Monday, August 16, 2010

IRWIN Tools Night Race Odds & Ends: Bristol Motor Speedway

compiled by Mike Forde
NASCAR Media Services


History
·         Groundbreaking for Bristol International Speedway, as Bristol Motor Speedway was originally known, took place in 1960. The track was an exact half-mile.
·         First NASCAR Sprint Cup race was July 30, 1961.
·         In the fall of 1969, the track was reshaped and re-measured to .533-miles.
·         The name changed to Bristol International Raceway in 1978.
·         The first night race was held in the fall of 1978.
·         The 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 99 NASCAR Sprint Cup races 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 laps.
·         Fred Lorenzen won the first pole.
·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was won by Jack Smith (with relief from Johnny Allen).
·         There have been 43 different pole winners, led by Cale Yarborough and Mark Martin (nine). Martinswept both poles at Bristol last season.
·         38 different drivers have won, led by Darrell Waltrip (12).
·         Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon each have five wins, most among active drivers.
·         The race winner has started from the pole 22 times, the most productive starting position. The last driver to win from the pole was Carl Edwards, in the night race of 2008.
·         80 of 99 races have been won from a top-10 starting position, including 52 from the first four spots.
·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started is 38th, by Elliott Sadler in 2001.
·         Last year’s night race had a margin of victory of .098 seconds, the second-closest MOV at Bristol since the advent of electronic scoring in May of 1993.
·         Four of the last five, and eight of the last 10, Bristol races had a margin of victory under one second.
NASCAR in Tennessee
·         There have been 160 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Tennessee.
·         100 drivers all-time in NASCAR’s three national series have their home state recorded as Tennessee.
·         There have been 12 race winners from Tennessee in NASCAR’s three national series:
Driver
NSCS
NNS
NCWTS
Darrell Waltrip
84
13
0
Sterling Marlin
10
2
0
Bobby Hamilton
4
1
10
Joe Lee Johnson
2
0
0
Paul Lewis
1
0
0
Bobby Hamilton Jr.
0
5
0
Jeff Purvis
0
4
0
L.D. Ottinger
0
3
0
Mike Alexander
0
2
0
Casey Atwood
0
2
0
Brad Teague
0
1
0
Chad Chaffin
0
0
2
Bristol Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 24 of 36 (8-21-10)
Track Size: .533 miles
·     Race Length: 500 laps/266.5 miles
·     Banking/Corners: 26 to 30 degrees
·     Banking/Straights: 4 to 9 degrees

Driver Rating at Bristol
Kyle Busch                   103.0
Greg Biffle                     101.2
Jeff Gordon                    99.4
Matt Kenseth                 97.5
Kurt Busch                    96.1
Tony Stewart                 95.9
Denny Hamlin                95.0
Marcos Ambrose           93.4
Kevin Harvick                 91.5
Mark Martin                   89.9
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2010 races (11 total) at Bristol.


Qualifying/Race Data
2009 pole winner: Mark Martin, 124.484 mph, 15.414 seconds
2009 race winner: Kyle Busch, 84.820 mph, 8-22-09)
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.




LAS VEGAS HILTON SUPER BOOK ODDS TO WIN IRWIN TOOLS NIGHT RACE AT BRISTOL  

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