Cool-Down Lap
Bristol race was the most encouraging in years
Mar. 18, 2013
By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service
The
fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race -- and the first on a traditional
short track -- left several indelible impressions. Here’s
what I found most memorable about Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol
Motor Speedway:
THE RACING
My
senses told me this was the best racing we’ve seen at Bristol since the
resurfacing of the track in 2007. No, it wasn’t the same
root-and-gouge single-lane racing we saw 10 or 15 years ago, but to me,
it was equally entertaining.
Though
there were multiple lanes available, there nevertheless was contact
between cars. Tony Stewart’s left-rear tire was an early
victim of side-to-side rubbing. Obviously, Denny Hamlin used his bumper
a little too aggressively in passing Joey Logano.
The
bottom line, though, was that a faster car could work its way past a
car that was slightly slower, as we saw throughout the race.
The
statistics support that impression. NASCAR’s loop data, which measure
the progress of each car at successive scoring loops around
the track, indicate that green-flag passes increased from 1,623 in last
year’s spring race to 2,354 this year. That’s the second straight week
we’ve seen a significant increase in that statistic.
Quality
passes (passing a car running in the top 15 under green) were up
significantly, too, confirming what we saw with our eyes, namely
that there was considerable movement among the fastest cars.
If
NASCAR’s new Gen -6 race car is a work in progress, the quality of the
racing appears to be ahead of schedule, based on the limited
sample we’ve seen so far.
THE RIVALRY
Hamlin
can’t seem to avoid controversy. His bump of Logano’s No. 22 Ford, spun
Logano’s car into the fence and ruined his chances of
winning. After the race, Logano, poked his head into Hamlin’s window
and expressed his displeasure, only to be restrained by Hamlin’s crew.
A bit later, the drivers indulged themselves with a cat fight on Twitter.
Is
this a budding rivalry? Not yet. For it to progress to that level,
Logano will have to take overt, obvious retaliatory action on
the race track.
Remember
Logano’s run-in with Kevin Harvick at Pocono, the one that produced
Logano’s much-quoted “firesuit” comment, as in Harvick’s
wife DeLana “wears the firesuit in the family and tells him what to
do.”
Cleverly,
the Harvicks made T-shirts mocking the comment, but Logano exercised no
clear payback on the track. Perhaps that’s why Hamlin
felt he could take liberties with Logano at Bristol.
The
only way to gain respect in the Cup garage is to back up your words
with actions, and Logano hasn’t done that yet. If and when he
does, we’ll have a rivalry.
THE TIRES
Goodyear
brought the same tire combination to Bristol that the Cup series ran
there in August. Perhaps because the Gen-6 cars are lighter
than their predecessors by 150 pounds, drivers felt a difference in the
way the tires behaved.
On
two-tire stops, some teams opted for left sides rather than rights.
Why? Because fresh left-side rubber allowed the cars to hook
the bottom and helped them turn through the corners.
Several
who adopted the strategy, however, paid a price. Both Jeff Gordon and
Jimmie Johnson blew older right fronts during second runs
on the those tires.
Blown
tires are never a good thing, but in one sense, what we saw Sunday was
encouraging. All too often of late, drivers have been able
to take two tires or no tires with impunity. At Bristol, it was
gratifying to see risk inherent in tire strategy.
Let’s hope that continues to be the case going forward.
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