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Odds and Ends - Bristol
August 19, 2008
By VI News
VegasInsider.com
Bristol Motor Speedway
History
Groundbreaking for Bristol International Speedway, as Bristol Motor Speedway was originally known, took place in 1960. The track was an exact half-mile.
Bristol held its first NASCAR Sprint Cup race on July 30, 1961.
In the fall of 1969, the track was reshaped and re-measured to .533 miles with the turns banked at 36 degrees.
The name changed to Bristol International Raceway in 1978.
The first night race was held in the fall of 1978.
The first NASCAR Nationwide Series race was held on March 13, 1982.
The first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race was held on June 23, 1995.
The track surface was changed from asphalt to concrete in 1992.
The name changed to Bristol Motor Speedway in May 1996.
The track was resurfaced between races in 2007. Notebook
There have been 95 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Bristol Motor Speedway since the first race there in 1961, two races each season.
All races have been scheduled for 500 laps – except for both races in 1976 and the second in 1977, which were 400-lap events.
Fred Lorezen won the first pole.
The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was won by Jack Smith (with relief from Johnny Allen).
There have been 41 different pole winners led by Cale Yarborough (nine); 19 drivers have more than one.
37 different drivers have won races, led by Darrell Waltrip (12); 14 drivers have more than one victory there.
The race winner has started from the pole 21 times, the most productive starting position.
78 of 95 races at Bristol have been won from a top-10 starting position, including 51 from the first four spots. However, four of the past nine race winners have started outside the top 10.
The deepest in the field that a Bristol race winner has started was 38th, by Elliott Sadler in 2001.
Junior Johnson won 21 races at Bristol, more than any other car owner. His victories came between 1965 and 1986 and were scored by five different drivers, including one himself.
Richard Childress and Jack Roush are the leading active car owners at Bristol, each with nine victories.
There have been five different pole winners in the past seven Bristol races. Qualifying was canceled in the spring of 2006 and 2008. There have been seven different race winners in the nine races at Bristol since Kurt Busch won three straight in 2003 and 2004. Matt Kenseth won the fall race in 2005 and 2006.
NASCAR in Tennessee
There have been 156 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Tennessee.
98 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Tennessee.
There have been 11 race winners from Tennessee in NASCAR’s three national series:
Bristol Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 24 of 36 (8-23-08)
Track Size: .533 miles
Race Length: 500 laps/266.5 miles
Banking/Corners: 24 to 30 degrees
Banking/Straights: 4 to 9 degrees
Driver Rating at Bristol
Matt Kenseth 109.9
Greg Biffle 103.2
Kevin Harvick 102.6
Tony Stewart 102.4
Jeff Gordon 101.4
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 96.8
Jeff Burton 94.5
Denny Hamlin 93.1
Kasey Kahne 92.7
Kurt Busch 91.4
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2008 races (7 total) at Bristol.
Qualifying/Race Data
2007 pole winner: Kasey Kahne (119.805 mph, 16.016 seconds)
2007 race winner: Carl Edwards, 89.006 mph, 8-25-07)
Track qualifying record: Ryan Newman (128.709 mph, 14.908 seconds, 3-21-03)
Track race record: Charlie Glotzbach (101.074 mph, 7-11-71)
Estimated Pit Window: Every 120-130 laps, based on fuel mileage.
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