Significant track changes await race teams at Bristol
DAVID POOLE
BRISTOL, Tenn. - It’s Bristol, and some things about that haven’t changed.
“You can do anything you want to it, and it’s still going to be Bristol,” Tony Stewart said. “It’s still going to be exciting.”
But there are fundamental differences in the track that hosts the Busch Series Friday night and the Nextel Cup Series on Saturday night in one of the season’s most anticipated events.
Immediately after Kyle Busch won the first race ever held with NASCAR’s car of tomorrow at this .533-mile track earlier this year, crews went to work transforming it.
They took away 1,815 cubic yards of concrete from the old surface, which any driver you talk to will tell you was rough and bumpy enough to rattle your bones. An additional 842 cubic yards of concrete walls were taken down, and more than an acre’s worth of asphalt – 275 loads in 20-ton trucks – was also taken away.
More than 3,000 cubic yards of concrete was put back for the new top layer of concrete. A layering process began with 6 inches of lime-treated stone on the bottom, then four inches of concrete, then steel rebar, then a 7-inch layer of reinforced concrete.
In all, more than 650 tons of rebar – roughly the equivalent of 382 Nextel Cup cars – were used to complete the project, including about 150 tons in the surface itself.
So while it’s still Bristol, everything is far from being the same.
“It’s completely different now,” Busch said. “There’s no aspect to that place that’s the same. We tested there in a truck and in a Busch car. It’s definitely going to be a different race, that’s for sure. I am definitely looking forward to it, not knowing what it will all entail.”
The new track is wider, 43 feet compared with 40 feet, and in addition to being significantly smoother it also has different transitions from the turns to its short straightaways and even a different shape to the track itself.
Since the most recent resurfacing was done back in 1992, the track had developed something of a crown giving it a convex shape. The new surface has slightly variable banking, with slightly more the higher drivers move up toward the outside wall.
That gives the surface more of a bowl shape, which track designers hope will make it nearly as fast to run one groove up as it is to run right around the bottom.
“We wanted a smoother surface with better transitions in the corners and I believe that’s exactly what we got,” track president Jeff Byrd said.
Fans will notice more changes, too. Pit road is now concrete instead of asphalt, and the pit stalls are 16 feet by 28 feet, making them 2 feet wider than they used to be.
While the Craftsman Truck Series got the race week kicked off on Wednesday night, with this weekend’s Busch and Cup races serving as the new facilities coming out party, the track held three late model race events in recent weeks to break things in.
Still, some of NASCAR’s biggest names are eager to find out what surprises the “new” Bristol might hold for them.
“I think it’s going to be like going there for the very first time ever,” Jeff Gordon said.
“With the new car, I think we learned enough the last time we were there that we should be able to dial the car in but it’s just going to be a whole new learning curve on the track this time around.”
Track Facts
CUP QUALIFYING RECORD: Ryan Newman, 128.709 mph, March 21, 2003.
MOST WINS (DRIVER): Darrell Waltrip, 12 (seven consecutive).
MOST WINS (OWNER): Junior Johnson, 21 (eight consecutive).
MOST WINS (MANUFACTURER): Chevrolet, 37 (Ford is No. 2 with 23).
Source: Bristol Motor Speedway
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To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Well, it looks to me that the "new and improved" pavement is making for some good racin'! I have been impressed with both the truck and Busch races, Looks like they can run anywhere on the track. Now we will see. The real test comes tonight when the Cup cars run. Should be a very good race on the new pavement and it's Bristol Baby!!
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To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I had high hopes for the "new surface" because the truck race was was good, the Busch race was great. The Cup was well.......not so great. Whoever got infront could just drive away from everyone else which made the race very boring.
I don't know if it was the new surface or the COT but the old pavement put on a much better race IMO.
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that was a lot of work....done in a pretty short time....the truck and busch race were good...but the cup race left a lot to be desired...this night race at bristol has always been my fav....but i was very bored during the race....that was a first....but it is good to see so many racing grooves on the track...
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To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. keeps me out of trouble...when I can do it...lol To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I went to the Busch race and watched the Cup on TV. The Busch was really great...lots of action. The Cup was not as great as I expected....maybe because it was on TV and not live??? I think the COT complicated the reviews about the new track surface. I do NOT like a lot of yellows...but really would like to have seen more of what was going on with Harvick and Montoya happening around the track with others.
It was a great week though. Too hot...thought I would die. This track has MUCH to learn about being fan friendly...very different from Daytona. Or...maybe because I have been there so much I have it firgured out!!!
Significant track changes await race teams at Bristol
good job on the new pavement
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