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First of all, these are much belated pics of the night short track race at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) during the weekend of 23 - 24 August at Bristol, TN.
I am painfully aware that not every one here is a fan of NASCAR. There are many things that are wrong with it, but action is not one of them. There is more drama during a yellow flag pitstop of a NASCAR race than there is in an entire 2 hour Formula 1 race. And I watch every F1 race religously. In fact I will be attending both the practice and qualifying sessions at the USGP.
But this season has been a stinker in F1. The only real drama was the hulla-baloo in Austria where RB pulled over for MS. That showed me what is wrong with F1. It's a team sport whereas NASCAR is an individual sport. When two stock car drivers from the same team are competing for the lead it's virtually no holds barred. They will do everything but spin the other out, and even that is not unheard of.
As far as which series has the better drivers, well I'll go so far as to say you put Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart in the seat of a Ferrari or BMW and within a year both will be knocking on the door of a championship. They are the supreme road course warriors in NASCAR so turning right and left are childs play for them. When you have God given talent like those two do I don't care whether you are racing go karts or 18 wheelers, they will be near the top for most races. However, in my opinion without a doubt Shumacher is the best driver on the planet. End of Story. At least for now.
Anyway, let's just say that both sports have shortcomings and are not perfect and leave it at that.
Here is Bristol Motor Speedway. It is just over 1/2 mile in length and the corners are banked at a 36 degree angle or something like that. BMS's motto is 'Racing the way it ought to be'. The 3400lb. cars come into the turns at about 100mph with brake rotors glowing bright red as they try to hold to the bottom of the track, and then it's balls to the walls at 140mph until breaking hard into the next turn. The Winston Cuppers ran qualifications Friday afternoon, followed by a 1 hour 'Happy Hour', then later in the evening the Busch drivers competed in the Food City 250 (laps). If you look in the infield you can see that virtually every square inch is covered with haulers, equipment, machines and people. It's no wonder that Tony Stewart 'accidentally' shoved someone, because there's just no amount of free space in there.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8230040.jpg>
Here is Jeff Gordon in the #24 Dupont Chevrolet Monte Carlo during his qualifying run which netted him the pole position for the Sharpie's 500 on Saturday night at a speed of just over 124mph.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8230042.jpg>
Here is Rusty Wallace in the #2 Miller Lite Ford Taurus in a qualification run which placed him #4 on the grid. Where Wallace is now is approximately the same location on the track where he was 'nudged' aside by Gordon 2 laps from the end of the race.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8230043.jpg>
Here are some of the 43 cars on pit lane. You can see just how tightly bunched together they are. Pretty hard to keep any secrets or fart without someone 7 cars down hearing it.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8230044.jpg>
This is the preparation before rolloff to start the warmup laps. You can see the moisture on the ground. It rained pretty hard about 1 1/2 hours before the official start time, but fortunately it stopped fairly quickly and the track dried exceptionally such that there was no delay in the start time. They did run several more than normal warmup laps to help dry the track.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8240050.jpg>
Last warmup lap before a combined 33,000 American horsepower is unleashed live before 150,000 spectators, all standing on their feet and toes with ear plugs snugly ensconced in their ears.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8240051.jpg>
One of the many caution laps showing Gordon leading Wallace
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8240055.jpg>
Here is the obligatory victory burn-out as Gordon celebrates breaking his 31 race winless streak after giving Wallace a 'love-tap' to get by.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8240056.jpg>
I'll conclude by saying as a regular spectator of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speeday (IMS), I just realized after this weekend at Bristol that my brother and I are getting royally ripped off. First of all, at BMS you can see the entire track, whereas at IMS you are fortunate if you can see 1/2 the track in most seats.
There is so much excitement at BMS that it is like being at a tennis match featuring Boris Becker and Pete Sampras. Your head is constantly going side to side to try and keep track of the action. The sound of 43 cars blitzing around that track can only be described as the sound that 1,000 bees would make swarming inside of a beehive. From our vantage point it looked like big old honkin' slot cars racing around a track at your local hobby center, except in a big punch bowl.
Add to that the fact that there are wrecks and near wrecks happening all of the time, and the number of saves by drivers keeping themselves out of the walls, truly shows their talent as race car drivers.
If anyone ever gets an opportunity to go to BMS, particulary for the night race I would say that you are a fool to not do it. It's the hardest ticket in all of motorsports to get, and now I know why. I only came across my two tickets because my neighbor across the street had to back out due to family commitments.
I took a colleague with me from work, who was really not a true NASCAR fan and only came with me because he could drink copious amounts of beer and spy the hotties at the track. He certainly did both of those to excess, but he's also now a big fan of NASCAR as well.
It is very easy to get hooked, if you just let yourself enjoy it for what it is. Entertainment!
I am painfully aware that not every one here is a fan of NASCAR. There are many things that are wrong with it, but action is not one of them. There is more drama during a yellow flag pitstop of a NASCAR race than there is in an entire 2 hour Formula 1 race. And I watch every F1 race religously. In fact I will be attending both the practice and qualifying sessions at the USGP.
But this season has been a stinker in F1. The only real drama was the hulla-baloo in Austria where RB pulled over for MS. That showed me what is wrong with F1. It's a team sport whereas NASCAR is an individual sport. When two stock car drivers from the same team are competing for the lead it's virtually no holds barred. They will do everything but spin the other out, and even that is not unheard of.
As far as which series has the better drivers, well I'll go so far as to say you put Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart in the seat of a Ferrari or BMW and within a year both will be knocking on the door of a championship. They are the supreme road course warriors in NASCAR so turning right and left are childs play for them. When you have God given talent like those two do I don't care whether you are racing go karts or 18 wheelers, they will be near the top for most races. However, in my opinion without a doubt Shumacher is the best driver on the planet. End of Story. At least for now.
Anyway, let's just say that both sports have shortcomings and are not perfect and leave it at that.
Here is Bristol Motor Speedway. It is just over 1/2 mile in length and the corners are banked at a 36 degree angle or something like that. BMS's motto is 'Racing the way it ought to be'. The 3400lb. cars come into the turns at about 100mph with brake rotors glowing bright red as they try to hold to the bottom of the track, and then it's balls to the walls at 140mph until breaking hard into the next turn. The Winston Cuppers ran qualifications Friday afternoon, followed by a 1 hour 'Happy Hour', then later in the evening the Busch drivers competed in the Food City 250 (laps). If you look in the infield you can see that virtually every square inch is covered with haulers, equipment, machines and people. It's no wonder that Tony Stewart 'accidentally' shoved someone, because there's just no amount of free space in there.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8230040.jpg>
Here is Jeff Gordon in the #24 Dupont Chevrolet Monte Carlo during his qualifying run which netted him the pole position for the Sharpie's 500 on Saturday night at a speed of just over 124mph.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8230042.jpg>
Here is Rusty Wallace in the #2 Miller Lite Ford Taurus in a qualification run which placed him #4 on the grid. Where Wallace is now is approximately the same location on the track where he was 'nudged' aside by Gordon 2 laps from the end of the race.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8230043.jpg>
Here are some of the 43 cars on pit lane. You can see just how tightly bunched together they are. Pretty hard to keep any secrets or fart without someone 7 cars down hearing it.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8230044.jpg>
This is the preparation before rolloff to start the warmup laps. You can see the moisture on the ground. It rained pretty hard about 1 1/2 hours before the official start time, but fortunately it stopped fairly quickly and the track dried exceptionally such that there was no delay in the start time. They did run several more than normal warmup laps to help dry the track.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8240050.jpg>
Last warmup lap before a combined 33,000 American horsepower is unleashed live before 150,000 spectators, all standing on their feet and toes with ear plugs snugly ensconced in their ears.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8240051.jpg>
One of the many caution laps showing Gordon leading Wallace
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8240055.jpg>
Here is the obligatory victory burn-out as Gordon celebrates breaking his 31 race winless streak after giving Wallace a 'love-tap' to get by.
<img src=http://www.bimmerfest.com/members/IndyMike/p8240056.jpg>
I'll conclude by saying as a regular spectator of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speeday (IMS), I just realized after this weekend at Bristol that my brother and I are getting royally ripped off. First of all, at BMS you can see the entire track, whereas at IMS you are fortunate if you can see 1/2 the track in most seats.
There is so much excitement at BMS that it is like being at a tennis match featuring Boris Becker and Pete Sampras. Your head is constantly going side to side to try and keep track of the action. The sound of 43 cars blitzing around that track can only be described as the sound that 1,000 bees would make swarming inside of a beehive. From our vantage point it looked like big old honkin' slot cars racing around a track at your local hobby center, except in a big punch bowl.
Add to that the fact that there are wrecks and near wrecks happening all of the time, and the number of saves by drivers keeping themselves out of the walls, truly shows their talent as race car drivers.
If anyone ever gets an opportunity to go to BMS, particulary for the night race I would say that you are a fool to not do it. It's the hardest ticket in all of motorsports to get, and now I know why. I only came across my two tickets because my neighbor across the street had to back out due to family commitments.
I took a colleague with me from work, who was really not a true NASCAR fan and only came with me because he could drink copious amounts of beer and spy the hotties at the track. He certainly did both of those to excess, but he's also now a big fan of NASCAR as well.
It is very easy to get hooked, if you just let yourself enjoy it for what it is. Entertainment!
