Bristol Motor Speedway, formally known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its small size, Bristol is among the most popular tracks in NASCAR because of its distinct features that include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads and amphitheater-like seating. Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Degree of banking 1.2 Pit roads 2 Track history 3 Bristol Dragway 4 Other uses of Bristol Motor Speedway 5 Races 5.1 Current 5.2 Former 6 Records 6.1 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Records 7 References 8 External links [edit] Overview Bristol Motor Speedway is the 4th largest sports venue in America, and the 8th largest in the world, housing up to 165,000 people. The track is so short that speeds here are far lower than is typical on most NASCAR oval tracks, but very fast compared to other short tracks due to the high banking, making for a considerable amount of "swapping paint" . Also, the initial starting grid of 43 vehicles (in the Cup and Nationwide Series; 36 in the Truck Series) extends almost halfway around the track, meaning that the slower-qualifying cars begin the race almost half a lap down. The congestion inherent in this facility and the power of the cars has been likened to "flying fighter jets in a gymnasium" (the terms "washing machine" and "toilet" have also been used). The track is one that tends to be either loved or hated by fans and drivers alike—purists who grew up driving or attending races at older short tracks located at fairgrounds and similar places tend to love Bristol while those raised on superspeedway racing tend to chafe at the lower speeds. Often, Bristol races are the scene of the highest number of yellow-flag caution laps in the NASCAR season; with so many cars in such a small space, contact is almost inevitable. Until the Beneficiary Rule was instituted in 2004 (the rule was instituted after the races at Bristol in 2003), the short lap length and the unpredictable nature of the racing meant that this was one of the few remaining NASCAR tracks at which it was feasible for a driver to come back to win a race from several laps down; at most modern tracks, especially superspeedways, that was almost impossible. The short lap length also cuts the other way; any unscheduled pit stop for reasons such as a cut tire will result in the driver going two or more laps down as it is almost impossible to get anything done to a car during the time taken to complete one circuit, especially under green-flag conditions (approximately 15 seconds). Thus, the disadvantage of losing laps means the chances of earning a free pass under the Beneficiary Rule is harder, since a driver losing two laps under a green-flag pit stop would have to race his way past the leader before the caution waved to regain one of his laps back, unless there are no cars one lap behind. The drag strip at this facility has long been nicknamed Thunder Valley. Both current Sprint Cup Series races held at Bristol are for 500 laps; the spring race (historically a day race; however, the 2006 race ended under nighttime conditions because Standard Time and the late afternoon start) is sponsored by area grocery chain Food City, and considered one of NASCAR's top ten annual races.[1] The late summer race (the popular night-time race, considered "the toughest ticket in NASCAR" to obtain) has rotated among several sponsors. Since 2001, Newell Rubbermaid has sponsored this race, first under its Sharpie brand (2001–2009) and now its Irwin Tools brand. Bristol is a very fertile ground for other levels and types of racing; Nationwide Series races here often draw over 100,000 spectators, making it one of the best-drawing Nationwide venues, and resulted in the Fox network televising the race nationally from 2004 to 2006, and ABC doing the same in 2007 and 2008. In 2004, it was the first Nationwide Series race of the season televised on broadcast network television, and the race, which had been 150 laps in 1982, 200 laps in 1984, and 250 laps since 1990, was a 300-lap race in 2006. It is also the home of the only midweek (Wednesday) night NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event, held in conjunction with a USAR Hooters ProCup event. Many of the fans come from the East Tennessee area, but thousands more come from all parts of the country to experience Bristol's unique brand of racing. Even in the off-season, the complex attracts fans during the Christmas season by facilitating a miles-long holiday lights display that culminates with a lap on the actual speedway track itself. [edit] Degree of banking The track long advertised its banking as 36 degrees, which at one time made it the most steeply banked track used by NASCAR. However, BMS now lists its banking at 24 to 30 degrees, reflecting the results of the track's most recent resurfacing in 2007. Even before the resurfacing, there was some dispute as to the accuracy of the measurement. In the 1980s, ESPN often claimed the turns were banked at 35 degrees during television telecast of events at the track. In an interview with Stock Car Racing's Larry Cothren, driver Ryan Newman openly disputed the measurement of the banking of Bristol Motor Speedway's turns. Newman's crew measured the banking during a test session to aid with setups, and found that the turns were banked 26 degrees, rather than the advertised 36 degrees. A Camping World Truck Series open test noted the banking had dropped following resurfacing, to 22-27 degrees, in a variable banking configuration.[2] [edit] Pit roads Another anomaly is that the short overall length means that there are two sets of pits. Until 2002, slower starters were relegated to those on the backstretch. In 2002, the rules were changed to form essentially one long pit road. During caution periods, cars wishing to pit must enter pit road in turn two, drive all the way down the back stretch, through turns three and four and down the front stretch, exiting pit road in turn one. This rule eliminated the inherent disadvantage of pitting on the back stretch. Pit stops under green flag conditions have different rules. Cars with pits on the back stretch enter the pits in turn two and exit in turn three; Cars with pits on the front stretch enter the pits in turn four and exit in turn one. Since the new pit rules were instituted, several drivers (most notably, Jeff Gordon[3]) have made major mistakes during green flag pit stops by driving through both pit roads when only one is necessary for green flag pit stops. [edit] Track history Bristol Motor Speedway could very easily have opened in 1961 under a different name. The first proposed site for the speedway was in Piney Flats but, according to Carl Moore, who built the track along with Larry Carrier and R.G. Pope, the idea met local opposition. So the track that could have been called Piney Flats International Speedway, was built five miles (8 km) down the road on Highway 11-E in Bristol. The land, upon which Bristol Motor Speedway is built, used to be a dairy farm. Larry Carrier and Carl Moore traveled to Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1960 to watch a race and it was then that they decided to build a speedway in northeast Tennessee. However, they wanted a smaller model of CMS, something with a more intimate setting and opted to erect a half-mile facility instead of mirroring the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) track in Charlotte. Work began on what was then called Bristol International Speedway in 1960 and it took approximately one year to finish. Carrier, Moore and Pope scratched many ideas for the track on envelopes and brown paper bags. Purchase of the land on which BMS now sits, as well as initial construction of the track, cost approximately $600,000. The entire layout for BMS covered 100 acres (0.40 km2) and provided parking for more than 12,000 cars. The track itself was a perfect half-mile, measuring 60 feet (18 m) wide on the straightaways, 75 feet (23 m) wide in the turns and the turns were banked at 22 degrees. Seating capacity for the very first NASCAR race at BMS – held on July 30, 1961 – was 18,000. Prior to this race the speedway hosted weekly races. The first driver on the track for practice on July 27, 1961 was Tiny Lund in his Pontiac. The second driver out was David Pearson. Fred Lorenzen won the pole for the first race at BMS with a speed of 79.225 mph (127.500 km/h). Atlanta's Jack Smith won the inaugural event – the Volunteer 500 – at BMS. However, Smith wasn't in the driver's seat of the Pontiac when the race ended. Smith drove the first 290 laps then had to have Johnny Allen, also of Atlanta, take over as his relief driver. The two shared the $3,225 purse. The total purse for the race was $16,625. Country music star Brenda Lee, who was 17 at the time, sang the national anthem for the first race at BMS. A total of 42 cars started the first race at BMS but only 19 finished. One of Bristol's 2 cars that hit the turn 2 wall, this was used to be driven by Michael Waltrip in 1990 In the fall of 1969 BMS was reshaped and re-measured. The turns were banked at 36 degrees and it became a 0.533-mile (0.858 km) oval. The speedway was sold after the 1976 season to Lanny Hester and Gary Baker. In the spring of 1978 the track name was changed to Bristol International Raceway. In August of that year, the first night race was held on the oval, one that would become one of the most popular and highly anticipated events on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series calendar. On April 1, 1982 Lanny Hester sold his half of the speedway to Warner Hodgdon. On July 6, 1983, Hodgdon completed 100 percent purchase of Bristol Motor Speedway, as well as Nashville Speedway, in a buy-sell agreement with Baker. Hodgdon named Larry Carrier as the tr
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Bristol Motor Speedway, formally known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Read the rest
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Bristol Motor Speedway, formally known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway is a NASCAR. short track. venue located in Bristol. Tennessee Read the rest