Martin looking to turn around season at Bristol
Earnhardt Jr., Almirola also in the mix for top-15 Food City 500 finishes
 Chris Graythen / Getty Images After weighing his bad luck this year with his past success at Bristol Motor Speedway, Mark Martin is a gamble mid-pack pick at the Food City 500. |
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Track history
Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) was built after Larry Carrier and Carl Moore saw a race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1960. They wanted to build a smaller version of CMS in Tennessee and decided on a half-mile oval. Work began on a former dairy farm in 1960, and a year later the speedway was born with 22 degree banking in the turns.
18,000 fans attended the first NASCAR race at BMS in 1961. The track was reshaped in 1969 with the turns banked at 36 degrees. After the reshaping it became a 0.533-mile oval.
In August of 1992, the track was resurfaced from the original asphalt to become the first speedway to host a NASCAR Cup event on a concrete surface. In March 2007, right after the Food City 500, a multimillion-dollar project of removing and replacing the concrete racing surface, asphalt apron, pit road and all the retaining walls around the track was started.
Conditions do not change during a race because concrete isn't as sensitive to weather changes like an asphalt-paved track. Since the straightaways are only 650 feet long on the 0.533-mile oval, the drivers are constantly braking, turning and accelerating, which makes for a demanding race.
The key to passing at Bristol is to be at the bottom in the turns and getting a good run off the corners. That's why shocks, springs and brakes are critical in the race setup.
First Cup race
On July 30, 1961, Fred Lorenzen started the No. 28 Holman-Moody 1961 Ford on the pole for the Volunteer 500. He made it through 175 laps of the 500-lap event before losing the rear end and finishing 33rd. Jack Smith, who started 12th in his own No. 46 Pontiac, led the most laps (243) and earned $3,025 for the inaugural BMS victory.
Last Cup race
On Aug. 23, 2008, Carl Edwards started the No. 99 Office Depot Ford on the pole, led the most laps (84) and earned $344,625 for winning the Sharpie 500. Sterling Marlin wrecked on lap 184 of 500 and picked up $85,570 for last place.
Mid-pack picks
A mid-packer may not win the race, but he has as good a shot at a top-15 finish as track favorites Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. There were 45 cars on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Cup race. The 43 drivers who qualify will be competing in front of 160,000 fans in the grandstands. Here are our picks for Sunday's Food City 500 in Bristol, Tennessee.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., 24th in the current point standings, is still a mid-packer. Over the last eight Cup races at BMS, no driver has scored more championship points than Dale Jr. His 7.8 average finish for those races is the best of all drivers. An 11.7 average finish for his 18 Cup starts is pretty decent as well. NASCAR Statistics show he's fifth in the "Quality Passes" (passing while running in the top 15) category. He passed cars 146 times during the last eight races. Look for a third top-15 in a row from Earnhardt on Sunday.
So far 2009 has not been a stellar year for Aric Almirola in his first full-time Cup Series season (last year he shared the No. 8 ride with Mark Martin). His best finish was a 21st at Atlanta, but he likes to mix it up with the best of them at Bristol. In 2008, Almirola had finishes of eighth and 13th at BMS. He scored a 10th in his last Nationwide Series start here (August 2007). This is a good track to put Almirola in as a fourth or fifth driver.
David Ragan averaged a 33.5 finish for his first two Bristol starts in 2007. In 2008, he averaged a 15.5 finish at this track. He scored top 15s in three of his four Bristol Nationwide starts. Ragan ended his last Camping World Truck Series start at Bristol in 15th place. If you throw away Ragan's blown engine finish (42nd) at Las Vegas, he's an average 15th place driver this season. All those 15s must be good for something.
Our deepest pick, Mark Martin, is a bit of a gamble. With over 40 Cup starts at BMS, he has picked up two victories, seven poles and 21 top 10s and averaged an incredible 12.8 finish. He also has two Bristol wins and an average finish of 12th place in the Nationwide Series. Martin drove in two BMS truck races, winning the 2006 one from the pole and finishing third in the 2007 race. So where's the gamble? Martin ran two part-time seasons (2007 and 2008) and, except for the truck races, he has not competed at BMS in a car since August 2006. We think the veteran still has it.
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