NASCAR: We delivered what fans want at Bristol

Playoff wins are scarce for NASCAR these days, but the sport is claiming a big one after last Saturday’s chaotic Cup Series showdown in Bristol.

The Round of 16 elimination race provided high drama in Tennessee with Christopher Bell prevailing after an event which included major tire falloff, 36 lead changes and 14 caution periods.

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Most days the folks in Charlotte are in defensive mode with the NASCAR fanbase howling for changes to the controversial playoff system and the Next Gen car among other things.

But in the aftermath of what we saw at Bristol, the sport clearly felt it was time for once to take credit for something good.

NASCAR claims big Bristol W

Cup Series managing director Brad Moran joined SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to discuss the fallout, and he was clearly delighted with the product fans saw on track.

“We want tires to wear out. We want big numbers in passing. We want different leaders throughout a race. And I think the majority of the people want that. It’s a real science to try and get all of that put together exactly how it should be.

“But we certainly do want some tire management in there, we want two, three-wide racing and I think we got all that, and again Goodyear’s worked hard to get us there.

“Now, if it was probably just a slight bit of less wear, might have been favorable, but there’s no doubt about it we’re heading in the right direction.

“People wanted more action at short tracks. I think we delivered on that Saturday night.”

Tire falloff at Bristol

The tire wear at Bristol confirmed what some experts had been predicting all week, notably current superstar driver Denny Hamlin. He claimed the new right-side compound which made its debut in Saturday’s race had destroyed the testing machine used by NASCAR.

The playoffs continue this weekend with the opening race of the Round of 12 - the Mobil 1 301 at New Hampshire. The action gets under way at 2pm Eastern on Sunday, live on USA.

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