BRISTOL, TN - AUGUST 22: A general view of the speedway as cars race during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series IRWIN Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on August 22, 2015 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
I've already heard from a lot of fans, and I think I have to agree that Saturday night's Bristol race wasn't the best one we've ever seen there, but at the same time it also wasn't a bad race.
One thing that impressed me -- and it probably has to be a wake-up call to Bristol -- was what an overwhelming crowd that was Saturday night. So if I'm Bristol Motor Speedway, I'm now asking myself, 'After Saturday night's crowd, what are we doing wrong in the spring race?'
I can't say I was very surprised with what went on in the race itself. We already knew the dominance of Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing there, so for Joey Logano to pull his Ford into Victory Lane wasn't earth-shattering to me. Now those two organizations have won 10 of the last 13 races held at Bristol Motor Speedway.
What is somewhat surprising, at least to me, is the fact there are six drivers between JGR and Team Penske, and five of the six led all 500 laps Saturday night. No other driver led a lap outside of those two camps. That's pretty phenomenal when you stop and really think about it.
What had me on the edge of my seat Saturday night really boiled down to the last 20 laps. I was watching to see what an affect lapped traffic was having on leader Joey Logano and second-place challenger Kevin Harvick. In fact, those two drivers were running two completely different lines on the track. To me, that is what makes good racing, instead of someone running up there and knocking the other driver out of the way.
I don't want to take a thing away from Joey and his victory, but I'm not so sure the best car there didn't lose an engine at Lap 110, and that was Matt Kenseth. It was just impressive how Matt started back in 13th and drove right up through there. So I'm not so sure he wasn't the best car there, but as we always tell you neither the best car nor the fastest car always wins the race.
Probably the biggest thing that caught my eye was the mistakes that were being made on pit road, both by drivers and pit crews. It's a long list of some pretty good teams and great drivers that had some kind of pit road issue Saturday night. Kevin Harvick overcame two different penalties to finish second. Kyle Busch got busted for speeding. A loose wheel pretty much ended Martin Truex Jr.'s night. Kyle also had a loose wheel, as did Dale Earnhardt Jr.
One of the more impressive runs Saturday night that I surely didn't see coming was the run that Jeff Gordon had. I didn't see that kind of speed in the car on Friday. He got up there in the top five, but was taken out of Saturday's picture because of a loose wheel.
I know one thing, if I am a crew chief that has a team heading into this Chase in two weeks, I'm sitting down and having a prayer session with my pit crew coach. Sure, I would love 11-second pit stops every time, but man, just give me 12-second stops with all the lug nuts tight. That literally could be the difference in who our champion is come Homestead in November.
I also want to make mention that I was very impressed with how both Michael Waltrip Racing teams performed in the wake of a lot of adversity, with everyone knowing that is coming after Homestead. Both teams qualified well. Both of them ran well. What happened to the No. 55 car of David Ragan was simply one of those "racing deals," as we call it sometimes. All in all, I was very impressed with how those teams handled themselves this past weekend.
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