Joining his father Bill as the only drivers to win an All-Star race outside of Charlotte was Chase Elliott. 
Pretty cool my two favorite drivers (Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney) started side by side allowing me to get them both in one shot. Past champions and veterans Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick lined up with their teams on pit road. Winner of the fan vote Clint Bowyer gives a pre-race interview on pit road. Put this under pictures the precede unfortunate events. Bubba would get spun by Michael McDowell early in the Open race. If you’re in Bristol I highly recommend you have a meal here. Great atmosphere and spectacular food. Especially the bison burger! “The Last Great Colosseum” is absolutely massive. It dwarfs any football stadium you can find in America. For the first time ever, NASCAR used under glow to add an extra aesthetic to the race. Seating was random to allow for social distancing, but luck was on my side as I got placed in row 2 about 50 yards past the finish line.
Bristol was a Good Race, Fans are Just Salty
Obviously I’m pretty biased since I was fortunate enough to attend the All-Star race at Bristol. However, the arm chair crew chiefs complaining about the race are out of line. After watching the replay on Fox, it was a bad broadcast, NOT a bad race. On top of that, according to the omniscient members of NASCAR twitter every race this year has sucked. Kentucky was bad, that I will concede, but it was about like every other mile and a half race. Which to me shows more of an issue with the aero package than the track itself. Fans got the aero package they want so bad at Bristol via the big motor and small blade. They even got the “old Bristol” they’ve been whining for the last several years where the low line was the place to be. So how do you please these people? I guess they wanted to see a demolition derby instead of a race is the only conclusion I can come to.
Change can be a Good Thing
We had several “gimmicks” for the All-Star race at Bristol this year which included under glow, number placement, and the choose cone. The under glow was slightly disappointing, however it was for a logical reason. There isn’t enough clearance around the sides and front to efficiently put the lights there, so that’s why we only got lights under the rear end. I wasn’t a fan of the renders I saw of the new number placement either. Although, in person the majority of the schemes really didn’t look much different with the exception of a few teams that made the numbers smaller. I could live with the number shifted back if it is done well. For you “purist” who say door numbers are the only option. Allow me to direct your attention to one of the most famous cars of early NASCAR history, The Fabulous Hudson Hornet.
Not only are there no door numbers on this car, there are two numbers at each end of the car. Herb Thomas drove this car to become NASCAR’s first ever two-time champion making it iconic. Other cars from this era also featured sporadic number placement. In reality door numbers are a more recent trend in NASCAR. Also, there is no rule stating the number has to be on the “door” of the car.
The Choose Cone
Finally, the choose cone, a short track staple at the grassroots level. I understand the broadcast cut to commercial during cautions and viewers didn’t see the cars choose a lane. However, just look at the ticker folks and you can see which drivers chose which lane and how it affected track position. It definitely played a factor in the race and if you’re that upset because you didn’t get to see the drivers physically split the cone then I feel sorry for you.
Enjoy the Racing
The All-Star race at Bristol had almost 30,000 fans in attendance including yours truly, making it the largest spectator event since the pandemic. Other sports are trying to figure out if they’ll even have a season and NASCAR has already found ways to bring fans back. Especially during times like these it is important to be grateful.
Before I traveled to Bristol, I had enjoyed every race so far this season. I live in the greatest country in the world and get to watch my favorite sport every weekend. Something I thought would be impossible a few months ago. I agree NASCAR could improve in many ways, but chill out guys and just be thankful we have racing to watch. Because it may be the only sport we get to watch a full season of in 2020 and there is no place for any more negativity in this world. Let’s be fans and just enjoy cheering our drivers on and hating on Kyle Busch and Joey Logano every chance we get. Regardless, I will always have love for my people in the NASCAR community!
If you want to tell me I’m an idiot for thinking that was a good race then DM me on twitter. By chance you enjoyed my little rant, check out the rest of our content over on the racing page!
