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JENSEN: Time To Spice Things Up
Written by: Tom Jensen   
08/26/2007
Harrisburg, N.C.
 


Edwards may have led the last 130 laps in what was a dull Cup race at Bristol... (LAT Photo) » More Photos



One of the many reasons I look forward to going to Bristol every year is that it's a race I can drive to. From my home near Charlotte, it's a simple three-hour ride in my truck, which gives me time to relax and reflect on the events of the day, something I find almost impossible to do on an airplane.

Maybe it's because the truck belonged to my father for nine years before he died last December and I always smile and think about him when I hop in and fire it up. Or maybe it's because the truck is no longer young and has a lot of miles on it, two traits that give it character and two traits that I can definitely relate to. Or maybe it's just the knowledge that I'm either going to or coming from Bristol, which is still my favorite track by a fair measure.

At any rate, the drive to and fro got me to thinking about some matters NASCAR-related, so I'm going to let 'em fly.

THE RACE A lot of people left the Sharpie 500 frustrated and angry because there was a lack of drama. After a phenomenal Busch race on Friday night, which featured a four-car fight to the finish, the Cup race flat sucked. Kasey Kahne led 305 laps and Carl Edwards led 182, including the last 130 in what was a dull race. Some folks are blaming the repaving job at Bristol Motor Speedway, some are blaming the Car of Tomorrow, or the rock-hard tires Goodyear brought.

The way I see it, all were contributing factors. Does that mean the sky is falling? No. The truth is, the two prior races at Bristol had long stretches of domination and no passing up front. In March, on the old Bristol surface, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin combined to lead 434 of 500 laps and would have led more had their cars not broken. In the 2006 August night race – on the old surface, with the old-style cars – Matt Kenseth led 415 laps.
...but the problem certainly doesn't lie with the charismatic track itself, Jensen ponders. (LAT Photo) » More Photos

The truth is, what we remember as a "good" race is one that has an exciting finish, regardless of how dull most of the race was up until the last 20 laps. The first Bristol race this year drew raves because Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton went door to door for the victory
at the end, not because there were a ton of lead changes during the race.

So far this year, the Car of Tomorrow has produced some genuinely riveting races – the first Bristol, both road-course events and Martinsville, where Jeff Gordon tried his damnedest to knock the snot out of Jimmie Johnson over the final 20 laps and couldn't. The COT has also resulted in some dog races, most notably the one just concluded and Dover.

From where I sit, that's not much different than any other season. The COT needs more work, of that there is little doubt. But Bristol isn't broken by any means, despite what we all witnessed Saturday night.

THE SCHEDULE While some folks will tell you the Nextel Cup schedule is too long, the truth of the matter is, we're never going back to 28 or 30 races a year again. But what NASCAR really needs to look at is cutting back the number of days we're at the track. Bristol, which was the first Saturday night race we've had since the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in July, reminded me again that the vast majority of these race weekends could be run over two days instead of three.

NASCAR ought to cut the teams a break at places like Pocono, Dover, Michigan, Martinsville and the road courses and make the schedule two days, period. Practice and qualify on Saturday, race on Sunday. It would save time and expense on the road and it wouldn't compromise the quality of the events or the experience at all.

RACE LENGTH The only races that should be 500 miles long are Daytona, Talladega and Texas. Pocono doesn't need to be, Atlanta doesn't need to be, California doesn't need to be and the second Charlotte race doesn't need to be, nor does Darlington. And just to make things interesting again, why not bring back a modified version of the old Winston Million: Pay a $1 million bonus to any driver who wins the Daytona 500, and one race each at Talladega and Texas in the same season.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SpeedTV.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel