Rusty Reckons: The Other March Madness

Rusty's cousin, Skeeter's car

Old DW says Bristol is like flying a bunch of fighter jets inside a packed gymnasium, and I don't believe I've heard a more apt description. Sheer madness! Bristol is the highest banked track in NASCAR, but also one of the shortest. The high banks make the cars go fast. The short tracks means they don't have that much room to go fast. The result means awesome freaking racing.


With the old car, the way to get around was the bump-n-run. Put a bumper on a guy, get him loose, sending him up the track, and dive underneath. Ole Dale Sr. was the expert at it, though some others have gotten pretty good at it too. The catch is competitors aren't too happy when they get bumped, which led to some heated tempers and a few fights. Translation, exciting time for the fans.

The fun starts about 13 seconds in.

The new COT has put a damper on that somewhat. With the new car, there's really 2 grooves of racing at Bristol (high and low), and the configuration of the cars is not nearly as conducive to the bump-n-run, cause of how the bumpers front to back align themselves. Some smarty pants at NASCAR did that for a reason that I'm sure, but enough about the track, what about the racing. Well, if you can take a break from your brackets for a few hours, here's what ole Rusty expects to see.

Busch boys, Gordon, and a side of Happy. Jeff and Kurt are tied among active drivers with the most career wins at Bristol, only catch is that of those 10 wins, 8 of them came over 5 years ago. So, they've not been winning a lot lately, though they've still managed good finishes. Jeff averages a 10.8 finish with 3 top 5's, and Kurt's got a 15.4 average finishing position with a win, and 2 top 5's. Jeff's been looking solid this year, and Kurt ain't doing half-bad either. I think they may continue their roll this coming weekend.

The younger Kyle won the first ever COT race at Bristol, and has run well there ever since. He's averaging a 12.5 finish with 3 top 5's. But Happy Harvick might be the real happy guy at the end of the day Sunday. While he's only won once at Bristol, the driver of the #29 has racked up 6 top 5's over the last 5 years to lead all active drivers. Not too shabby.

With all the drama that's sure to play out on the track in Bristol and the insanity of March Madness, ole Rusty's gonna be lucky to make it through the weekend. Mark my words, though, if I do, I'll be a stronger man.

JR Prediction

Well, June never really challenged for the win in Atlanta two weeks ago, and I am really starting to sweat the season. No driver this far down in the points standings at this point in the season has ever made the chase. The 88 team needs to figure out something, and they need to do it fast. June needs to calm down in the car and tell his team what he needs. Now, lucky for him, this coming week is one of his best tracks. Over the last 5 years, Junior leads all active drivers in points gained at Bristol. In fact, he's got 50 more points than the next guy on the list, the aforementioned Happy Harvick. Well, he's gotta continue that streak this coming weekend.

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Rusty Reckons: Bristol

THUNDER VALLEY!!!! One of Rusty's favorite tracks (also the toughest tickets to get), and it's a night race ta boot. Bristol's got some of the steepest banking on the circuit (used to be the steepest), and that makes for some exciting racing on what's called the "world's fastest half-mile". I think ole DW says it's like flying F-16's in a school gym. Rusty couldn't agree more.

Photo: ESPN

Now that Bristol's got progressive banking there's multiple grooves of racing. You can actually pass up high! Ole Dale Sr. might be shedding some tears in heaven as the days of the "bump-n-run" slowly fade into the distance, but Rusty's starting to the like the ability to pass up high.

Bristol's old school attitude requires driver's with a bit of an old school style, wheelmen we like to call them. Cars that make it to victory lane often do so with tire marks, scuffs, and even dints-n-dings on 'em cause the drivers had to claw his way to victory. That's why fans love watching the Bristol race.

Picking the right wheelman for your fantasy team is the tricky part. Continuing my rash of crazy picks, I've got a few more for you this week.

The 24 team is one of the best at Bristol. Jeff's got 5 wins at Bristol to lead all active drivers (with Kurt Busch). While he's not won there since 2002, he continues to post top 5's, 10's, and has finished outside the top 20 only once. His qualifying effort is even better, giving you an opportunity to double dip in some fantasy leagues. Rainbow boy's currently in a bit of a slump, but he WILL break out. What better place to do it than one of his best tracks.

I've already mentioned my B List pick . . . Kurt Busch. Kurt has just as many wins at Bristol as Jeff, including four consecutive victories from 2002 - 2004. Since the streak ended, he's had one more victory and 3 top 10's. The other years weren't so kind, but his streak of every other race continues, we are due for a good finish this coming weekend. Rusty likes to gamble on odd patterns, so there you go.

Lastly, the C list . . . ugh . . . it's like picking between KFC or Popeye's, when all you want is Bojangles, but never the less, Rusty's got a job to do. David Reutimann seems like just as good a gamble as anyone. He did pretty well last week, started 7th and finished 14th. For him, that's a hot streak, so let's jump on the bandwagon before he falls off.

So, there's your picks for Bristol.

A List
- J Gordon (24)
B List
- K Busch (2)
C List
- D Reutimann (44)

Rusty Reckons: Bristol

Thunder Valley!! The highest banked track on the circuit!!

Let's hope this year is a little better than last. Needless to say, the COT's debut at Bristol last year was disappointing to say the least.

At least there might be some excitement in the points. This week marks the last race where the 2007 points will be used to determine the top 35 and those who are on "go-or-go-home" status. After this week, 2008 points will be used to determine who's automatically locked into the field each week. And right now, it's getting tight around the 35th position.

Guys like our C List driver, Vickers should be able to breathe a sigh of relief, as he currently sits 9th. However, some of the open-wheel rookies are going to start really sweating. Franchitti at 38, Carpentier at 43, and Villenueve at 48 need to start drastically improving or they may start facing sponsor trouble as they become weekly "go-or-go-home" drivers. Could get interesting . . .

Well, at least the fantasy picks were relatively easy.

A List
- Jeff Gordon (24)
B List
- Greg Biffle (16)
C List
- Brian Vickers (83)