Some may have called the Bristol Night Race “boring,” but it certainly wasn’t uneventful.
If you were to list the most elite NASCAR races – the so-called “Crown Jewels” of the sport – there’s a very solid chance the Bass Pro Shops Bristol Night Race would be on just about anyone’s shortlist. In fact, Dale Earnhardt Jr. – of “It’s Bristol, baby!” fame – once stated that it’s the ideal “first race” for any budding NASCAR fan.
The spring Bristol race was exciting, with unpredictable – and rapid – tire falloff that made for compelling racing. The NASCAR world cheered when Goodyear announced that they were going to bring those same tires back for the fall race that would serve as the cutoff race for the Round of 16. So why did it end up as such a snoozefest?
It’s hard to be certain. After all, there were numerous variables at play, from temperature to team strategy. This time, the teams knew what was coming, so it’s very likely that everyone more or less landed on similar setups that worked to keep the rubber fresher for longer. Regardless, many fans took to social media to express their disappoint with a race that was dominated by Kyle Larson – even if his post-race celebration with son Owen was one of the sweeter moments we’ve seen all year.
I would hesitate, however, to call it boring. For one, the race was historically significant. Larson led 462 laps, a record for Hendrick Motorsports drivers. So dominant was his performance that he has now surpassed Jeff Gordon at the top of that list. In fact, it’s the fourth most laps led of all time, and certainly stands alone in the Next Gen era. Few current fans remember that the ’90s NASCAR we all knew and loved often featured racing like this, with a solitary dominant car running away with the lead.
Additionally, there was some terrific racing happening throughout the pack, from the four-way battle between Martin Truex Jr., Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin, and Christopher Bell fighting in the top 5 to keep their championship hopes alive. Sadly, Truex had a costly pit road penalty that ultimately resulted in his failure to advance to the Round of 12 in his final year. Additionally, the battle between a lapped Daniel Suarez and Ty Gibbs towards the end kept our attention as those two talented drivers matched each other move for move. Sure, it certainly wasn’t the most exciting Bristol race of all time, but I wouldn’t call it “boring.”
In other news, Let’s talk about Spire for a moment. This weekend, the series heads to Kansas Speedway, where Justin Haley and Corey LaJoie will make the seat swap we discussed last week. Spire has been on a tear the past two seasons, buying up anything and everything they could get their hands on thanks to a cash infusion from Gainbridge, among others. Gainbridge and Spire share an affiliation with Andretti Autosport over on the Indycar side, where Michael Andretti has just announced he is stepping away. That’s understandably shocking news to many – what impact, if any, could it have on Spire’s efforts at improvement and expansion over on the NASCAR side?
Photo: Associated Press
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