Bristol. They tinkered with it and made it a race track instead of a bang’em and rack’em horsepower brawl. The re-surface in 2007 removed the groove and put racing over banging. The push and shove inner lane was opened to full track grip giving more lines for drivers to ride. For racing, passing and team strategies it was all good.

Fans, however, fell true to stereotypes and were not impressed with drivers doing their jobs and racing without wrecking. Fans wanted to see the faster guy bump and shove the slower guy out of the groove. If that meant a spin into the wall and sour tempers in the garage then that was just foam on the beer.

So, Bristol track owner, Bruton Smith, tried to put racing back on the bottom in order to recreate the shove-racing that filled the place with fans. The logic seemed to flow that if fixing it screwed it up then screwing it up would fix it. They ran laps in big machines and ground the “smooth” off the upper section of the track hoping to push the drivers back to the bottom.

It worked in reverse. Sort of.

The drivers found the rough surface to give a faster line. The shoving was back but physics is still physics. Bump next to the wall and there is no room to move up for the “bumped”. Let the circus begin.

Drivers raced it, liked it, hated it. The opinions might weigh heavily on who was on the wall, in the garage, or in the lead. Fans, however, seemed to like the smash-ups and the tempers. Tony Stewart threw a helmet at Matt Kenseth and the crowd seemed to like that, too. Danica Patrick shook a finger at Regan Smith and that was fan fun as well.

All in all, 13 cautions and 14 leaders marked the books for Bristol on this time around for the Irwin Tools Night Race. Also on the books is Denny Hamlin in Victory Lane with the #11 FedEx Toyota. For that matter, the points for the “Chase” are mathematically set for Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.  They could sit in the stands with the huddled masses and cheer for wrecks and still make it in. However, it is likely that most are safe as long as they can finish the next two races inside of the better half.

Atlanta then Richmond. Two races remain to determine who goes for the cup and who is tagging along to try and get some sponsor hits. Both should be “must see” for fans as the drama is hot with the “Chase” and it won’t be set in concrete until they cross the checkers in Richmond.

The big question, however, may be how many helmets Tony Stewart has in the closet…