action but solutions on how to fix it. Of course, there were others calling for the apocalypse and the end of the sport, but that is a regular occurrence from a sector of the fan base on social media.
“Stinking up the show” is the goal of every driver and team, to go out and dominate over their competition. Larson and company did that and then some Saturday night. But there is less of an appetite from the fan base for those types of performances than ever before.
TRUEX JR. TROUBLES
Saturday night at Bristol could not have been more emblematic for Martin Truex Jr. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was racing for his Playoff life and had a fast car that ran near the front of the field most of the night... until a fateful trip down pit road.
Truex Jr. was busted for speeding and after serving his penalty could not make up nearly any ground on track, and when the checkered flag flew, he was eliminated from the Playoff field.
It was the latest example of how time and again, dating back to last year’s Playoffs, Truex Jr. and the No. 19 team have had something to derail their performance.
RELATED: Martin Truex, Jr.'s Costly Mistake on Pit Road Leads to Early Playoff Exit
“It's really tough you know,” Truex Jr. said after the race. “Point zero nine miles per hour that you know kind of screws your whole chance at a good season up.
"So yeah. Just I don't know how that happened. I didn't know I was even that close. Honestly, I felt like I did the same thing as every other stop. But sometimes you're just a foot maybe a foot to the left or it's so tricky when you're going from that curved section to the straight to get your lights. And it's on me. Obviously, it's my mistake.”
There are only seven more chances for Truex Jr. to score another win before ending his career as a full-time Cup driver.
SHORT TRACK ROUNDUP
The third weekend of September saw a number of drivers score wins around the short tracks of the country.
Veteran Dave Blaney, the father of NASCAR’s Ryan, pulled the ultimate sprint car walk-off as he won the Lou Blaney Memorial at Sharon Speedway. The race, named after Blaney’s father, was the last in Dave’s illustrious career.
Kyle Crump won the rain-shortened JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour race at Michigan’s Owosso Speedway. Matt Hirschman was victorious in the Race of Champions 250 at Lake Erie Speedway, his ninth win in the event.
Stan Zolodz took the checkered flag in the Bettenhausen Memorial 100 at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Illinois Saturday night. Veteran Rich Bickle was leading early in the race before tangling with Max Kahler, an incident that officials ruled to send both drivers to the rear of the field. Bickle raced his way back to a ninth-place finish.
PETE PISTONE
Pete Pistone is a veteran motorsports and general sports reporter/journalist with nearly 30 years experience. During his career he has worked for media outlets such as WGN Radio, The Chicago Sun-Times, Chicagoland Television (CLTV), CBS Sports, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM. Pistone has been with SiriusXM since 2008 and co-hosts “The Morning Drive” on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90) with Mike Bagley, which airs Monday through Friday at 7 am ET. He is also the host of “Fantasy Racing Preview,” a weekend show focusing on NASCAR gambling and fantasy racing, which is part of the channel’s NASCAR Cup Series pre-race programming. Additionally, Pistone is a member of the SiriusXM College Sports team as an on-air personality and contributor on Big Ten Radio (Ch. 372). He is one of the hosts of “Big Ten Today” and can also be heard on “Big Ten Whip Around,” a weekly hour-long program spotlighting a variety of sports around the conference. Pistone is also the host of several specials as well as providing a range of digital content for both the NASCAR and Big Ten channels. A Chicago native, Pistone resides in the northern suburbs of the city with his wife and daughter.