2010 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway:
NASCAR Sprint Cup racing returns to action this weekend after an early season week off. The Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway will give NASCAR's stars their first taste of short track racing in 2010. After Atlanta's wild finish and Carl Edwards controversy can the tight racing at Bristol be anything other than a battle? Expect tempers to flare and bumpers to be abused this weekend in Bristol.
Tickets:
Speedway ticket office (423) 764-1161
The Track:
Measuring in at .533 miles and featuring progressive banking which ranges from 24 - 30 degrees in the turns Bristol Motor Speedway is very tight and very fast. Racing here was once compared to racing jetfighters in a gymnasium.
The high speeds and close quarters makes for a lot of pushing and shoving on the track, and sometimes in the pits. Adrenaline (and tempers) run high as often the only way to pass is to shove the guy in front of you out of the way.
Race Distance:
500 laps = 266.5 miles
The Big Picture:
Kevin Harvick's fourth straight top ten finish of 2010 kept him in the point lead after Atlanta. Kurt Busch jumps up nine places with the Atlanta victory and now holds down a Chase spot in tenth.
The top twelve are now:
- Kevin Harvick
- Matt Kenseth -26
- Greg Biffle -59
- Jimmie Johnson -74
- Clint Bowyer -86
- Jeff Burton -106
- Mark Martin -123
- Tony Stewart -134
- Paul Menard -139
- Kurt Busch -142
- Jeff Gordon -162
- Scott Speed -162
Storylines:
Since it is the first short track race of the season Bristol Motor Speedway is traditionally a great place to take out your built up frustrations from the first part of the season.
Short tracks are a "safer" place to use your bumper on a rival and let him know how you feel.
However, after Carl Edwards' intentional punt of Brad Keselowski in the closing laps of Atlanta and NASCAR's non-punishment the message to drivers is clearly that "anything goes." This has the potential to make an already close-quarters Bristol race into a revenge battlefield.
Media Coverage:
TV: Fox Sunday March 21st 12:00PM Eastern.
Radio: PRN and SIRUIS Satellite
Actual Race: 1:00PM Eastern
Recent Events:
2009 Polesitter: Mark Martin
2009 Winner: Kyle Busch
Last Year:
The 2009 Food City 500 was unusually quiet for a Bristol race. There was no close finish, no fireworks, no angry outbursts. This was as straightforward as Bristol races come.
In other words... yawn.
Kyle Busch had them covered and survived an overdrive finish for the easy win.
Predictions:
Short track racing at Bristol is nearly as hard to predict as a restrictor plate race. You can have a fast car and be minding your own business when lightning strikes and suddenly you're done for the day.
Kyle Busch found the right setup and avoided trouble in 2009 by spending most of the race out front. Kyle swept both races here in 2009 and is the obvious favorite this weekend in Bristol.
Mark Martin finished sixth and seventh at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2009. Mark has some great cars again this season and should be able to contend for the win this weekend. If Mark can avoid other people's trouble he makes a great pick this weekend.