HistorE Lesson...Bristol

Well besides another rain delay and Kevin Harvick still wanting to put The Keebler Elf in his "place", there is only one thing in the news....Chad Kmouse. Well since that is another bullshit subject I won't touch on again, I thought a little historE lesson about the best bullring in the business would be in order.
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 down the road on Hwy. 11-E in Bristol. The land, upon which Bristol Motor Speedway is built, used to be a dairy farm.

Located in Bluff City Tennessee, Bristol Motor Speedway is hailed as one of the best "racing" tracks on the circuit. Built in 1960, held it's first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Being an all concrete track, similar to Dover makes for some serious door to door bone jarring action. Banked with 36 degree corners and 16 degree straight aways is always fun to watch. I have been there personally and from the infield you feel like a turd in a toilet bowl. The feeling is soooooo immense it is hard to explain with words. Trust me it kicks ass!!!!!!! The track is so short that speeds here are far lower than is typical on most NASCAR oval tracks, making for a considerable amount of "swapping paint". The initial starting grid of 43 vehicles extends almost halfway around the track, meaning that the slower-qualifying cars and those using provisional starts begin the race almost half a lap down. Another anomaly is that the short overall length means that there are two sets of pits. Until 2002, slower starters ware relegated to those on the backstretch, but a rule change for caution periods only made two backstretch pits desirable along with two on the frontstretch. Also known as Thunder Valley because of the drag strip there.

First two drivers to practice the track Tiny Lund and then David Pearson. At 79 plus mph, Fred Lorenzen grabbed the first ever pole and Jack Smith with the help of relief driver Johnny Allen. They cashed in for a whopping $3225. Seating capacity then was 18,000. A lot has changed since then, but I would bet the farm that the racing is just as hard. Since adding the banking and reshaping the track in 1969, not much has changed. Only the ownerships, name of the speedway, and how many fizzuckin people can fit in there. An astounding 160,00 screaming NASCAR fans! Bruton Smith has damn sure made it a fan favorite twice a year. This IS Bristol Baby and this has been your HistorE lesson for the day.