A violent ride

Wheeling around Bristol like riding a roller coaster

Bristol is a fun racetrack to drive and very violent -- more so than any other track on the circuit. You get the sensation of speed more at Bristol than just about anywhere else we go with the exception of maybe Dover. It doesn't make sense because the speeds are not all that great, but the track gives you that sensation. I think it's because of the tremendous G-forces that we feel in the corners. It makes it feel like you are going a lot faster.

With that being said, coming up to speed in a typical run, you usually pull out of the pits in Turns 1 and 2 and merge onto the backside. You drive off into Turns 3 and 4, but you always check your mirrors to make sure nothing is coming. You also depend on your spotter to clear you.

Coming off Turn 4 to the start-finish line, you are obviously wide-open running right up against the fence down the front straightaway. You drive off into Turn 1. There is a tremendous amount of banking there -- 38 degrees or so -- and the straightaway is banked probably half of that amount.

There is a real nice layout to the track. They did a good job on the transition from the straightaway to entering the corner. So when you start off, you are against the fence on the straightaway, and then right to the bottom of the race track. You turn right to the bottom of the track and put your left front wheel right down right up against the flat, down at the white line.

You're only off the gas maybe a second there -- and no more than two seconds. You really don't use the brakes at all. If you use the brake it's really light pressure just to make sure the brakes are there if you need them. Bristol is probably one of the few tracks we run -- at least short tracks -- where you don't actually use the brake.

You get into the corners pretty deep. You're turning into the corner when you lift the throttle, and you only go about one second out of the gas. As soon as the car gets to the bottom of the track, you mash the throttle and hug that white line. If the car is right, you want to be able to hug that line all the way around the track until you exit Turn 2.

At the exit of Turn 2, the centrifugal force is building, building, building, and the car will actually lunge at the wall as you are exiting the corner. You have to play tag with that wall all day long because the G-force is so great the car is trying to leave the inside of the race track by itself, even though you are holding it and trying to steer it to the inside.

Another unique thing about Bristol, is it's concrete. At concrete racetracks you get a lot of flutter and a lot of high frequency movement of the suspension, so you've got to keep that under control. That creates more problems for the crew on developing what kind of shock combination to run, and that is real critical. You've got a lot of vibration in the car that is coming through the tires back to the steering wheel.

Down the backstretch, there is nothing unusual. The ends of the track drive very similar. You crack the throttle for about a second and turn into the bottom of the track. If your car is really right, you hug the bottom. If it's not, you end up making what they call a diamond out of the track, which is not really the fast way around there. Especially in race trim, you will end up getting yourself passed if you do that.

You watch the cars go into the corner and slide up to the next lane up, which would leave almost a full opening for a car to dive under you. They will drive under if you do not work on your car and get it driving better. You can run an OK speed there doing that, but in race trim, we work hard to get that out of it. That's a natural tendency for that track, to drive it in and have the car want to slide up. The crew has to work very hard to get the car to hug that bottom.

You drive Turns 3 and 4 like you do Turns 1 and 2. The car goes in, you work hard to keep it on the bottom of the track, push the throttle and if you're right, you don't lift again until you get to Turn 1. If you're not right, you'll catch yourself breathing it just a little bit.

Bristol is definitely an attention-getter for a race car driver. I've been running there for 25 years or so, and every time I come in from my first run there I'm usually huffing and puffing and out of breath. As crazy as it sounds, it is like driving around inside of a barrel. It's not impossible to forget where to come in off the track. It can almost be mind-boggling to you because it is somewhat a violent ride. The second time on the track you usually get settled in to a routine, and it's pretty comfortable, but it can be a little intimidating to begin with.

Dover and Bristol are somewhat similar to roller-coaster rides, but Bristol is a lot more violent. It would be like sitting in the front seat of a roller coaster, but the only exception is that you have to steer the roller coaster and if you make a mistake and you are late, you run off the track and into the fence. That is probably the best analogy I can give.

Ricky Rudd drives the No. 21 Motorcraft Racing Ford Taurus owned by Wood Brothers Racing.

 

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