Monday, August 20, 2012

2012 Irwin Night Race at Bristol Odds & Ends


At Bristol Motor Speedway:
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.
·         A milling process took place between races in 2012, erasing the progressive banking in the upper groove of the turns.
Notebook
·         There have been 103 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 45 different pole winners, led by Cale Yarborough and Mark Martin (nine). Martin swept both poles at Bristol in 2009.
·         39 different drivers have won, led by Darrell Waltrip (12).
·         Kurt Busch, Kyle 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.
·         82 of 103 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.
·         The last seven Bristol races had a margin of victory under one second.
·         Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bristol Motor Speedway winner: Kyle Busch (03/25/2007 – 21 years, 10 months, 23 days)
·         Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bristol Motor Speedway winner: Dale Earnhardt (08/28/1999 – 48 years, 3 months, 30 days)
 
Bristol Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 24 of 36 (08-25-12)
Track Size: 0.533-miles
Banking/Corners: 26 degrees
Banking/Frontstretch: 5 to 9 degrees
Banking/Backstretch: 4 to 8 degrees
Race Length: 500 laps / 266.5 miles
 
Top 12 Driver Rating at Bristol
Kyle Busch................................ 102.3
Matt Kenseth............................. 100.8
Jeff Gordon................................. 99.8
Brad Keselowski......................... 99.4
Greg Biffle.................................. 97.0
Kurt Busch................................. 94.0
Jimmie Johnson.......................... 93.2
Kevin Harvick.............................. 89.5
Ryan Newman............................ 89.5
Tony Stewart.............................. 89.2
Carl Edwards.............................. 88.9
Dale Earnhardt Jr........................ 88.1
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2012 races (15 total) at Bristol Motor Speedway.
 
Qualifying/Race Data
2011 pole winner:
Ryan Newman, Chevrolet (122.811 mph, 15.624 sec., 08-25-11)
 
2011 race winner:
Brad Keselowski, Dodge (96.753 mph, 2:45:16, 08-27-11)
 
Track qualifying record:
Ryan Newman, Dodge (128.709 mph, 14.908 sec., 03-21-03)
 
Track race record:
Chris Glotzbach, Chevrolet (101.074 mph, 2:38:12, 07-11-71)
 
NASCAR in Tennessee
·         There have been 164 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Tennessee.
Track Name
City
NSCS
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol
103
Chattanooga International Raceway
Chattanooga
2
Kingsport Speedway
Kingsport
3
Nashville Speedway
Lebanon
42
Smokey Mountain Raceway
Maryville
12
Tennessee-Carolina Speedway
Newport
2
·         101 drivers all-time in NASCAR’s three national series have their home state recorded as Tennessee.
·         There have been 14 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
Trevor Bayne
1
1
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
John King
0
0
1

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