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8/28/2009
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PAVEMENT NOTES:
Bristol Motor Speedway
by Walt Stubbs |
I call it the WOW factor. Some might use other terminology such as Holy Cow
or Holy S…. However you want to term it, the best way to describe it is that
reaction you have when you see something for the first time that is so
enormous, so big, so powerful, that the first words out of your mouth are
WOW. As someone who has been fortunate to travel across this great country
of ours; they’re a few places I have seen where the WOW factor has come into
my vocabulary. They include the Grand Canyon, Statue of Liberty, Sears
Tower, Golden Gate Bridge and a Space Shuttle launch. On the sports front,
you have places like the Big House, Cameron Indoor, Touchdown Jesus, Lambeau
Field, Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. In auto racing, you have tracks like
Indianapolis, Daytona, and Bristol.
The first time I went to Bristol back in 1999, I had that WOW
experience. Upon arriving at Bristol this past Tuesday evening and making my
way thru the tunnel and entering the infield pit area to watch the NASCAR
modifieds practice; I had the WOW experience once again, even more so than
in 1999. Just seeing the modifieds on the high banked cement brought chills;
and that was with the stands empty. I can’t imagine, then, what it was like
for the 42 modified drivers who were hauling ass around the track. For most
of them, the experience was intense, or as Ed Flemke described the
experience, “You always drive intense, this was beyond intense.” Much of
that had to do with the speeds and reaction time the driver’s experienced as
the NASCAR Whelen Modified and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour made a
historic visit to the high banks of Bristol. With that, there was also
concern of how the division would fare on the high banks. When some teams
went down to Bristol to test in March and then early June, some voiced
concern that there would be little passing on the tight banks. Others were
concerned about the speed differential between the fastest cars and those in
the back of the field. NASCAR made a decision after the March test to not
use a restrictor plate with the hope that it would create more passing.
This, though, could do nothing about the drastic difference in speed. The
other concern in the garage area was if the race would be a caution marred
event. After practice Tuesday night, Ted Christopher still had concerns.
“It’s so intense and fast that if the driver in front of you is slower than
you are, he’s going to have to show some respect and move over. “
With qualifying washed out on Wednesday afternoon, the only thing
to do was race. With 40 cars entered (Tom McCann Jr withdrew after Wednesday
morning practice), and 38 cars scheduled to start, NASCAR and the track
wisely decided to have all 40 start the race. Of course, that probably was
due in part that the last two driver’s in the field, based on points, were
Cup stars Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne. Not having them in the field would
have probably upset a few who paid to watch them race. As for the race
itself, the 150 lap race was not the wreck fest some expected. And while it
wasn’t the best race, it did have its moments. After the first caution on
the second lap, which took out Matt Hirschman, Newman, and Buddy Emory, the
race ran green until lap 75. Up to that point, it didn’t look like
Christopher was going to be denied, as he followed up with the fastest times
in practice to the race itself. However, after the mandatory five minute
period to change tires was complete, Christopher was not the same while
Donny Lia made his presence felt. Making his way by Todd Szegedy for second,
Lia ran down Christopher, getting underneath Christopher on lap 107. Once
out front, it looked like nothing would hold Lia back. However, a late
caution and subsequent restart almost did Lia in. NASCAR penalized Lia for
jumping the restart and Lia, was ordered to let Christopher take the lead
from him. Fortunately for Lia, there was enough laps left in the race for
him to overtake Christopher once again and collect an emotional win. “I got
a little nervous there and we had to let him back by,” said Lia. “It just
got me a little more amped up to get back around him. It would have been
pretty bad to give the race away like that. The guys work too hard, Bob
Garbarino puts too much into this for that to happen. Lately I have been
making mistakes and I’ll be the first one to admit it. So today was real
good for me, a little bit of redemption to make up on some prior mistakes
that I feel I’ve made this year. Hopefully, it can continue and we can win
some more races.” Some might have assumed that some of Lia’s redemption or
extra incentive could have been in part that the Truck Series and its
drivers and owners, were on hand watching the event. Lia, who ran the Truck
Series last year and won a race at Mansfield, lost his ride and found no
other offers during the off season before rejoining the modifieds and car
owner Bob Garbarino. Lia, though, stated there wasn’t any extra incentive.
“I guess it should be because everybody was around watching but you just try
hard, no matter who is watching. No one could be watching, I wouldn’t care.
The win last year in the Truck Series was my biggest win but this win might
mean more to me than that because it was the first race for the modifieds at
Bristol and we had so many people watching us and so many eyes on us. I just
hope it was a good race to watch and I’m even more happy that we won.”
For Christopher, there was definite disappointment in his voice
over his second place finish. And who can blame him? TC had the fastest car
in test runs and during Tuesday night’s practice. Most in the garage area
had him as the favorite, even more so when he got to start the race on the
pole due to qualifying being rained out and the field starting according to
points. Christopher was true to form, dominating the first 75 laps but it
all changed after the mandatory pit stop. “The second set of tires closed up
the stagger, which is what we wanted it to do but I never would have thought
it would have gotten that tight up off. A couple of times I thought I was
going to knock the wall down coming off. What are you going to do,” asked
Christopher to nobody in particular. Christopher, though, wished Lia’s
mistake would have come a couple laps later than it did. “I wish that would
have happened with five to go because I would have waited for one to go to
pass him and then blocked him all over the place,” quipped Christopher.
Another driver who was disappointed with his finish was Szegedy,
who wound up sixth in the final tally after running second for most of the
race. “I expected a good clean race. I didn’t expect to maneuver as good as
we were able to but that was the unknown. Our car was awesome but we just
lost the motor. It’s amazing we lost the motor and still finished sixth. If
we had the horsepower, we would have been right there with Donny and Teddy.
The motor was lazy after the first few laps and then after the halfway break
the cylinder actually dropped. I’m disappointed we haven’t gotten a win yet.
We need to get some wins.”
While George Brunnhoelzl III is a regular on the NASCAR Whelen
Southern Modified Series, the name is still synonymous with many from the
Northeast. His father, George Brunnhoelzl Jr, was one of the great drivers
on Long Island and who won the Race of Champions at Pocono back in 1987.
Brunnhoelzl III also made a name for himself running at Riverhead. Racing
the Southern Tour this year, he is the points leader. Running with the
northerners at Bristol gave him a chance to show his stuff. He didn’t
disappoint as he wound up fourth. “It’s great to run with these guys. I grew
up up there. I know most of these guys, my Dad raced against a lot of them.
It’s definitely fun to get a chance to race against different people. Any
time you can bring more drivers together, getting the best of the north and
best of the south, it makes you a better driver so it makes it a lot of fun.
Everybody put a lot of emphasis on this race and it was a Super Bowl for us.
I wish we could have had the longer run at the end of the race versus how it
was during the first half of the race. If we had the longer run at the end,
we would have had something for Donny I think,” said Brunnhoelzl.
BRISTOL NOTES: As you could expect, many faces were on
hand to take in the first modified race at Bristol since the early 1960’s.
Eddie Bohn, Geoff and Brett Bodine, Tim Connolly, Jeff Fuller, Wayne
Anderson, and Tom Baldwin Jr were among some of the names on hand. Baldwin
was actually Kasey Kahne’s crew chief. It actually looked like a Long Island
contingent in the pit area. One of the biggest surprises was seeing another
former Islander, Tom McCann on hand with his son Tom Jr. Upon arriving at
the track Tuesday evening I saw the red number 51 on pit road with the name
Tom McCann Jr. Not knowing if it was the same family originally from Long
Island, my assumption was correct when I saw the familiar lit cigar coming
out of McCann’s mouth. McCann, who moved to Florida shortly after retiring
in 1997, moved to Mooresville North Carolina four years ago. (It should be
noted McCann won his last race at Riverhead in 97 only to be disqualified,
never to race again) His son raced Late Models in both Florida and North
Carolina but had not raced in a year. McCann Jr. though wanted to get back
into a modified. As he put it, “I always wanted to get back into a modified
so around four months ago we decided to get back into modified racing.”
After purchasing the modified, he and his Dad put the car together in eight
days and was completed just in time for the race at Bristol. Unfortunately
for McCann, after practice on Wednesday he decided to withdraw because he
was not yet comfortable driving the modified. As McCann admitted afterward,
it was an adjustment getting used to driving the modified versus a Late
Model. Despite his disappointment, McCann is looking forward to competing in
some more Southern Tour Races, starting at Caraway. You might even see the
McCann’s at a familiar haunt, Wall Stadium, for the October race… Ryan
Preece came into Bristol on a hot streak, winning the last two races. Preece
was once again impressive, finishing third. “The car was better than even I
thought it was going to be because we got a lot of green laps under our
belt. It was like a roller coaster; you didn’t want to get off,” said Preece
of his experience. “We may not have been the fastest in practice but usually
come race time, we are right there.” It was good to see Tim Connolly taking
in the race with his son Shane. It’s hard to believe but Shane is now
graduated from Cornell and it’s Connolly’s son who is pushing his Dad to get
back behind the wheel. As Connolly said, “It’s definitely tempting but once
you get back in, you’re in.” Will be interesting to see if we see Connolly
racing some where next year. Another good run was put in by Rowan Pennink,
who wound up seventh. “We were just biding our time during the first half of
the race, taking our time. In the second half, the stagger snuck up on us so
we were a little tight and struggled a little bit. Other than that, I’m
happy to come out of here with a top ten car ,” said Pennink. Pennink, like
many of the drivers on hand, feel that if the modifieds return to Bristol,
the racing will be better based on many being more comfortable with the
track and speeds. Well, the Tour heads from Bristol to Chemung. Talk about a
difference in speed and WOW factor. And as we headed on the Pennsy Turnpike
and passing the Levittown exit, we wonder whatever happened to Doug Craig.
And finally, This Week’s Quote of The Week comes from NASCAR
official Jerry Cook, when asked if NASCAR had a plan should it rain. “We
have a plan but we haven’t decided what it is yet.”
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Source: Walt Stubbs /
Pavement Notes
Posted: August
28, 2009 |
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