Still waiting on your yearly Bristol report tsy!!! Were you able to stay through Sunday to watch the best driver in the history of NASCAR win?
Also to jump in briefly on the Jr convo, I always thought it was interesting that so many of his dad's fans went to him. I was a huge 3 fan growing up and I took the opposite route. I stayed with the car and that's why I've been a Harvick fan for the past 15 years.
It can best be summed up with this picture....
It seriously rained every day we were there. We tried out the somewhat famous Ridgewood BBQ, which had been voted best BBQ in Tennessee. They BBQd the pork the way we do in NC, but cooked it to a lower temperature, then sliced it similar to the beef on a Philly cheese-steak. They then cooled it and threw it on a flat top griddle when you ordered it. The sauce was a Memphis based, super sweet molasses sauce. Not bad, but something I'd only want to have on an annual basis.
Tuesday evening we had a massive thunderstorm which brought strong winds and lightning. Luckily our campground has no trees, but a large tree fell and destroyed 3 rvs a few campgrounds over. Wednesday continued to be my favorite night of the week with the modified/truck race combination. It was delayed again by weather, but it was great to see Ben Kennedy win the race. Thursday we found a great microbrewery in Bristol, VA called
Studio Brew. They served food, but we were only interested in the beer. They had a few great bourbon barrel collection brews. Friday's race went off without a hitch, fortunately. The stickum used on the bottom groove was interesting, in that it wasnt very sticky until it got warmed up, then after about 150-200 laps, the grip started to wear off. It helped equalize the top groove though, which made a big difference when a faster car would dive to the inside to try and pass. For the first time since the 2012 grinding, the cars actually stuck. Racing wise, it was the best racing at Bristol that I've seen in a while. Cars were able to run all 3 grooves, and the fast line would change at different points in the race, so it was interesting to see different drivers moving around trying to find it.
Then we got to Saturday. Showers off and on throughout the day, and a delayed start to the race. It was a constant battle between the track and the elements. The track would get 95% dry and ready to race and the rains returned. The downpour that ultimately made them call the race was the heaviest I've ever seen it rain during a race. In my 30 years of going to Bristol, this is the first time its ever been rained out. There's no way the race would have been able to finish that night, as it rained off and on until at least 1am. Once we heard the 1pm start on Sunday, we made the decision to wake up and head on home. We all had to be at work on Monday morning, plus the meteorologists were calling for rain most of Sunday. We packed up and were out the door by 8am. We hit rain about 10 miles out from Bristol and were in it for most of the trip home. Oh well, there's always next year.
