Going into Sunday’s (March 17) Food City 500, I didn’t really know what to expect.
Last September’s night race at Bristol Motor Speedway had a grand total of 10 lead changes and was very difficult to pass in. It wasn’t all that competitive.
Sunday’s race eclipsed the number of lead changes from last September before lap 75. It also came with probably the worst tire wear that I can recall since the travesty that was the 2008 Brickyard 400. I think you’ll remember that one.
It didn’t enter my mind during the actual race broadcast Sunday, but you remember how NASCAR has had a heck of a time getting rubber to lay down at Martinsville over the last decade or so? The track temperature Sunday was very close to that point where nothing would adhere. That likely played a role in what we saw in the race, but not totally.
Of course, the tires will be the legacy of Sunday’s race.
As early as Saturday during practice, Cup drivers were complaining of their tires running off during the short runs that can fit in the ridiculously small sessions that NASCAR allows these days (which is a completely different column). I don’t think anyone imagined that it would result in what we saw.
I read a number of tweets during the race that argued that the wear we saw Sunday was reminiscent of races in 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. I’m old enough to have watched a lot of races in the 1990s and seen a number of races on TV and the internet from the 1980s (the 1970s are tough due to lack of footage away from superspeedways).
While we did get tire wear and marbles in the turns back then, cords showing within 50 laps on a short track pretty much never happened. We especially didn’t get tire cords raining down from the sky.
In the booth, Kevin Harvick especially compared what we were seeing to late model stock races in the Southeast on worn out tracks. Admittedly, I really haven’t seen very many of those races. I know that Cup cars have significantly more power than late model stock cars, though. I suppose a closer facsimile might be the Snowball Derby (and by extension, the Snowflake 100) at Five Flags Speedway.
The surface is said to be worn out in Pensacola and wear is important there.
The actual race itself, in between tires “turning off,” to quote Harvick, was a series of tight races for position. FOX seemed to be having trouble keeping up for much of the event. The general mentality was that everyone seemed to…
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