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Earnhardt-like Passion Needs to Resurface at Bristol

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by Steve Wronkowicz

I am co-host of the syndicated radio show: ON PIT ROW. Over ten years on the air and three on the net; see what can happen when I don't let the facts get in the way of my opinions.

March 17, 2009 6:54 am EDT 3 Comments

Amongst the early calls for more exciting races, Bristol Motor Speedway is here to save the NASCAR fan’s day.

Or is it?  Ever since Bristol was repaved midway through the 2007 season, the old Bristol has been nowhere to be found.  As Jeff Burton said after the Fall race last year, “If fans like close side by side racing, they will love the new surface.  If they are only interested in watching wrecks, then they won’t care for it much.”

That pretty well sums things up for NASCAR fans.  The appeal of Bristol wasn’t just the wrecks, but moreso the theatrics that went along with those wrecks.  Drivers and crew members would lose their cool and all sorts of hell would break loose.  Drivers throwing personal equipment at one another; crews, nerves frayed, would confront one another over on track squabbles.

That passion has waned since the re-pavement that allowed drivers to find a second groove up the racetrack, where few ventured in the past and those that did, found nothing but trouble in the form of broken race cars.  The new upper groove has added to the raceability of Bristol but has also led to a lessening of the one-on-one drama and confrontation that fans seem to crave.

Passion is what the NASCAR fan wants to see from its participants not more wrecks.  The legacy of Dale Earnhardt was formed around that passion and those  one-on-one confrontations.  His talent was only part of what drew fans to him.  Earnhardt, Sr. carried that passion on his sleeve and let it set the tone for all that he did.  And that is what many of today’s drivers are missing–not just at Bristol either.

This leads us to this week’s BUZZ ON PIT ROW:

Was last year’s poor Bristol racesthe new norm or will racing there return to the days of old?

Let us know what you think and we may use your comments on this week’s ON PIT ROW radio show.  Or give us a call live from 5-7pm ET Tuesdays at 1-800-645-2946. If we select you as the Shell Nitrogen Enriched Call of the Day, you’ll win $25 in free gasoline from Shell.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media

Filed under: Bristol Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Burton, NASCAR, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio 

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Comments

3 Responses to “Earnhardt-like Passion Needs to Resurface at Bristol”

  1. Default NASCAR Guest Avatar okla21fan on March 17th, 2009 7:38 pm

    What is ‘racing’? Now I know I am in the minority when it comes to BMS, but the older ‘one grooved’ BMS configuration wasn’t ‘racing’. It was passing via the chrome horn and hoping the guy on your rear bumper didn’t return the favor.

    The new surface while better, still doesn’t provide the ‘racing’ of the original 22 degree banking with an asphalt surface.

  2. Art Almond on March 17th, 2009 10:14 pm

    Steve…

    I’m in full agreement… I don’t think the passion that we saw in the Earnhardt Sr. days is present today. But you have to remember… The intimidator was racin’ when there was NO money in racin’! He raced because he loved to race!

    Ohhh… I absolutely love this quoted sentence from you… “Drivers and crew members would lose their cool and all sorts of hell would break loose.” How true… in the days of past… the passion often spilled out into the garages… pits…track…etc. Now the publicists and agents will intervene, and NASCAR will punish!

  3. User Avatar Steve Wronkowicz on March 18th, 2009 9:02 am

    okla– you’re right on with the “chrome horn” comment–I guess today it would be the “splitter horn”. Somehow doesn’t have the same ring to it.

    Art– The all hell breaking loose thing is what fans are missing and its not that it has to happen all the time–the thing is it NEVER happens any more. I can just visualize the publicists and agents “doing lunch” with Mike Helton to determine a punishment. [fx: harp music and smoke] I can see The Toad involved in this bit now.

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