AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
The Race Report: Sharpie 500; Winston Cup, Round 24 of 36, Bristol, Tennessee.(Brief Article)
No, that average speed is not a misprint. It was, indeed, only about 85 miles per hour for 500 laps around the half-mile, high-banked concrete battlefield known as Bristol Motor Speedway. That's 38 mph slower than Jeff Green's pole speed and about what Late Models run on some of NASCAR's lower-level weekly short tracks.
But 85.106 mph is what you get when 500 laps are interrupted by 16 caution periods. It became so tedious during the Sharpie 500 that eventual winner Tony Stewart asked his crew if the pace car had led the most laps. (No, but it did lead 92, more than Stewart managed.)
NASCAR's simmering superstar led only twice (laps 352-353, then 432-500) for his first BMS victory in six tries. It was his 12th career victory in 92 Winston Cup starts, and his third this year for Joe Gibbs Racing. He started 18th, quickly reached the top-10, and remained there most of the night.
He was pressured only once down the stretch, when lapped traffic helped rookie Kevin Harvick close in at lap 485. But Stewart handled it well, and pulled away to beat Harvick by less than a half-second. Jeff Gordon was a ...