Cross' Words: Bristol

Someone call a whaaaaaambulance! They turned on the lights at Bristol and a race broke out. So what's the problem, folks?

A boring race at Bristol? Au contraire -- not Saturday night, at least. Multiple-groove racing was a refreshing change of pace from the demolition derby style of recent years. Bump-n-run? Not on this night, thankfully. And hopefully not for a while.

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Between the new concrete and the Car of Tomorrow, Bristol is writing another chapter in its long history of great racing. The bullring, as much of a spectacle as it is, had become long in the tooth -- and short in the thing that made it great. Saturday night was more than Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne getting dialed in; it was a race from front to back, just not for the lead for 500 laps.

Saturday night was what fans should have expected -- side-by-side, multiple-groove racing. Just because there wasn't 500 laps of beatin' and bangin' for the lead doesn't make it a bad or boring race. Drivers could ride the bottom, slide to the middle and run the top, all without fearing getting out of the follow-the-leader train and losing positions a la restrictor-plate racing.

Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin had great runs from the back of the pack to the front. There was great jostling between Kahne, Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr. while trying to get around Michael Waltrip (dude, just move; OK, you were trying to get TV time for NAPA, but there's a race going on and you're not a factor).

So two guys hit the set up and were off the races, so to speak. It happens -- and it will again. Give credit to Edwards, crew chief Bob Osborne and the rest of the No. 99 team for an educated guess that proved rock solid. Ditto Kahne and the No. 9 team.

If it's crumpled sheet metal you want, go to the junk yard. If you want to see the world's best stock-car drivers at their best, be back in Bristol in March. You can ride shotgun in the whaaaaaambulance.

Random ruminations ...

• The Night Race stands alone in the pantheon of stock-car racing. Bristol is "racin' the way it ought'a be," as the track's marketing message suggests, because nothing else compares to the .533-mile bullring nestled in Thunder Valley.

There are four pillars within the Cup schedule: Daytona has the 500. Charlotte has the 600. Indy is The Brickyard. And Bristol has The Night Race.

A fifth -- the Southern 500 at Darlington -- fell victim to greed. And until California can prove it deserves two races (some would argue one race), that will be a thorn in the side of many old-school fans.

Thing is, none of those four races are in the Chase. ... And neither is Darlington.

• NASCAR's Loop Data shows green flag passing during Saturday night's race more than doubled that of the spring race at Bristol, from 991 passes to 2,147 passes.

The consensus opinion held by the drivers at the conclusion of the race rang loud and clear: The new surface at Bristol met -- and exceeded -- expectations, as the addition of a second and third racing groove greatly increased the number of passes ...

• Filed under "You know you're getting old when ..." is this personal aside:

August 28 marks the 40th anniversary of Johnny Bench's big-league debut with the Cincinnati Reds. JB was my hero in the '70s, to the point of trying to mirror his catching style (to no avail), and it was nice to read last week that Bench made the Rawlings All-Time Gold Glove team.

And speaking of the Reds, Dave Concepcion's No. 13 was retired on Saturday. Why isn't he in the Hall of Fame?

• Also filed under "You know you're getting old when ..." is another personal aside:

Fast Times at Ridgemont High is 25 years old! C'mon, everyone remembers Spicoli, Brad, Damone, Mr. Hand and, of course, Linda Barrett. Take a walk down Memory Lane. (Continued)