The News Desk

On the Banks of Bristol

Bristol is one of the most spectacular events in sports, just try to get a ticket to this race. Short track racing on a Saturday night is the way it should be. I have told you over the last several weeks that the excitement in the race to the chase is in the bottom half of the top twelve. Each race that is left between now and Richmond can, and probably will, shake up the point positions seven through fourteen. Coming out of Sunday's race in Michigan we had three drivers lose a combined 9 positions, three drivers gain 8 postions and two drivers stay exactly where they were at. Bristol, being Bristol, could shake up the point standing just as much this weekend.

There are still five drivers in the top twelve that don't have a win this season. The one of the most notable is Jeff Gordon. He has at least one win in every season going back to 1994. This has been a season of ups and downs for the 24 team. Over the last few weeks it has looked as though they had put the bad luck behind them and then on Sunday in Michigan they seemingly have a great car but falter on pit stops. The strain is starting to show a little bit. For the first time that I can remember Gordon publicly got onto his crew for the poor performance. Bristol is a good track for Gordon. He has five career wins, 12 top fives, 18 top tens, five poles with an average finish of 11.7 and a driver rating of 101.4.

Tony Stewart has to be the most unlucky driver in the cup series this season. He remains winless, in spite of having several races well in hand until something comes up to bite them. Stewart has had moderate success at Bristol with one win, five top fives, six top tens, one pole, average finish of 12.4 and a driver rating of 109.0. With all the major announcements for the 2009 season out of his way he might be able to focus 100% on the 20 team this weekend to pick up the win.

Kevin Harvick, even though he moved up three postions last week, is in need of a good solid run. Harvick has been strangely quiet this season and it is time to make some noise. Harvick has been a much better driver at Bristol in the spring races. In the last three spring races Harvick has a driver rating of 100.0. In the last three night races he has a driver rating of 96.7.

The two Roush-Fenway Racing teammates, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth, have had seasons that have consisted of hot and cold streaks. At one time I thought that Matt Kenseth was making a move to the front of the chase standings to challenge Kyle Busch, but that march to the front stalled out. At this point Kenseth needs to just hang on to make it into the chase. Biffle at one point this season was ready to move on from Roush-Fenway, but has since re-signed with the team. His performance since he re-signed with team has been sketchy at best. He has looked better in the last couple of weeks, but the 16 team could just as easily lay an egg this weekend in Bristol.

So we may have a first time winner at Bristol this weekend, but I am going to continue my self-sacrifice this week. In the name of saving the Chase for the Cup from being a complete romp I will again pick Kyle Busch the winner of the race this weekend. My pick ensures that Kyle Busch will not pick up anymore bonus points this weekend.

Whoever wins on Saturday night it will be a great race with a lot of beatin' and bangin' and remember, rubbin' is racin', Bristol style.