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Bristol: Stick With What Works
By Steve Wingate
Originally Published on Mike Calinoff's "Stock Car City"

First time winner.  Post race skirmish on pit road.  Lots of mangled sheet metal.  Flaring tempers.  Buckshot Jones wrecking.  If I were a subscriber to the notion that NASCAR fixes races, I'd think that NASCAR used the same script for the 2002 Food City 500 that they used for the 2001 running.  Just write in Kurt Busch in place of Elliott Sadler, then make it Dale Earnhardt Junior and Robby Gordon takin' the walk to the big red trailer instead of Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, and you've got another action-packed race at Bristol.  There was nothing "fixed" about Food City 500, it was just Bristol being Bristol.

All kidding aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this week's race at Bristol, as I do all of them.  That's what Bristol is all about… racin', wreckin', and bickerin'.  Races at Bristol have fueled some of the biggest feuds in NASCAR… the "bump" between Dale Sr and Terry Labonte in '99, the pit road incident between Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart in 2001, and now in 2002, the Dale Jr/Robby Gordon scuffle, and the on track exchanges between Jimmy Spencer and Kurt Busch.  

I found it amusing that FOX actually used an on-screen graphic to compare the sizes of Jimmy Spencer (6'0", 230 lbs) and Kurt Busch (5'11", 150 lbs) after their little shoving match on the track.  


Jeff Hammond:  As you can see, Spencer outweighs Kurt Busch by eighty pounds… I think that would make for a pretty short fight, D.W..

DW:  Oh sure, I think Spencer could just mash him up into little ol' bitty race car driver meatballs if he could just get his hands on 'im, but I think you're overlooking the age factor, Jeff.  Kurt Busch is just 23 years old, and Spencer ain't no spring chicken, he'd have a tough time.

Jeff Hammond:  DW, are you forgetting what they say about "old age and treachery shall overcome youth and enthusiasm"?  I think Spencer is just sneaky enough to catch him when he's not expecting it.  And you know he don't forget, so its not a good idea to mess with Jimmy.


And just what made Robby Gordon think he could get away with spinning another car on pit road after the race?  Doesn't he realize that was the first step towards a possible suspension for Tony Stewart last year?  It makes you wonder if he saw the whole thing sitting at home last year, and instead of thinking Gee, that wasn't very smart, thought Heh-heh! That was cool.  Revenge rocks!  Anyway, I'm sure the whole thing earned Gordon and Earnhardt a trip to the NASCAR trailer, and I'm very sure we haven't heard the end of it yet.  Then again, it just wouldn't be Bristol without some kind of controversy going on.

And as usual, we had lots and lots bunged-up sheet metal and door donuts out there.  Half the field looked like they were filming a Mad Max movie.  I guess that tends to happen when you drive 130 miles per hour in what is basically a large cereal bowl.  I'd be willing to bet that Bristol is world's leading producer of scrap metal.

The Food City 500 also produced our first 1st time winner for 2002, Kurt Busch.  There's nothing more thrilling for me than to see a hungry driver take his first victory, and Kurt Busch didn't disappoint me.  His jubilation and enthusiasm at the start/finish line and in victory lane reminded me of seeing DW win the Daytona 500 in 1989.  Nobody knows how to celebrate a win like DW, but I think Kurt has been watching some of Darrell's old races.  It'll probably take him two weeks to stop grinnin'.  I think we'll be seeing more of him in victory lane this year and for years to come.

Just think, in five more months, we'll get to do this all again.  Gawd, I love Bristol.

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2002 Car Guy of Benchfield
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