The Bothersome New Bristol

There used to be three certainties in life.

Death, taxes and the low line being the best line at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Watching Kasey Kahne slide down the frontstretch wall during Friday night’s Food City 250 Nationwide Series race at Bristol, I couldn’t help but notice the real cause of Kahne’s misfortunes.

It was the progressive banking.

Kahne, who started 37th was on his way through the pack when he made a daring move to the high side of Justin Allgaier and took it three wide. Trevor Bayne was underneath Allgaier and something had to give.

Kahne didn’t. And neither did the wall.

The toughest ticket in NASCAR (up until this year) was repaved and “revamped” in 2007 in order to give the drivers some extra racing room and another groove on which to race.

Lots of room to race and two grooves was not what drew fans to Bristol for so many years. But that is what forced Kahne to the high line, and that, coupled with a bit of bad judgment, was what sent him for a ride.

Pre-2007, there’s no way a car could, or would have been rim-riding to pass cars at Bristol. But now, with a distinctive high line to race, it allows cars on the high side to hold their own and eliminates a lot of bumping and banging that made Bristol so special.

I’m not sure what the powers that be were thinking when they reconfigured the track that used to have by far the most personality of any track any of NASCAR’s three top series visit each year.

Watching the Nationwide race, it pained me to see how much cars on the bottom side were struggling to make a pass. Even if a driver was faster than the one in front of him, there wasn’t much he could do.

The battle for the lead between Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch was a prime example of my point.

Busch’s car was clearly superior to Keselowski’s but because Busch was forced to race the bottom. It took Busch nearly 10 laps to clear Keselowski on the bottom. When Busch finally did get by, he slid in front of Keselowski who nudged Busch and got back by.

Displeased, Busch dumped Keselowski in the next corner and went on to win the race.

“I tried and tried and tried to clear him,” Busch said in Victory Lane.

Let’s ignore the aftermath and focus on the battle. Had Busch been racing at the old Bristol and had the superior car, he would’ve either gotten a run and gotten by on the bottom, or use a little bump and went on his way.

This configuration completely eliminates the hard-nosed type of racing that fans have been coming in droves to see at Bristol for years. It reminds me more of a high-banked New Hampshire than anything else.

Another thing the new banking does is handcuff drivers in odd-numbered positions on restarts. When the leader chooses the outside line at other tracks, there is minimal disadvantage to those on the inside. Double-file restarts Friday night at Bristol were a different story and downright unfair.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s situation at the end of the race was a prime example.

After battling through the field and into second place, Earnhardt was forced to restart on the inside on the last two restarts and because the high side is that much superior, ended up losing positions on both restarts. And, of course, his shot at victory.

“To restart on the inside there was really tough," Earnhardt said.

Who would’ve thought anyone would ever be saying that about Bristol Motor Speedway?