The World’s Fastest Half Mile

At last the time had come. As you hopefully know by now, we have once again teamed up with Barr-Nunn Transportation this year to host the Perfect NASCAR Weekend Sweepstakes (the skinny: thanks to Barr-Nunn allowing us to ride their coattails in all their race team sponsorship benefits, we’re joining up to give away an all-expense paid trip for two to Miami for the final race weekend of the season, November 14-17th; winners will have garage passes to the Nationwide Series finale on Saturday and superb seats to the Sprint Cup finale on Sunday, plus great digs for the nights, transportation and cash for meals).

To spread the word about the giveaway, I convinced Barr-Nunn to let me come to a couple of races throughout the year, as they treat their own drivers to trips to see the races in person (the Perfect NASCAR Weekend Sweepstakes is open to all drivers, regardless of who you work for). And the first one of those races was at a track I’ve wanted to visit since I became a race fan, some six whole years ago. (Alright, so I’m not old school but better late than never, right?)

Bristol Motor Speedway is known as the World’s Fastest Half Mile. This little track has got a big reputation. It’s situated in an enormous bowl with 160,000+ seats surrounding it, stretching high into the sky. If they could squeeze in more, I’m sure they would, but already now you have to bring tissues when you’re in the nosebleed seats, and I’d think you need to worry about local aviary circling by, sharing your popcorn…whether you like it or not.

Race fans know there is a reason this puppy has a blue million seats: the excitement that is unmatched at other tracks. Forty-three cars on that small a track get to be front to rear quickly and less space means more beating and banging. You have to be clever to maneuver your car to the front at this track. And the fans love it. It’s widely considered the toughest ticket to get in motor sports. The only way to buy tickets (other than through 3rd party sellers, private and otherwise) is to buy season tickets and the only way you can even get those is to enter the track’s lottery and hope your name is drawn for one of the very few that come available because someone else opts not to renew.

With all that hype, I had to go. Each year, I’ve slyly mentioned to Barr-Nunn that Bristol should be a race we attend. But for the past two years of our Sweepstakes, that one has been a no-go because of the extreme limitability of garage passes. Let’s face it—the place is so small, they have to monitor crowd control in the infield. Not even all the team tractor trailers fit in the infield (this, I did not even know but I believe there were three or four trailers that has to sit just outside the track, right by the garage tunnel). This year, however, Barr-Nunn’s pull delivered and we were given access to this most prestigious race.

In case you haven’t been to Bristol personally, the town is tiny. I mean, teeny tiny. Obviously, their economy is enormously boosted by the fans that flock there for the spring race and the summer race. And clearly, the local establishments mean to maximize this to the greatest potential. Perfect example: the motel I stayed in (that’s motel with an M), required a three night stay, for starters. Then, for the privilege, they charged a mighty pretty penny. Is it rude to say how much? Perhaps. Let me just narrow it down. It was more than $212 and less than $215 a night and for that, you got a bed, a bathroom, a tv and…that’s it. It was a motel in every sense of the word. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no prima donna but for that kind of smack, you can’t provide an ALARM CLOCK?

And we were lucky to get that room because it was only about 15 miles away from the track. Rumor was that folks stayed over an hour away and were glad to be THAT close. That’s what I call capitalizing on the six days a year many Americans consider Bristol THE place to be.

With me on this trip was Barr-Nunn’s ambassador of racing hospitality Jim Pardoe and Barr-Nunn’s winning driver Andrew Troxel. Troxel, with the Iowa-based carrier for over five years, was randomly chosen from Barr-Nunn’s safest drivers to attend the race as a Thank You for his commitment to the company and to safety. I asked him if he was a race fan. His answer? No. But still, this married father of one told me he was thrilled to win and felt that the trip was a very nice gesture from his company. He was certainly familiar with racing and was excited to see what all the excitement was about.

The Barr-Nunn folks arrived in an overcast, drizzly Bristol on Thursday and were able to attend some of the Friday events. Nationwide practice initiated Troxel into the sport amidst the roar of the engines in that small track where the noise is amplified and the adrenaline is compounded. Later that evening, I met up with these good men, and learned that qualifying had been rained out. Regretfully, Barr-Nunn’s driver Danny O’Quinn Jr. would not be racing as he was one of those who’d needed to qualify on time. That was mighty disappointing, particularly since Danny is a hometown boy and was looking forward to a good showing on Saturday.

Before O’Quinn and his team (Mac Hill Motorsports) packed up to head out, they did join us for dinner Friday night, a real treat for Troxel (and myself, I must say). O’Quinn is a genuinely nice guy and chatting throughout dinner enlightened us to what he does as a professional race car driver and gave us all a chance to know him personally, to laugh and to joke. Even though he had to be disappointed, it’s clear that he understands sometimes Mother Nature gets a say-so in your racing plans.

Saturday—the day of the race we were to attend—wasn’t boding well. It seemed the rain would continue and we had our doubts we’d even make it to the track at all. But the morning came and we were greeted with sunshine, so we packed up our necessary gear for a great day of racing and headed to the track. What a sight it was. All the buzz going on outside, the festivities, the hullabaloo. There is simply nothing like a live race event. One word of advice: if you ever make it to Bristol, wear your walking shoes and pack extra stamina. The walkway just around the circumference of the track is steep. Really, really steep. But hats off to Nationwide who had it going on: there were tons of golf carts cruising around and you could flag one down at any point and catch a lift from wherever you were to wherever you wanted to be (within reason). Oh, did we take advantage of those babies.

We got inside the infield about mid-morning and reveled in the differences between it and say, Daytona or Atlanta which are both enormous and contain as much as the racing teams can haul in. At Bristol, space is at a premium, but they have it mapped out to be as efficient as possible. A tunnel of tires greets you as first enter the infield and then all the rigs are lined up with extreme precision, wedged between the two rows of pit stalls. You look up and as far as the eye can see are seats and sky.

We strolled around and watched as the clouds crept in closer and closer. We saw the guys who broadcast on Fox (Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Hammond and Steve Burns) clowning around, and we watched as the teams tweaked cars and kept their own eyes on the skies. All around us, we’d hear folks talking on cell phones, walkie talkies or amongst themselves about the rain that was cruising this way from the Atlanta area. About 12:30, two hours before race time, the first drops were in the air. I said my regretful goodbyes to Andrew and Jim since it just didn’t seem feasible that the race would run and I took off in search of a Nationwide cart to carry me as close to my parked car as possible. It was a downpour the day before and I’d seen the radar screen. If I didn’t hustle, I’d be a soaked to the bone on the trek to the parking lot.

As it turned out, the race was delayed but did get in enough laps later that afternoon to be considered complete. Andrew and Jim took in the race at a local restaurant. But at least we all got to see the track in person, see the efficiencies required, catch some practice by both Series’ drivers, and feel the buzz of excitement as tens of thousands flock in to see the World’s Fastest Half Mile.

Now, that’s not to take anything away from the Miami Homestead Speedway, where you have the opportunity to visit with me and Barr-Nunn. In the back of this issue is a card to use to enter or keep it simple and save yourself 41 cents: go to www.thetrucker.com/sweepstakes.aspx to register to win. You might even be selected to win a prize pack from Barr-Nunn, Trucker’s Connection and yours truly. Good luck!

Megan Cullingford has been the Publisher of Trucker's Connection Magazine since 2000.  Prior to that, she spent 6 years as the Editor, and throughout her tenure has penned the magazine's Viewpoint column--a standing favorite among readers.  If you have comments, questions, concerns or compliments, she'd love to hear from you.  Email her here.