[Open Thread] Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

by Diecast Dude on Mar 16, 2008 12:03 PM EDT

A couple of things before settling in: I'm doing some business-related travel today and will probably miss chunks of the race. So fill up the comments area and keep the joint jumpin', okay?

Second point which is and isn't connected to today's race: check out David Poole's article from yesterday about different drivers, namely Dale Jarrett along with Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., commenting about how it's usually a waste of breath complaining about different elements of NASCAR, such as tires, because of the overwhelming impression no one is listening. It makes the absence of Dale Earnhardt even more keenly felt. When he'd speak up, NASCAR listened. Now, it appears they listen to nothing that doesn't emanate from their own lips. Not a good thing.

Also filed under "not a good thing:" drivers were reporting after yesterday's practice there was excessive tire wear. Tires wearing out too quickly at Bristol? Swell.

Anyway, today's starting lineup as set by Mother Nature:

	Pos	Car	Driver	Team	Reason
Row 1:	1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 1st
	2	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 2nd
Row 2:	3	07	Clint Bowyer	Jack Daniel's Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 3rd
	4	17	Matt Kenseth	Dish Network Ford	2007 Owner Points 4th
Row 3:	5	5	Casey Mears	CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 5th
	6	20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot Toyota	2007 Owner Points 6th
Row 4:	7	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	Mobil 1 Dodge	2007 Owner Points 7th
	8	31	Jeff Burton	AT&T Mobility Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 8th
Row 5:	9	99	Carl Edwards	Office Depot Ford	2007 Owner Points 9th
	10	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 10th
Row 6:	11	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 11th
	12	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Express Toyota	2007 Owner Points 12th
Row 7:	13	12	Ryan Newman	alltel Dodge	2007 Owner Points 13th
	14	16	Greg Biffle	Jackson Hewitt Ford	2007 Owner Points 14th
Row 8:	15	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 15th
	16	8	Aric Almirola	U.S. Army Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 16th
Row 9:	17	01	Regan Smith	Principal Financial Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 17th
	18	26	Jamie McMurray	Crown Royal Ford	2007 Owner Points 18th
Row 10:	19	43	Bobby Labonte	Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge	2007 Owner Points 19th
	20	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser Dodge	2007 Owner Points 20th
Row 11:	21	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Texaco/Havoline Dodge	2007 Owner Points 21st
	22	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's Toyota	2007 Owner Points 22nd
Row 12:	23	41	Reed Sorenson	Target Dodge	2007 Owner Points 23rd
	24	6	David Ragan	AAA Insurance Ford	2007 Owner Points 24th
Row 13:	25	96	JJ Yeley	DLP HDTV Toyota	2007 Owner Points 25th
	26	40	Dario Franchitti	The Hartford Dodge	2007 Owner Points 26th
Row 14:	27	19	Elliott Sadler	Stanley Dodge	2007 Owner Points 27th
	28	7	Robby Gordon	RV's.com Dodge	2007 Owner Points 28th
Row 15:	29	15	Paul Menard	Menards/Peak Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 29th
	30	28	Travis Kvapil	Yates Racing Ford	2007 Owner Points 30th
Row 16:	31	66	Scott Riggs	Haas Automation Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 31st
	32	38	David Gilliland	freecreditreport.com Ford	2007 Owner Points 32nd
Row 17:	33	70	Jeremy Mayfield	Haas Automation Chevrolet	2007 Owner Points 33rd
	34	22	Dave Blaney	Caterpillar Toyota	2007 Owner Points 34th
Row 18:	35	45	Kyle Petty	Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Dodge	2007 Owner Points 35th
	36	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite Dodge	2007 Driver Winner
Row 19:	37	44	Dale Jarrett	UPS Toyota	Past Champion 1999
	38	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Toyota	2008 Owner Points 9th
Row 20:	39	00	David Reutimann	Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota	2008 Owner Points 27th
	40	55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Toyota	2008 Owner Points 33rd
Row 21:	41	49	Ken Schrader	Qtrax.com Dodge	2008 Owner Points 41st
	42	78	Joe Nemechek	Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet	2008 Owner Points 42nd
Row 22:	43	84	Mike Skinner	Red Bull Toyota	2008 Owner Points 43rd

Be back later.

Lap 59: You don't need me to tell you that: a) not a whole lot is happening; b) that's way too heavy of a marble build-up for this early in the race, now do you.

0 recs | Comment 7 comments

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Comments

Poole's Article

Thanks for linking that article - it was a good read and articulated what is becoming more obvious as time goes by. Not every driver can be as fearless as Tony or be how Sr. was.

I've always enjoyed listening to what Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton and Junior have to say about an issue, because they all tend to have the big picture in mind, rather than individual issues or vendettas. Of course, Dale Jarret is on that list, but he'll be in a broadcast booth.

Nascar has lost sight of the "big picture" in so many areas. They appear to be doing better in the punitive action for cheating area, but letting drivers vent without actually listening to what they say isn't furthering their cause.

But, even though there are some excellent college basketball games on this weekend, Nascar still has my allegiance.

by Jeffro on Mar 16, 2008 1:56 PM EDT 0 recs