Dale Jr. coins 'It's Bristol Baby' 2004 Sharpie 500 | Classic full race replay

tnt's live coverage of the sharpie 500 continues from bristol tennessee for some guys this tight traffic-filled half-mile track has never looked so small while for others the opportunity has never been this big just three races remain in the race to the chase for the next hell cup tonight it roars on for 500 laps on the high banked half-mile bristol motor speedway 160 000 fans they got here early they will stay here late they're rooting for their favorite driver the sparks will fly let's take you trackside and join the pre-race ceremonies at bristol ladies and gentlemen would you please rise for today's invocation [Applause] to be would you please rise for today's invocation to be delivered by beth yarborough of the jonesboro presbyterian church please pray with me almighty god creator maker of days and crafter of lives against the backdrop of the celebration of the events of this day we pray to you o god whose power is evident in all that you have created to you o lord whose power is more than the proportion of jets flying in formation to you whose power is greater than the roar of gathered engines racing for the finish line we pray today for your safe keeping of all who are gathered here especially our drivers we have traveled many paths to be here but in our vast differences we are bound together in one undeniable commonality one united urgent desire for peace peace in our lives and peace in our world to that end we pray for the grace to do justice to love kindness and to walk humbly with you amen please remain standing for the presentation of colors by the air force combat climatology center of asheville north carolina and please join in the singing of our national anthem with the children of motor racing [Applause] [Music] outreach [Music] bright stars [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is hey some very nervous kids and some very proud parents talking to some of the drivers in the garage area before the race they were more nervous about the national anthem than they were about 500 laps here at the half-mile bristol motor speedway let's check back out on the grid with marty the best national anthem in the uh in the whole series and tony stewart's been pretty electrifying himself you feel the excitement building here two wins in the last six races is the car good enough for another win tonight tony i hope so i mean zippy and all the guys in the home depot team uh you know we brought another good car i mean this is this is the race where we normally get going good so uh you know hopefully we'll keep our fingers crossed hopefully get this thing to the front again tony stewart making career start number 200 tonight bill marty there have been 87 nextel cup races at bristol in the spring of 2001 elliot sadler won from 38th the deepest in the field any winner has ever started here where will the winner come from tonight we are seven minutes away from the green flag for the sharpie 500 the excitement builds in the stands 160 000 strong on pit road the final moments of calm for driver and crew seven minutes from now racing returns to its deepest routes the best in the business on the biggest short track anywhere and now it's time to send it way up there to the guys that are sky high ready to call the sharpie 500 alan bestwick wally dolla back and benny parsons enjoy it you guys we didn't realize that no being afraid of heights was a prerequisite for this job to come bill if you can't feed off the energy here at bristol you can't get excited about a race anywhere this crowd is charged up and we're ready to go benny's a former winner here he wants to talk real estate and some delicate negotiations over property that can make a breaker night it's just those few feet going down in the corners turns one and turn three the car on the inside is dependent on that guy on the outside to give him room that's michael walter gives a 21 car ricky rudd room and we'll see this all night long carl on the outside 19 jeremy mayfield gives kevin harvick room but later in the race and if that leader comes up behind the lap these cars we'll see tougher negotiations we'll see all these guys coming down in front the front the rear guys going to hit them in the rear they're going to back in the wall and then all parties going to be angry all these reality shows are all the rage on television we've kind of got our own version of a racing reality show here tonight wally where somebody might get voted off the island yeah this is bristol i mean you're going to bump you're going to rub guys are going to be mad guys are going to be shoving there's going to be a lot of finger point and that's just in the booth here but i'll tell you what when they looked at the point system on this deal the new point system all the drivers and all the crew chiefs i think looked at bristol this is the one they're worried about they're sweating it they want to get out of here and be lucky and not lose a lot of points so the record precautions here is 20. the average is nine i'll have the over under at 12. the over 112 precaution flags all right the energy the intensity the excitement that is nascar racing at bristol is about to be unleashed before some 160 000 fans let's go trackside for the command to start engines for the words we've all been waiting for sharpie 500 grand marshall linda fabry gentlemen start your engines foreign fans have been coming in since early this morning they filled the campground since early this week and all ready to see 500 laps of racing here at crystal motor speedway on the world's fastest half mile jeff gordon won his sixth football award of the season and qualifying on friday budweiser the official beer of nascar proud to sponsor the budweiser pole award given to the fastest qualifier in each nascar xdo cup series race budweiser congratulating jeff gordon the latest budweiser shootout eligible driver [Music] and here we go with a look at the starting lineup for tonight's sharpie 500 jeff gordon with casey kane on the front row kane's car repaired after a crash in practice yesterday no lapse in the final practice on that nine car he'll start cold turkey has to be a little bit of apprehension in his camp ford car sterling on his best start of the year third spot just heard from tony stewart he's going to share row number three with jamie mcmurray jamie finished third this race one year ago one of those guys in the race to the chase another guy on the inside mark martin has been unbelievable the last three or four races can he continue here at bristol on saturday night row five it's jeremy mayfield and greg biffle last week's winner up in michigan mayfield tenth place here a year ago he could use that another one of those guys in that race to the chase the outsiders as it were and jimmy johnson oh he's got to stop the bleeding three straight he's fallen out of it crash yesterday in practice rusty wallace nine time bristol winner finished second in march he'll be tough tonight dale jarrett fourth in points over the last 10 races trying to get into that top 10. jeff burton second start in that 30 aol car alongside his brother ward burton here's brandon gone robbie gordon rob usually gets around this place pretty good he's pretty fast here brendan's car repaired after also a fracta uh crasher qualified yesterday excuse me bobby the body one career victory on short tracks looking for two tonight trying to stop a little slide he's been on lately kevin harvick six ten six straight top ten finishing the heart and there yeah there's the two guys that are going to be real tough tonight kurt busch going for four in a row carl edwards tenth in his first ever cup start a week ago in michigan he shares growth 13 with ken schroeder jeff green fastest and happy hour pretty good kenny wallace driving for michael waltrip and there's junior outside of row 15. if he wins or not have to start 30th spot ricky rudd new crew chief this week michael fatbach mcswain now heading the effort for the 21 motorcraft car michael waltrip in the back-up car he will be dropping to the tail of the field he had a nasty crash yesterday and qualifying nemechek spencer back in row 19. we still have more cars i'll tell you what scott riggs had a good car yesterday they found something and that fiat crew told me picked up almost that second and that is a happy hour then yes very happy mike wallace in the field with derek cole and morgan shepard with the final spot in tonight's field for the sharpie 500. they're the guys who failed to qualify 48 drivers try to get the 43 spots in the field and we told you about waltrip and jimmy johnson ricky craven also going to the rear of the field by his own choice here's the word we get from race control who was that ricky craven i'll have to follow up on that find out what's up there so there we go uh the three parade and pace laps underway before the green flag let's check down on pit road before things get really noisy down there go ahead marty that's a good point now in a story real quick of two guys in the championship heading in opposite directions matt kinseth has been running great lately he has five straight finishes of six or better here at bristol driving his oldest race car and one of his favorite race cars in the car is very good meanwhile bobby labonte ninth in the championship standings just 13 points ahead of 11th place jeremy mayfield told me his card just a moment ago not very good but he's confident in the changes they made this morning marty there's a sense of urgency here in the everett camp now both of ray's cars are trying to lock down spots in that top ten last week they swap spots now kane is 10th mayfield 11th mayfield has never won a short track racing cup kane's number one period they know tonight their key to getting a shot at that championship is surviving both cars start in the top ten tonight and that's where they're hoping they finish dave matt dale jarrett and team have really picked things up over the last nine races four finishes of third or better have put in 14th in the championship just 58 markers out of the chase good time to come to bristol a place of much success for dale including a win in this race in 1997. bill hey there we go very loud here crystal dave i took an informal survey in the garage this afternoon talking to guys in the top 15 in the championship standings if i promised you a finishing position would you just sit it out and go home if you promised them 15 they basically wanted to race if you promised them 10th place points they said they'd load it up and go home the guys that are gamblers are going to run for it the guys protecting their points said 15 no i don't think so alan whatever you changed quick kind of like superman huh yeah well good thing it's a short track didn't have far to go here there you go well here it is here it is 160 000 fans in this most spectacular racing stadium all gathered around to see what kind of action tonight we'll get all heightened by this race to the chase there is going to be some tension on pit road and the fans love this race this is the most sought after ticket in all of nascar nextel cup racing it's hard to get these tickets but when they and when they get them they keep them and by the way just in correction the number we were given was wrong on the car going to the back by his own choice it's the 37 37 page instead of the 32 of ricky craven there are the numbers on the night 500 laps comes out to be 266 and a half miles very slow pit road speed here and that pit window we'll see some gamblers at the end of the race at lap 325 uh 3 30 we might see some guys hit and try to make it the rest of the way hoping on some caution flags first things first let's get there yeah that's right that's the first thing they got to do is you're right get there half a lap from the green inside the car at a driver just before the start here at bristol i'll tell you what you want to be if you're in robbie's car right there you're trying to think about getting to the inside that's the main thing you've got to get down low because that's the fast way around here butterflies ah the butterflies are gone you just want to get going and you're just anxious to get the car down on the bottom and hope you don't get run over once you get inside that car and they say start your engines butterflies basically leave case cars left as well and we are underway in the sharpie 500 at bristol see elliot sadler the first guy really on the outside hanging out there right now he wants to get down to the bottom believe me as bad as he can and now it's a chance sadly squeezing your mind in front of jeremy mayfield jeff gordon leads casey kane second sterling marlin third ryan newman fourth tommy stewart is fifth then you get uh mcmurray martin and then sadler in sixth seventh and eighth see people hung out there this is just like daytona taldego if you get hung out just like the draft you have to let unfortunately a nice guy like terry lavonnie will give you some room but there's a lot of guys that won't give you that spot so you can get down on the bottom yeah there's the patience that bp talked about they're using pages now but it's all it runs out every lap on rusty wallace this is 10th place and the race for fourth brian newman showing tony stewart a little bit of room on the inside jimmy mcmahon 42 little loops as he exited turn two but a 12 car started to go up in the middle of the corner now here's what exactly what i was talking about this time brian never decided i'm going to give tony stewart the inside problem is he's going to lose a lot of spots by doing that christy wallace trying to hold his turf as well here's tony stewart by ryan newman mcmurray until jeremy mayfield goes by then he's got rules to get back in line unless he gets lucky he can get down there before that and folks these drivers are just like vultures they see spot and they all died for it bill what about the 12 what are they saying a lot of changes on that car this morning benny because it was two free in and tight in the center the only thing they didn't change the front springs and the nose weight ryan newey had his hands full when they started the race it looks like it's tight now bill shuffled back to eighth place just ahead of jeremy mayfield ahead of him you see tony stewart now shoved up into the in a situation like that if you know you've got a spot you're better off just getting out of the frog and letting those cars go by so you can get back down so that is going to put tony stewart back to seven minutes and we talked about the give and take right now all these guys are being gentlemen but the leader jeff gordon is about to start lapping cards and as he starts working through those cars when he gets up close to the front there he is and because that he's starting to laugh on the stage right away and he gets some of those fast cars that's when they stop giving that's when they try to stay in front of that leader jeff gordon trying desperate to stand the lead left jeff coming up in the back of derek colt's car the 42nd place machine as kevin off bracket is going into the garage and and bp there's one thing about it too you think okay he's going to pass me i'll be the lucky dog but the lucky dog will change every lap exactly matt well the nine car casey kane crashed this dodge bar in the first of two sessions on friday evening he didn't get a chance to go out for a happy hour the dodge boys came in early today spent a lot of time repairing the right side of this race car and also changing out a lot of the suspension components so far casey has not seen an award on the radio which is good if you're on the right hand of him the other good thing casey was able to get down to the bottom and try now to follow one of the masters here at bristol and that's jeff gordon so kane and marlon there working in tandem trying to keep up with uh one thing about conversations here too there's not a whole long conversation when you're in this race you push the button you say a couple of words and that's it because that's all you have time for yeah battle you could say is loose yeah tight loose in loose off or whatever so jeff gordon beginning to catch the tail end of the field caution free through the first 17 laps we had about three yellows by this time last night hadn't we yeah you're watching nascar on tnt which one were you looking at over here well these guys are trying 17 right about right who's that 29 before he's going to stop we're going to have a caution caution's out [Music] interesting i mean he stopped to get that yellow i guess so he wouldn't goes okay so i jinxed it caution is out here in bristol jimmy spencer bounced off the wall exiting turn two and then couldn't get a break in traffic to get down to pit road so stopped on the racetrack and now he's on the mid lane getting service to his car especially coming off the counters right there not a lot of grip there i'll tell you what he hit that wall pretty dog going hard because they're three wide and we all know that too wide here in bristol barely fits tell you what that guard stood his ground over there he never moved so spencer in trouble early bringing out the first yellow rusty wallace is on pit road rusty had slid way back from 13th starting spot to 24th and he's the first of the cars to pit see rusty coming around to this front stretch pit road remember the two pit roads here at bristol and you've got to roll through both of them under the caution flag we'll update the pit stops when we come back under caution for the first time in the sharpie 500. so impressive the site the bristol motor speedway where the sharpie 500 runs tonight under the lights before some 160 000 fans race under caution here's our miller lite nascar nxtel cut race fact drivers starting on pole position have finished 22nd or lower in five of the last seven bristol nascar nextel cup races i hope no one told jeff gordon that well he probably doesn't want to hear that uh jeff gordon though won this race from the poll in 2002 which ended a long windless streak for him i guess bottom line in bristol is stay out of trouble no matter where you start well at least jeff gordon out for 15 20 laps will not have to worry about lap traffic again sterling marlin has gotten a second spot by casey kane coming to the green none of the front runners kidding guys who did stop as we go for the restart rusty wallace bobby lavonny ricky craven jimmy johnson todd varine scott river michael waltrip joe nemechek tony reigns and scott riggs first off with kid vote among that group is rusty wallace he restarts 30th yeah he had a great start and he passed a couple of cars on the restart he passed him high a couple of guys were sleeping and uh he fortunately got back in line he was bouncing off of dale jarrett there in three and four i also tell you that jimmy spencer's taking his car behind the wall he was gonna be held a lot by nascar for intentionally bringing out caution looking back at dale jarrett get back in the accelerator back off and then back in the throttle you know that's not good you got to get in and stay in all the way off the those corner spin yeah yeah spinning forward and sideways it's hard to get the power down sometimes when you're driving straight off the corner and most of the time you're driving off the corner sideways and casey kane our outside pole sitter has fallen back to the sixth position yeah sterling marlin got by then mcmurray then martin then sadler and now casey trying to hold his position in front of the story after it was rebuilt falling back brought a surprise but matt it doesn't look like it's too bad for him right now he was hanging in there in fact his crew chief tommy baldwin keeps giving him encouragement every few laughs saying you are doing a great job i can hear that from here wow a lot of damage to that car but you see wimmer's car is is drivable barely there's no water in it so he won't be able to drive it far what's going on with the l1 even check it just pitted which put him way back in line he did radio into his crew man i thought i had it clear yeah one of those arguing for space things exactly real estate's argument there's joe right there well that was uh craven oh i see what happened and then joe just watched that hit really bang oh my goodness that's a shot [Music] caution is out here in bristol [Music] it's not a full moon night i believe that's tomorrow or monday but it could act like a full moon night tonight here in bristol so far as we look down on thunder valley here's the motor speedway the sounds of stock cars echoing off the hills tonight right now they're at reduced throttle though under the second caution of the sharpie 500. but so far we haven't seen anything that's going to cause any finger pointing and anger in the pit area because everything that's happened so far has been that driver's problem we talked earlier about you know the cars being loose or it's hard to get the power down off the corners well i think that's what happened here with scott wimmer he just got a little bit loose off the turn too unfortunately we talked about this too there's other guys that get caught up in a wreck let's watch here we're in front of ricky craven he gets a little bit sad [Applause] car as you go across the 48. that's what you're afraid of at bristol is getting caught up in somebody else's wreck still cleaning up some of the bits increases of debris down in turn one so let's take advantage of the extended caution to squeeze in another break back at bristol motor speedway live coverage of the sharpie 500 nascar on tnt the race to the chase just three left before the cut-off for that race for the next electron caution extended while they pick up some of the debris and so on one of the reasons why it's difficult here at bristol is because the track is so small the field's so big so on the caution flag they're almost all the way around the racetrack you see that's the only clear spot so the workers go out they have about 15 20 seconds to try to pick up debris and then the field comes back again they got to wait until everyone goes by and they got to be careful to get up all this debris because debris is what causes flat tires and with uh 41 39 of the starters still on the racetrack all in single file they're scattered a pretty good ways around the racetrack coming to the restart jeff gordon the leader so he is left and probably will lose another was the first one who did some of the guys at the back of the line junior was 26. then you have kenny wallace time jimmy johnson jeff green kyle petty and scott riggs came down pit road under this yellow lavonnie hung up there on the outside vp maybe a while before he gets back down that's right robbie gordon got by that dale jarrett's going find war burton he's right there again the vulture thing open the spot up oh terry lemonade gets back to the bottom that's going to put terry in 14th dale jarrett passed him for 13. that's kind of the pressure point in line when you get the the broad view of this bristol racetrack when you look down on it from as high as we are you can always pick out that pressure point where there's a guy just a little bit quicker than the guy in front of him and it kind of stacks the traffic off everything's pretty well evenly spaced there no real great pressure on the front bumper or back bumper of any of these guys but you find that one spot in line where there's somebody right up against somebody and they usually stack up behind him see all those cars are content just to ride around the racetrack but now we've got kurt bush he's back he is not content he wants to get by these cars get closer to the front and he's got that very aggressive aggressive aggressive stance behind it for letting him know i want by as quick as i can casey neistat is working on through 20th place kurt going for a fourth straight win here in bristol i see these cars moving around like this and that's how it feels inside the race car too these cars move all over the racetrack at bristol there's a lot of you know bouncing around and twisting and you're doing it every 15 seconds left go ahead or better tonight than it was in the three previous races here kurt very happy with it he's just a little bit too tight but still very happy he is in traffic he might be as fast as jeff gordon if he can get up there but right now he's about four tenths of a second slower so therefore he's in 30 35 left if something doesn't happen he's in danger of being left but don't you worry about kurt busch too much in his four wins at bristol the earliest he's ever led a race was lack 359. really his mode of operating they get to the front late usually with the tire strategy thing and then he never gives up the lead from there gets kicked up to the outside of that zero cars 25 vickers goes by brendan gone and 77. we'll see matt there's a little bit of here take that you're not giving me enough room because a 77 car i think drove up on the zero car and just behind them matt kansas backpacker got hit by casey mears in that little jam up as well kenza running back in 19th position dave you got an update on kenzik well this track may look symmetrical but it acts very different in terms one and two and three and four for matt kenseth right now one and two has to baby the throttle it doesn't handle real weather very loose in three and four though he can put the hammer down and drive it right off the corner so matt trying to chip his way toward the front from pretty deep in uh in the suit working on ward burton for 18th place and there again as he came off the corner the ward realizes his car oh watch it more they started arguing with that spot didn't they yeah there's that vultures thing again oh there we go ricky rudd squeezed into the wall and the caution flag is out was not the result that rudd was hoping for tonight now that he is reunited with crew chief michael mcswain look do you like to get that wall off [Music] i mean these cars you can't underestimate how much these guys are sliding around and when you run side by side and you're sliding around like that it just takes a little bit of slide to get up into somebody and that happens ricky did not realize it mike wallace was on his outside he came off the corner like there was not a car there but unfortunately wallace was there that was a race for 23rd position and running mike wallace both with damage now that's the back stretch pit road and the leaders will come around to the front dave sterling marlon will go there now he's already out of his pits two tires stop on the right side air pressure adjustment a little tied up they're gonna try to see how it works matt mark martin's in they're gonna go for a four tire change meanwhile the car in front of him casey kane two tires no adjustments on the six of martin to marty jamie mcmurray having a top five run the very last car on pit road middle of your screen he will be a little free in a little tied off half pound in the right rear to fix that tight off condition for jamie murray actually in the middle of your screen bottom of the screen elliot sadler his car tight two half pound in the right rear up on the track bar bill jeff gordon all the way around quick road to the number one stall car is a little free off this will be a four tire stop he's gonna be behind the guys that took two taking a long time compared to the other guys he's on his way behind the six and it looks like mark martin might have beaten him out with four tires yeah the only one i want to check on casey cain and ryan newman i think they both got two tires and we know sterling marlin did and then mark martin out ahead of jeff gordon some guys have not pitted like rusty wallace who will be the new leader of the sharpie 500 when we return to bristol sharpie 500 bristol motor speedway nascar on tnt under caution for the third time in the race about to go back to green wendy's race menu next weekend a new labor day tradition starts for nascar the california speedway under the light seven o'clock eastern time prime time next week and then the race to the chase ends at richmond saturday night september 11th short track racing to decide who gets into the chase for the next elk now strategy for track position being played out here rusty wallace is your leader remember he hit it earlier dale junior second bobby the body third jimmy johnson fourth kenny wallace fifth spot ranked sixth none of those drivers pitted under this yellow sterling marlin casey kane brian newman seventh eighth and ninth right side tires only on their pit stops followed by mark martin and jeff gordon in line but that strategy is such oh look at junior just closed up right on the back bumper off rusty wallace a car looks pretty good right now marty a pretty good vp remember they hit it on lap 37 so they didn't deal was necessary to come down pit road this time they only had 12 laps on their tires they pitted on that 37 because it gets them into a window to finish on two more stops in this race already playing fuel strategy early here at bristol 48 cars back behind him jimmy johnson they put it a couple of times during this race they too it laughed 37 his car was tight they went down on the track bar jimmy said i love the changes you make the car is much better ryan newman with an almost in turn three well that was one of those bumps you talked about it on your free ratio wall the bump and run on ryan newman newman shuffled back gordon passed mark martin now mcmurray has passed martin now newman's on the outside and getting hung out ah tony cuts him some slack but i don't know newman can keep his car down on the bottom of the racetrack it looks like he's struggling not able to hook that bottom line remember he got just the two tires on that pit stop matching up the new right sides and the older left sides comes the old bump and run you see jeff gordon get in there right underneath just hangs the bumper well then hangs it a little bit more didn't get it good not the first time there's that real estate thing casey mears just skidded off the racetrack onto pit road down the back stretch believe he's missing part of his right front lot of damage to the hood of that car got into somebody radiator is broken they said take it behind the wall i'm sure is what they said it's a tough lot there for casey mears looks like rusty hasn't really lost a whole lot on earnhardt jr once he let him buy he kind of got back down in line and as a matter of fact that lap rusty wallace was faster than donald jr what we talked about in wally's world and we mentioned in a minute ago the bump and run how about we fire up the single wireless race talk poll that is the topic tonight what do you think about the bump and run in terms of fairness anything goes to win it's okay as long as you don't wreck the guy or it's dirty racing cast your vote let us know what you think all of the doves we'll now rusty wallace is coming right back on the eighth car he must be happy now huh bill you gotta yell hey belle oh it's noisy down there right yeah it's hard to hear okay hey phil is rusty wallace happy there i am i heard you you just couldn't hear me oh you're buying that hey he pitted from that first caution this car was just very very loose they made an air pressure adjustment he said it's gotten a tick better they stayed out for track position and now it does seem to be improving okay so nine times to luna rusty wallace running second change for third here comes sterling marlin moving up through the guys that did not hit by jimmy johnson by bobby labonte and he better be in a hurry because jeff gordon is starting to roll while we watch some of this racing marty is with joe nemechek who had that hard crash a little while ago marty yeah finally from the infield care center are you okay and what happened i'm okay you know it's i i have to say my pride's heard bruise the bone on my foot you know just got clipped there at the last second right in the bumper cover and turned me around the wrong way uh it hit pretty hard but i'm fine just hurt my foot a little bit that would be in his left foot he's going to go home tomorrow and have it evaluated but he's able to walk now so good news there that joe is basically okay a very hard crash in turn one this is a race for seventh place seventh eighth ninth mcmurray in seventh in the 42 you're riding with mark martin in eighth and casey kane wally is doing a very good job he's showing some patience right now he doesn't have a car good enough to run with these guys he's moving over letting them go don't argue that real estate yeah you're absolutely right and that's smart that's smart racing here especially this time you start racing these guys side by side and that's when you really lose a lot of ground now you see jimmy johnson move up the racetrack for his uh partner their tires too on that 48. the limitations being shown here by jimmy yeah he's trying to be as patient as he can remember they have to start the back of the field in a back up car and they have deemed in the front grill they had to take most all the tape off the front grill for jimmy johnson especially on the right side trying to get air to that engine mark martin dome underneath the 48 now chasing down the 42 before that stop he said the car was loose on entry and lose that exit and pushing slightly in the center of the corner but it didn't really feel like there was any big deal no adjustments in fact pat treyson told me today they just want to settle in whether it's 4 6 8 or even fifteen and just ride wally as a driver do you break this race into two separate segments maybe four hundred laps ricky craven has looped around caught the wall with the back end of the timeline and the yellow flag flies again he didn't catch it hard but he didn't catch him i just kept getting loose and finally get so loose that you back it in the wall i got a right rear driver is flat so what has been a miserable summer continues for maine's favorite racing sun i'm not sure ricky didn't have the tires up there that just looked really strange when he you know we saw a lot of guys having problems though in turn three over the weekend so bump down there or something fourth caution out in the sharpie 500 of crystal you're watching nascar on tnt [Music] sharpie 500 night in bristol tennessee and the fans are here 160 000 strong having a great time watching the stars of the nascar next l cub series try to conquer this high bank little bullring last night the nascar bush series drivers tried to conquer it it was earnhardt jr who came out on top dominating run led 125 up 250 laps kyle busch gaining a little more ground on martin truax in their race for the championship 10 races to go for the bush series they're at california speedway next saturday wednesday night the craftsman truck series raced here and carl edwards came from the back to the front to score the win his third of the season nine races to go in the craftsman truck series championship they race at richmond one week from thursday and carl out there tonight in his roush racing 99 and 22nd place his first cup go here at uh bristol and his second ever next el cup series race period okay here we go cars all lined up ready for the restart great flag he did that last night in the push race they were only running half speed and look at all the damage to brenda's car oh half speed would still be 50 miles an hour right there's going to be plenty of real estate to race on it they keep doing this [Music] so yellow flag number five somebody checked now let's say normally somebody checks up on a restart that's what happens very good wally a lot of damage to the 99 and 49 looks to me like 17 couldn't get going the 99 checked up the 77 denton chain reaction and there are a couple of radiators whose contents have been scattered around this half-mile track and the cleanup crews will go to work once again 90 of 500 laps complete before a sold-out house in bristol [Music] [Music] little tbs college football cruiser that's going to appear at all their games this fall we didn't have that cruiser last week did we no we didn't we could have it was that cruiserweight campbell we were camping in michigan yeah we had the leprechaun big 12 and back 10 college football on tbs this fall got a great lineup of games dale earnhardt jr the race leader under caution marty your turn to speak leading the field around very slowly here at lap 93 for dale earnhardt jr trying for his first ever bristol win is best finish here third in this race two years ago here's what he has to say about the budweiser number eight i need a little more grip in the left rear i'm a little bit stuck but i'm sliding the back a little bit too much i'd like to be a little more comfortable i can't run you know a long long run so i make a lot more mistakes with it like that it's a job it'll everyone's trying to jump out on me and how do you fix that wanting more grip in the left here you take a pound out of all the tires except the left rear giving the left rear more grip bill marty nine-time bristol winner rusty wallace hasn't had a top 10 finish since the coca-cola 600 at charlotte in may 43rd here last year second here in the spring fighting a little bit loose off right now used track position and stayed out under this caution dave i think marlon was fourth here in the spring bill and having a good run here tonight that two tire experiment two tire change to the right side worked pretty good sterling said it started out a little bit tight but the car is really coming in now matt mark martin chasing his third win here in thunder valley he said the car was neutral on entry then it went to titan to center and then loose on exit but he's still very pleased with the race car remember back to last week he finished second but it was a very hard fought second place finish he was part of that superheroes campaign well the team brought out batman hey if anything works keep doing it so mark martin soldiering along in sixth place hoping his batmobile runs well here tonight looking for a good finish to continue his pursuit of a spot in the race to the chase [Music] so gordon's the first one before yep and mcmurray had two right everybody on back yep yeah well newman had the two and kane had the two right they've been they've been i mean so if we have time before the green mikey if we have time before the green just as an establisher shot there's a whole cluster of cars in the center of the infield all the wrecks have kind of been pulled back to one place 77 and 49 and 51 and a whole bunch of them you see them all racing mash [Music] okay [Music] in addition to winning the race a week ago in michigan greg ripple's team spent the least amount of time on pit road about participating crews so they win the mcdonald's drive-through pit crew championship fueled by power aid 20 000 to them dale earnhardt jr's team with a slim lead in the season-long standings that's a close race right there 200 000 on the line for the crews they know about the money uh kind of got a got a little racing mash set up back in the garage area in the center of the infield here at bristol all the wrecks being repaired see morgan shepard's car brendan gone's car i see tony raines 51 car tucked in behind a hauler you can't see quite there ken traders there's kyle petties there's casey mears and it's early they're earning their money already tonight gotta fix it you've got to try and get back up they get those points so here we come to the restart got something for us bill just a lot of talk about how slow earnhardt jr brings him to the restart green flag rusty was ready for that restart yeah sometimes they're bringing it down that slow will work against you because i like to take advantage of that bernard junior leads wallace's second marvel third jeff gordon fourth mcmahon remember marlon just taking two tigers on his lap 57 pit stop on through most of the traffic in fact the other guys that got two tires have both slipped back so an interesting dilemma for the crew chiefs you got wild who's held a scrub on the two tires but the other guys have fallen back but sterling's not really holding his ground yes i mean because rusty and dale junior are throwing away from him and jeff gordon right behind him is clearly faster than the 40 car right now and sterling knows if he gets up on that top line he's going to get railroad there's a bunch of guys in line that are going to go right by so he's got to protect that boss as much and as long as he can but i think alan your point is correct he was the best on the cars that changed two times sterling he's [Applause] sterling marlin in desperate need of a good finish uh desperate being the fact that his last 16 races 16 races he's only got two top 10 finishes wait a minute what happened here a pass a pass for the lead rusty wallace duke goes by junior in front [Music] second time tonight rusty is late evidently he was making the eighth card dale jr run just a little bit harder than he wanted to go he talked to his crew about the back end just jumping out every once in a while and he certainly does not want that to happen so he's going to back up a little bit and ride here with junior see how hard these guys work on a racetrack like this you never ever press this place is the toughest race to race i mean it is very physical you're sliding the car in the car drifting all over the place it's busy and this is a little burst of rpm on the engine well what happens is when you get on the throttle sometimes those hot it'll break loose and you gotta back off on the throttle and wait till it gets traction then get right back on the gas so you're you're dancing inside that car every single lap and and he's got clean racetrack right there he's not really being pressured [Applause] but even on the straightaway you see you never keep staying well straight very long so junior continuing to pursue rusty wallace try and hang with him and stay in contact with the new leader bill talked to rusty just before the drivers meeting this evening allen he's very confident he also expressed out on the discover card countdown to green one reason for that is when they got here on friday they put the car on the track they went all the way they could one way they brought it back to their starting points went all the way the other way brought it back to their starting point felt they were very good they built some adjustability into it but felt they were pretty much where rusty wanted to be but he's never satisfied so bill when you're talking about bringing the car in one direction or the other they went to the freer the looser side and then back to the tighter sides exactly you have a game plan you want to go one way with it then you want to bring it back and go the other way make sure you're exactly where you felt you were now you're not too loose you're not too tight you're as good as you could possibly make rusty of crystal that's not easy to do and i think another thing bill a lot of these guys are doing or they're experimenting with they're getting these cars so soft they're trying to see how soft they can get these cars and how much damage they'll do once they bounce off the racetrack and then back up from there soft in terms of the spring rates the springs they have up under the car right if you watch the cars in the corners and if i watch rusty like in turn three that car really really crushes down to the racetrack and that that's giving the cars grip but you got to be careful you don't wear off the oil pan and you know things like that underneath the uh race car and i'll tell you what i talked about sterling marlin holding up jeff gordon that's not the case anymore he has driven away from jeff gordon so that two time stoppers during the marlin i am impressed with it gordon evidently having some problems right now with that 24 car place trying to hold off mcmurray for fifth and then you're all over it on the 24. he just said on the radio we're tight man we're getting into real trouble here gordon on the radio all right bill thanks mark martin kind of lurking behind these two are looking to close in comings and goings jimmy spencer casey mears back on the racetrack after damage to their cars repaired behind the wall rusty wallace the leader here at bristol [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the sharpie 500 on tnt is brought to you by sharpie right out loud by budweiser it's time for a fresh one grab a budweiser the race is on by discover car it pays to discover and buy new m3 power from gillette the new power behind the gillette gun guns one quarter distance in thunder valley tonight before a sellout crowd of 160 000 and a new leader in the sharpie 500 dale earnhardt jr has just gone by rusty wallace to reclaim the top spot yeah i think rusty saw earnhardt come and russell just pulls up the racetrack and lets dale jr go watch right here he'll go in the corner and say yeah you're pretty fast right now go ahead i'll follow you for a while i'll tell you what rusty did not get off that corner very well but now once junior got behind he's able to stay right behind him we've had some trouble trying to get this done because it seems like every time we do it the caution flag comes out we'll give it our best shot here it's our visa through the field the race leader dale earnhardt jr what what all right let us do this wally there's no crash marty go i started to think we're never going to get this thing done are we daler and hart jr leading trying to fend off rusty wallace and trying to do something nobody's ever done at bristol when the bush race and the cup race car just a little bit tight rusty wallace going for the lead bill rusty back to the lead of bristol a familiar sight a few left to go the cars getting a little loose will be okay that's the story on the two sterling marlin in the 40 car try the two tires stop basically happy with it even though he's been passed out by jamie mcmurray bottom line is if they had to use it later in the race for track position they would so marlin back and forth and jamie mcmurray is now up to third and that would be marty i believe i believe that is me allen lap 119 jamie mcmurray came on the radio saying it's just a little bit loose not too bad right now guys he's been very happy with the car this afternoon talking about an air pressure adjustment bill the 24 of jeff gordon at the brand new car never turned it lap till they got him here on friday it is starting to get tight on it matt bill the six of mark martin runs in six they know how strong gordon is they're trying to mirror their strategy after the 24. he's still free on exit marty jimmy johnson last pitted it lap 58 in the 48 car next stop they want to take more tape off the grill again they've had water temperatures and the grill has been knocked in a good bit on the 48 car elias sadler in the 38 car says the car is a little bit tight he's worried about using up the right front tire what's more forward bite bill ryan newman in the 12 car pitted lap 57 car was a little tight they made some adjustments no words from brian that's a good sign rounding out the top 10 is kck his car they fixed the loose in the back of the race car with a track bar adjustment the car though still up on top of the racetrack he's trying to hold on with only two tires on that last stop those are your top 10 29 cars on the relapse at this point elon hart jr one of three drivers who have left tonight jeff gordon and rusty wallace are the others let's say did i just say aaron arjuna was leading rusty as leader my bad well we see scott riggs a 10 car has gone a lap down now quite a few cars up in front of the leader rusty wallace that he has to contend with rusty's record here i mean when you look at the numbers they're astounding in uh his career here he has won 22 of his starts finished first or second 39 of the time 51 of the time he finishes in the top five and 68 of the time he finishes in the top 10. and it wasn't whatever was talking about is not a top 10 defendant says charlotte but not because he hasn't been there he's been running really good these last few races has had a lot of bad luck yep a bunch of times and of course rusty has a press conference scandal for daytona beach florida they tell the usa on monday much speculation about what the announcement might be oh come on much of it centered around the fact that will next season be rusty's final year very last season in next l cup racing he keeps running like this you might have to reconsider i don't know tough when you're having fun casey kane the nine car is started to struggle just a little bit he was 10th when we went through our through the field now casey looks like he's got and now he's back to 12. he's going to be 13th 14th when he comes off this corner it looks like he's the karzai's got a tire down or something but he may have picked up some rubber or something he's going back to 15th position on that nine car robbie gordon [Applause] and just ahead of kevin hart is casey whatever the case it doesn't look like his car is turning very well [Music] how about kevin harvick dave yeah success here pretty much last night in the bush race and a lot here in the past hasn't had much to say good though tonight in fact in the last pit stop he made a change but he's lost grip in all the corners he said not sure what change you're gonna make on the next stop man the car of the nine casey kane still on the free side talking to tommy baldwin about what adjustments to make it wally for a driver you don't want to get into somebody's way so they move you up and you really lose position so how do you judge when to let people go by so you're going to be safe yeah well i kind of talked about it earlier you try to let guys buy if you know you can get back down but it seems like he's has his hands really really full if the car if the car is getting in he may be able to adjust the brakes put more front brake in it and that may help the car but if the car is loose on the gas he's gonna have to ride it out and if you're really struggling like he is you gotta let everybody buy because if somebody even gets close to touching your rear bumper you're gonna go around when you're that loose so casey came back to 18th place while rusty wallace and dale hart jr continue to pace the field 150 laps complete you're watching nascar on tnt [Applause] uh so so beautiful night in bristol tennessee where the sharpie 500 is underway at the bristol motor speedway 160 of the 500 laps complete rusty wallace leads stale earnhardt jr by about an even second our wireless race talk paul we've talked about the bump and run here in bristol fairly commonly used tactic this day how do you feel about it is it anything goes it's okay as long as you don't wreck the guy or if it's dirty racing i think anything goes and it's sturdy racing so it's okay explain that again all right come on help me with your logic here i have no logic okay i can't help you i'm just shocked that folks say it's okay as long as you don't let that guy the bump and run but we've already seen that tonight how about a five-time bristol winner jeff gordon what does he think of the bump and run and its acceptability as a tactic [Applause] i think the bump and run is acceptable you know if you're going for the win and and at what level you take it to i mean i think if you just go in there and and put the guy on the wall you know i think that's extreme i think that you know if you can get to his bumper and and you can move them and it's for the win then i think it's acceptable there you have it and guess what he didn't have to be bumped out of the way he just was passed by mark martin because martin in the fifth position so jeff's slipping back to six bill that's because the car is wicked tight in the center that's a direct quote wicked tight's pretty bad that's a lot to say going around here under the green flag so that's a two word wicked type how about mark martin man his car tight but not wicked tight you can see him slowly gaining on the 24 that just trying to settle in and ride they know they're breaking this race down in the two section 400 laps of survival and 100 of game on let's go for the win that's a good way to do that real good way to do it with mark mark takes his hand looks like he takes hand right off the wheel slides it over yep he does i love watching the eyes through the clear visors at night you can't see him during the shaded wings during the day watch his eyes dance up to the mirror on the straight away yeah you always check your mirror check your mirror usually right when you're getting off the corner here the car broke loose there when he got on the gas through the corner look in the mirror looking left around the corner ahead of the car takes a quick look do that a lot of times so that's mark running in fifth place now after starting in seven heavy traffic for the race leaders and that includes in the front of the street the nine car of casey kane trying desperately to hang on to that tenth spot in the nascar next up cup points but it's struggling and here comes the leaders telling the body put a lap down ricky craven jeff green scott riggs kenny wallace next up it's ward burton the zero for rusty wallace by the way ken schroeder back on track from behind the wall his car having been repaired here is really struggling with that straight ahead bite isn't he rusty just closed up right on the back bumper here's where that patience thing comes into play if you're rusty wallace too that car five in front of lester wallace is casey kane ward knows he's got to get the power down he's got to drive straight off these corners as best as he can now because rusty wallace is about to put him back down and talk about rusty and patience do you want to try the outside do you move more out of the way you just nip them there with a bumper i think you can't you can't do that when you've got earnhardt or anybody else on your tail so you gotta hope that war slides up and this has allowed the 42 car jamie mcmurray to come into the play he's right behind junior so now you got to use your bumper now rusty's going to get impatient and rusty's going to have to move these guys for he's going to be in trouble talking about mcmurray for rusty wallace uh jamie mcmurray one of the fastest cars on the track i believe he's calling the fastest cat in the alley right now his car is going really well came on the radio left 160 said it's just a little bit loose the air pressure adjustment you made last time made it almost perfect if it goes green and it might they have to pit about map 225 bill and marty some guys are going to have to come earlier than that guys talk about coming as early as 187 that's less than 10 laps from now yeah remember rusty wallace pitted at lap 21. earnhardt jr had left 37. and now casey cain is just two cars in front of the leader rusty wallace and it's hard to pick up positions from a lap down he just got to somehow someway stay in the lead lap i can't believe rusty's been this patient zero with the zero yeah especially with the guys in his mirror rusty working working and working in this would be for eighth place ryan newman trying to work his way back toward the front and jeff burke would follow him i'll tell you the sturdy car and here we see finally rusty wallace gets by the zero the next car in front of rusty casey kane there he is [Music] tommy baldwin just told casey that's the leader in your mirror casey's trying to hold on trying not to lose a lap but this race car is just getting worse and worse remember he didn't get an opportunity to run that final practice session they did not in the first session try two tires and see what it would do right now just holding on hoping for a caution in case you came 10th in the championship standings we checked the race to the chase with three races to go including this one well that's the top five we're not concerned about that we're concerned about jeremy mayfield wow in ninth spot and came out apparently check that out 19th place right now in the race and jared back at 15th only 49 points out of 10th if the race were in and now casey kane does go a lot deal with the lefty lows there's not a whole lot casey could do right now i mean he's just hanging on and he he can't stay in front of wood burton in the zero either if he could he'd be the first car well he held him off right now he's the lucky dog that is the race to be the first car not on the lead lap right there nine and zero if the caution were to come out not an unreasonable expectation here in bristol rusty [Music] so that took the lucky dog out of the equation by sterling marlin so one of the hottest drivers on tour of late mark martin with three top three finishes in the last four races creeping toward the front battle of the brewers going on at the front of the pack tonight here in bristol as the bundwagon tries to go around the miller wagon and also the 7th leader dale earnhardt jr we were trying to go to a break before that happened [Music] uh hmm [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so three different drivers trading the lead throughout the first 200 laps of the sharpie 500 here at crystal motor speedway jeff gordon rusty wallace and taylor hart jr down in front now opening up a second and six tenths on wallace after passing him on a couple of laps ago here's the gap back to rusty what a considerable gap this is by far the largest lead we've seen all night and junior is running up on some heavy heavy lap traffic taco dying the 50 car the next car talk behind currently 22nd yeah there's about nine or ten cars there all in a row now we're start to see some green flag pit stops here momentarily and remember that under the green flag is perfect jeremy mayfield tucks in there you see guys get your cash ready out of gas out of fuel the 19 car of jeremy mayfield hits pit road one of the guys in the state for the championship making a four tire stop adding fuel now just a few spots behind him all kick road it's rusty wallace looks like he might have run out of fuel coming out of four posted around it's four tires it was gonna be no changes the question is [Music] this is hard work it's a hot human night here at pistol rusty trying to get it re-fired ran it out of gas they should have been in my lap 200 they didn't come in and this is [Music] just felt like the back of the car was not into the racetrack four tires on his first stop he took two earlier tonight wow running out of fuel didn't that happen to ryan here last year or something bryan yeah didn't they run out of gas too they were trying to push the car and push fire remember what it was but yeah yeah yeah you run out of fuel and uh you can't get that car re-fired especially here at bristol everything happens so fast you lose a bunch of time but rusty finally got it re-fired but now he's four three laps behind the leader the eight car of dale earnhardt jr three laps fine i heard him saying about running out of fuel i thought it was jeremy but instead he was the leader got running second spot rusty wallace this is a race now for sixth and seventh jimmy johnson 48 ryan newman 12. johnson uh coming from the back of the pack in his backup car remember they played the pitch strategy track position thing to get himself up front and this is where you gotta be careful because now you got guys on fresh tires now you have guys sliding all over the place and this is where sometimes you'll get a caution because there's a lot faster marty how about more has been excellent all they're doing is reading them they're planning no changes on the next stop they have to pit in about three to four laps so that's the story there for jimmy johnson rusty wallace back in 27th place jeremy mayfield 26th jimmy johnson stopping at lap 37 is when he was in you see that we talked about strategy and what these teams are doing but it's such an elusive target yeah it just keeps shifting around on you it's hard to hit it and remember casey kate on the fresher tires like you were talking about wallet just blasted by ryan and this and this is good for him because he's making up a lot of ground right now hopefully the yellow doesn't come out for him these guys are really really sliding around on those older towers that's how it's good for him as long as the race stays green through a full set of pit stops for everybody in the field and it won't be so bad caution comes out near the deep big belt jeff gordon still chasing sterling marlin now that is for fourth and fifth place as mark martin has gone through [Music] and here comes superman you're gonna be a second to two seconds faster left on new tires right there than these guys who are running in fourth and fifth position jeff gordon under marlon jr on the spit road buddy remembering the mistakes jeff gordon has made here the last two years they reminded him twice and gone 30 miles per hour down pit road and again as marty was saying because it's a green flag pit stop now you go right back onto the racetrack from there see a lot of sparks coming out of jimmy spencer's car right here i don't know if the exhaust pipe has fallen off or or falling off or what but i think nascar is going to give him the flat flag because if that comes off you don't want to get that yeah see a dragon there oh yeah now what a lousy night for jimmy at his favorite racetrack he loves this place he runs good here jimmy johnson on pit road greg goodwill just leaving the pit lane marty second place man the championship very happy with this race car the grill is dinged in just a little bit they wanted to pull a piece of tape off now they've decided not to do that jack and now is very happy with the car jimmy says leave it alone [Music] overall tight but he needs grip all the way around air pressure adjustment for matt send it back out a four player stop here hoping for 13 or 14 seconds so he doesn't lose too much time robbie gordon coming down the pit playing on the back stretch as kenseth leaves and the defending series champion will rejoin the race they're making a chassis adjustment on the 31 on his first step they've been an air pressure adjustment robbie gordon's been fighting tight all night as the six car is also preparing to come in as the 31st down the way marty elliott sadler with a top ten run at the car though very very moose really two rounds down on the track bar they also make an air pressure adjustment on three of the four [Music] so sadler leaves jamie mcmurray is the leader now mark martin does peel off the banking and hit the pit road on the back side and mcmurray comes in on the front side go ahead matt and tyson counts mark martin into his pit stop the car tied out this last run they were going to make an air pressure adjustment to the six chasing his eighth career next down short track win having a good run tonight marty jamie mcmurray matt with a very fast car said it's just a little loose in a little tied off very slight air pressure adjustment 14-7 on the stop for the 42 game mark may have a little trouble on that stop but he's coming around pitt road mark going to the racetrack he just that is a terrible mistake right there you see he's he's supposed to be on the racetrack running wide open yet he's 30 miles per hour he's going to be left now you only have to do that if it's yellow yes all right sterling marlin was in now jeff gordon comes down road at lap 228 your turn bill and they made it very clear to jeff gordon into the pitch off of turn four morris is in pit stole but he's over the line he has to back up he seconds ryan newman's put it directly behind him or his car is newman behind him it's also pretty tight it's four tires it's also a bright chassis adjustment for the 12 car he's going to lead yeah i guess and even stacks up in the pits and tony stewart beats him both down the 20 car so michael waltrip is now the leader as green flag pit stops continue bobby the body todd voting brian vickers ward burton yet to stop how about the 20 stop and one of the reasons he was able to beat those guys out is because he had to clean in and to clean out for them [Music] you see jeff burton coming back in the action after making a pit stop uh ward burton out of the pit lane and moved up as high as fifth now we watch michael beltran who is the race leader michael remember started in the back in a backup car after his qualifying crash and moved steadily up into the top 20. stayed on the lead he was up to 17 before this cycle of pit stops began mark martin losing a lot of time let's get an update there matt allen marks crew patricia in complete shock couldn't believe what he was seeing in fact he didn't even know mark was going downhill road on the front stretch until he saw it on the jumbotron separating both pits we've seen a lot of guys over the past year or two who've done this bill elliott bill talked about jeff gordon borg even has a map on his dash to explain to him green versus yellow stops what a heartbreaker for mark martin they've got some work to do here guys it's very confusing when you have to do normally you just come down pit lane and it's the same thing but here's the only place where it's different green to yellow and and i understand both sides i understand the necessity for the procedure to take away the disadvantage of pitting on the back as michael waltrip comes in contact mark martin made contact with the 50 car as he went fine about like michigan last year yeah he's possessed again go ahead dave they stayed out as long as they could couldn't catch the caution they'll make an air pressure adjustment they've been doing that all night the car has felt like it's skating on top of the track for michael finally feels like it's come in a little bit four tires and he's gone so bobby labonte now the leader followed by todd beaudine brian vickers ricky craven and then it'll cycle back around to dale earnhardt jr there's bobby coming in and that's in front of mr webber and uh they reminded bobby labonte please come in off turn four watch your rpms nobody in front of the door behind it needs more forward fight it's like they're going to try so bobby goes out todd o'reine is now the leader and the first of the cars who have pitted that position has just changed hands as the body rejoins the race that's todd behind the leader brian vickers is second now jeff gordon has come up and passed dale earnhardt jr but that is not it's not for position that was just to get gordon back on the lead lap basically but gordon is making up a lot of a lot of time with those tires as you can see all right marty want to run for tombow dunn and don arnold's race team this car's been a little bit tight stayed out as long as they could this is not one of your experience next up and craven is in and so it will be dale earnhardt jr back into the lead here at bristol just about the point we're making before the rest of the pit stops happen i understand the necessity of the procedure for having separate pit roads under green and under caution here the teams just have to talk their drivers through it well that's right jeff gordon did the same thing two races in a row in the 24 car yeah i understand what you're saying while you're right it's not normal it's not what the drivers used to do it so the spotter the crew chief they've got to make sure they walk their man through it when that spotter looked up and saw him on the apron of three and four realizing what he was doing he should have said get on the racetrack get on the racetrack absolutely right benny so erner jr is the leader of the pit stop cycle complete without the caution flag interrupting we'll reset the running order for you with nascar on tnt returns to thunder [Music] valley [Music] [Applause] [Music] so uh [Music] [Music] opened in july 1961 the first race attended by 18 000. tonight the sharpie 500 running before a sold-out crowd of 160 000 here at bristol motor speedway they are watching dale earnhardt jr lead the race by 6.4 seconds over jimmy johnson check the gillette young guns first micro power shaving system from gillette the new m3 power new power behind the gillette young guns the young guns have led the championship after 22 of 23 races this season they're leading the race right now they aren't doing too badly first second and fifth so that's jeff gordon on the tail end of the lead lap just in front of earnhardt jr gordon in 11th place when do we think earnhardt is going to stop let me uh do the numbers while we talk about mark martin here for a second he had a close call in traffic yeah running behind the nine car casey kane never seen mark and he's out there with fresh tires and kane has used up his tires and there's that real estate that i was talking about the nine cars said i'm not gonna give you up give it up he came down and almost got knocked in the fence a good job by kasich not to get the outside retaining wall so mark uh running along right now in 20th place the lap down after the mistake on the pit procedure under the green flag remember we saw the championship standings earlier and mark was in doubt now chase well let's have a look let's have [Music] [Music] and mayfield is ninth kane is out 15. mark goes back to 15. wow man oh man so close so volatile over bristol earnhardt jr putting pressure on jeff gordon the man who's been along with rusty wallace his toughest competition tonight he's trying to put him a lap down as we're just past halfway [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so um [Music] i way too tight [Music] at bristol motor speedway nascar on tnt with the sharpie 500 just past its midway point lap 271 of 500 is complete day long junior the race leader nascar fans you can log on to nascar.com and ask benny and wally questions about next week's nascar next l cup race your favorite driver or the latest nascar news oh aren't those two good looking guys there let's not get carried away look for the benny and wally picture on the nascar.com home page on sundays click on the link ask your questions check out the responses log on today casey kaine yeah we saw casey kane just being left by the leader dillinger jr he's now two laps down in 23rd position we have eight cars on the lead lap at this point the long green flag run that we're in is spread the field the different pitch strategies we're on and so forth and dale earnhardt jr it's all working his way so far after not looking all that great in the opening laps of the race looks like his toughest competitors tonight rusty wallace jeff gordon mark martin all those guys that have trouble in the pits marnie i was going to talk about the leader dale earnhardt jr vp and i spent some time with them before the races we watched robbie gordon trying to come up to the field junior told me his car was actually not that good at happy hour what they did they took a lot of the setup off the bush series car that won here yesterday in the race last night junior said i hope it works on this car it should translate i'll let you know after the first stop and i would have judged after the first stop and this car is pretty good and that was a good decision to take some of that set up and put it on the budweiser chevrolet yes sir i'll agree with that you see junior opening the gap on second place jimmy johnson over this last series of laps ep and i saw junior just after the drivers meeting today as we were getting said to come up here to the booth and talk about his burns i said uh how are you feeling knowing that this is a pretty physically demanding race in the little top of the race car he said i'm getting better every day i feel a little bit better he said they're still gross and they're still there but yeah i'm getting better and i feel good that 24 is getting better too i think the crashers are finally coming up in those tires because uh looks like he's closing the gap on junior right now race for seven elliot sadler 38 greg biffle 16. here are the last two cars on the lead lap right there and they aren't but about two and a half to three seconds in front of the leader dale arnold jr as a matter of fact he is insane straightaway with them so the one on the right would be the one to press now try to get away so a long green flag running here at bristol we went back to the green and lapped 98 for almost 200 laps later and the caution hasn't waved that's somewhat of an unusual occurrence here through the field room we come back to thunder valley dale earnhardt jr leading the sharpie 500. uh contenders have been taken out of contention by mistakes on pit road here's mark martin he should have been up on the racetrack and not where he's at but we'll explain that in a second and also 30 miles per hour instead of 100 miles per hour 30 miles per hour rusty wallace running well runs out of gasoline had to push the car to get it restarted lots of track position loss right here and then jeff gordon went too far he got to push it back that cost him and the car behind him of ryan newman because ryan couldn't get out so drivers who were contending for upfront spots now back in the pack now here's what mark martin is supposed to enter the pits here stop make his pit stop go on a race and come back on the racetrack instead now that's the green flag scenario that's what just moved you on the green on the caution you come in here and you go all the way around as mark martin did at 30 miles per hour and that's it here at 30 miles per hour all this distance here he was at 30 and set up up on the racetrack running wide open that is a ton of track position lost and so it has left mark in 20th place one lap down to leader dale earnhardt jr rusty wallace just in front of him in 19th also a lap down jeff gordon is also a lap down in ninth place let's go through the field update you on the front runners marty your first three-time winner this year dale earnhardt jr cruising right now going for win number four of 2004. he said zilch on the radio since the last stop they will stop at lap 365 they can make it on one more stop jimmy johnson faster than dale earnhardt junior currently tracking him down currently also not saying anything on the radio he's had three straight dnfs so far so good for jimmy johnson she started 11 currently in second jamie mcmurray his car allowed him up 282 he said you need to help me into the corners a little too loose into the corner for the man's 15th at the championship dave marty dale jarrett before the griffin transition with some 15-second pit stop also for matt kent another great pickup 10 spots in the transition they were under 14 seconds on their pit stop and it's going really well for them for the 40 car those left side tires 226 laps on them they look pretty good when they came off the car and the air pressure adjustment they made put more grip in this car it's now neutral for sterling already back to you dave elliot sadler came on the radio about 15 laps ago said the car is still a little bit tight started eight tonight currently in seventh position one of the fastest cars on the track right now matt greg bibble working out his first career short track winning next outcome but his biggest concern lies in his mirror directly off his deck lid it's driver eight greg bible says the car has been tight they've worked on it with air pressure most of the night but it just still gets tighter guys and those are all of your lead cars that in the through the field didn't last long well we can keep going some of the guys that are trying to get them out that comes out how do we go ninth place jeff gordon bill yeah i had a bunch of guys on the lead lap and i got nobody off the lead left down there including this guy jeff ford the car is just way too tight we're hurting and getting in we're just not helping as for the 12 i'm brian newman roger penske on the radio spotting for him encouraging him and the car is just still too tight robbie gordon having a very silent run in the 11th position his teammate jeff burton back in 12th now robbie's car sliding the nose just no rear grip they made an air pressure adjustment and wedge to try to fix that meanwhile the 30. jeff burton is having a very solid run as well no adjustment he says i don't know what we can do to make this race car better last week at michigan he finished 12th the best run for that 30 car all year matt the winner of the last three races here bristol's going to have to get back on the relapse he's going to win the night currently in the 13th position for kurt busch he says when i match the gas front end just will not stick like it used to i don't have the same feel in this car that i've had before tony stewart has been tied all night long they've tried several things trying to loosen that 20 car up so far not working he's got six top tens in the last seven races built jeremy mayfield and the 19 came out in the top 10 after his last pitched up then he's gone backwards faster than wally with the checked off the car is just tight and continues to push up in the center the faster than you when the check comes at the restaurant very good this has been an exceptionally clean sharpie 500 though it didn't start out that way five cautions in the first hundred laps none in the two hundred laps six by the way the last sharpie 500 with fewer than eight caution flags 1986 junior leads in bristol [Music] [Music] so so how to get on tv at a night race good way most folks did that last year too we appreciate them thinking of us about that looks like they ran out of some lights for that t though on the end see if we can run something down yeah okay and i'll tell you what that's a motorhome and there's a lot of camping around this racetrack i read the newspaper this morning 8 500 motel rooms in this area and we got 160 000 people here a lot of camping dale earnhardt jr the race leader in the sharpie 500 at 321 laps he's out in front of jimmy johnson by 11 seconds on a track where they're lapping in 16.8 seconds kevin harvick falling back and falling back big dave when there's long green black glass on this track allen it can wear you out physically kevin harvick's arms are asleep he's looking for a backup driver so anybody that he almost has a wreck in front of him to get the caution but he's looking for a backup driver right now because he cannot operate his vehicle correctly well here's the deal you run these long greens and you can't get in you can't get a drink of water you can't put the ice pack and i'll tell you what you get dehydrated here like i talked about earlier this is the most physical race track you run and i have had charlie horses during this race and boy is that fun these drivers every one of them right now putting 200 on this racetrack for every one of them struggling or some energy i don't know what the temperature is outside right now it's hard to tell from up in here weber you might be able to help us out with this but it's a pretty warm and humid night here too yeah it's very muggy there's a just a slight hint of a breeze but that's you know they've really built this place into a huge bowl album that's very still in here you know i think they use the ball in close but it's humid and it's uh it's you know it's uncomfortable i can't imagine you know all these drivers really hydrate themselves they actually start two or three days before the race there you here debris turn one the yellow flag at lap 327 sixth caution of the race last time they went back green was at 98. so who could he get nemo check kevin lepage to drive the 29 goals maybe now that he gets the caution and he gets some fluid in him maybe his arms will the feeling will come back yeah because cautions at this racetrack will breed cautions now 173 to go that is going to be on the bubble as far as tires and fuel well now they're probably fueled but with tires this could get interesting where strategy is concerned someone told us today at 3 25 they're going to stop for the last time they're going to stop now i don't know if it's going to be the last time or not just before the caution came out eliot sadler was passed by leader dale earnhardt jr that's the 7th place runner so he instead of jeff gordon is gonna get the lucky dog here and gordon's gonna be still hung the lap down pit road is going to be closed here for a second they have some barriers water-filled barriers protecting where the pit crews are on the ends of the pit road here at bristol one of them's leaking back in bristol under caution and the pit road has just been open for the six cars that are on the lead lap dale earnhardt jr jimmy johnson jamie mcmurray dale jarrett matt kenseth and sterling marlin dave great news for dale jarrett no change is needed to his car temperatures are just fine dj very happy with the way the car is running now they'll change four tires and send him slowly down around this pit road earnhardt jr in on the front stretch side of pit road marty dalenhart junior said his car starts off blues coming in real nice a little too tight at the end of the run half round of wedge trying to loosen it up in the middle of the run jimmy johnson behind him in second place so they're doing awesome park the start of the run pushing a little bit off late in the run air pressure adjustment trying to help him now jamie mcmurray a little loose in half pound into the right rear trying to tighten up that race car and now the cars that are not on the lead lap beginning to work their way down the pit road and that's about two-thirds of the field matt the 16 to greg bible stops a little short in his box so his teammate mark martin can get around his car easily into his stall chassis adjustable wedge and track bar to try to free this race car up he was extremely tight now he's got trouble getting out he is blocked in by his teammate mark martin now he's finally away matt kevin harvick moving slowly down pit road right now they decided not to put kyle petty in the car yet he is standing by they gave kevin some padding for his right under his right arm to help prop his shoulder up to hopefully relieve that asleep situation and especially at his right arm weber well it's just been a battle for jeff ford the long pit stop is taking a spring out of the left rear to try and help that car which has just been way too tight for gordon in the 24. now he's gonna be behind about four or five other cars that are a lap down bill so he won't be in great position to try and get that lap back on the restart bernard jr clearly holding lead off the set of pit stops and we're under caution with 168 to go here in bristol [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] or something you put under your butt jack you up a little bit so i might be hustling for a pet don't care who gotta have some pad for the bottom of the feet a couple inches worth get him a little bit higher in the seat to try to get that seat pressure off from underneath his arm right wally right there the way the seat comes on these cars it's right underneath your armpit and it's cutting off the circulation dave the other thing they asked him to do wally how hard is this pull yourself over to the left when you're on the straightaway to take the pressure off of it under green conditions impossible dave you can't do that impossibility is right now this is going to be interesting restart because you got a lot of strong cars down on the bottom but earnhardt gets a great start just seven cars on the lead lap dale earnhardt jr trying to get around kevin hartman who is that first car on a lap down to the inside these cars the the fresh tires we talked about earlier these cars are so soft you go into the corner the car bottoms out and you shoot up the racetrack that's what happened to robbie and so robbie no longer the lucky dog the guy in position for that that would be jeff burke now in the 30. and you see there 42 jamie mcmurray he's in fourth place trying to work his way through the traffic that's actually a race for fourth and fifth in the traffic mcmarty 42 and ken's at 17. oh little bump on the 31 car this car has been very fast bp they made a very slight air pressure adjustment on the last stop a little bit loose trying to tighten up the 42 car you talked about drivers getting tired here it is hot here in bristol tonight jamie is running a new seat it's a carbon fiber seat that he's won all year long with this tonight it has holes in the back of it wow that's a good point air going to his back he just reported i feel very comfortable and very good and the carbon fiber marty it doesn't hold the heat like the aluminum seats do so that's why it's a lot cooler for him jeremy mayfield slipping and sliding he had a moment up there three and four i don't know if he's [Music] that's him i don't know he thinks he's got a flat tire he's hitting pit road so jeremy mayfield 11th in the race to the chase he's got right rear right rear yep and with the 156 laps to go bill [Music] doesn't go over the line just two right side tires here but this costly for another guy trying to get into that on his this does do way jeremy mayfield he now can make it the rest of the way without stopping again and some of the leaders might have to stop the fuel and he's got to hope this thing stays green the whole way though let's go back to that race for fourth and that's gonna go underneath and jeff gordon in the mix with these cars jeff in 12th place one lap down now we'll see if the 17 uses the bumper he'll be pretty smooth if he does it matt that's actually dave wally but we know that matt catches smooth on the track even if he tries to bump and run he needed better grip on the car so they made an air pressure adjustment on their last stop another great stop for them back to you now dave the 31 right for the 17. robbie gordon when the radio said it is 2-3 the center of the corner that's my problem meanwhile is teaming the 30 he is [Music] now the fourth place driver and some of the guys racing for that lucky dog spot right now to see if they can be the first one to lap down [Music] gallon just real quick on the 42 car came on the radio left to go said guys now it's too tight fading back a little bit from the 17. 17 wants five badly and i think the 17 is bad to me robbie but that real estate they both want it bp and there's going to be a big argument of that re-estate in just a little bit get closer to the finish what was that by the way uh jeremy mayfield after the unscheduled stop three laps down 27th place [Applause] you know watching all this i talked about you can spot the place in traffic where the backup is this is the background now not telling you what robbie robbie's car is loose dave was right i mean how about this for the lead jimmy johnson out in front in his backup car and jeff burton first one left now he's gonna go by gail jr junior slides in in front of dale jarrett hands on to the second spot how about that 48 marty yeah what a recovery for this team in a backup car driving the car that won at darlington finished second in california of course wrecked his primary yesterday they told jimmy you're doing a great job the car is excellent they were going to make no changes on the last stop deciding the last minute to make a wedge adjustment jimmy and it would be yellow flag number seven that did not help jeremy mayfield sure helped jeff burton he's the lucky dog and he has a very very fast race car so that 30 car second in line is gonna come around the pace car and come back around on the lead lap and join the chase for a good finish and right now only seven cars on the lead laps so yep so pit road is going to be open this time we'll see if we get any takers when they go around turn two i wouldn't expect many the ones that can't make it could make it the rest of the way at 3 25 well junior giving up second place evidently something is wrong with this car he must want to make an adjustment comes kenzith martin murray marlon elliott sadler guys that couldn't make it and again you broke a very good point a while ago only seven cars on the lead left so it's not a huge gamble right now marnie jumer jr could have made it all the way bp on the fuel that he had but he was not happy with that set of tires he said the car was just way too loose as loose as it had been all day long they're gonna come in make an air pressure adjustment on the eight car give him four tires hoping he can make it back through the field he's led more laps at bristol tonight than he's ever let in a bristol race before he's obviously got a fast car but can he win with it so that's five of the seven now five of eight lead live cars he'll come in as jeff burton goes around the pace car and joins the tail end of the field and what junior you know they they put those tires on and for some reason those tires didn't grip as well and sometimes you get that in a set of tires so i think that was a safe move and again all the other a lot of the other cars beat it so he's going to come out about the second or third on this deal jimmy johnson and dale jarrett did not stop dave kevin harvick coming down the attention of his pen and once again kyle petty whose 45 car is out of this race wrecked earlier has been called to replace kevin in the cockpit they're about the same size height by kyle maybe a little bit taller and hopefully able to overcome that right shoulder situation that kevin was having get his right arm falling asleep they know they have to get someone in there so they'll pull kevin out and they'll put kyle petty in the 29 car and they're gonna lose at least a couple of laps making this driver change at least one getting kyle strapped in as the pace car is almost around to them now and this is gonna this they're gonna take a hit and points because of this it's a big turn there for some of the drivers in the race to the chase in the late stages here at bristol tonight relief drivers used to be not an uncommon thing here at bristol right bp oh no i came here with john a yes man about every time i came in the 70s i finally figured how to hold my head up and it was okay after that but uh he actually won a race with a relief driver here right yeah johnny and i won the race by seven laps [Music] so harvard getting attention for the dumb left arm [Music] and kyle petty still strapping aboard that 29 machine [Music] it's tough to make driver changes in these cars today though because there's a lot more seat there's a lot more safety equipment that we wear and it's uh it's a lot harder it takes a lot longer so under caution here at thunder valley seventh one of the race and the leader is jimmy johnson we'll be back [Music] [Music] half a lap for the restart here at bristol motor speedway there'll be 137 laps to go in the sharpie 500. eight cars on the lead lap jimmy johnson dale jarrett dale earnhardt jr matt kenseth jamie mcmurray the top five followed by sterling marlin elliot sadler and jeff burton kyle petty coming back out on track in kevin harvick's 29 in 29th place but he's still going to lose another lap because he pitted on the caution he's got to come down pit road at 30. he came back on the racetrack so maybe he doesn't have to uh that'll cost anyone to come back in ninth sterling marlin place around tony stewart goes around cautions bree cautions dale jarrett running second one of the drivers in that race to the chase and he gets turned around with 135 laps to go he may be okay though i don't think doesn't look like i don't think he got hit [Music] 31 gets into the back of the 88 perhaps yep looks like the 31 got on the apron of the ring i tell you what look at how in the world those guys go in the apron and control the thing i will say this for robbie i think he got on the apron trying to stay off oh yeah definitely you know he got down there but the problem is sometimes when you get down on that apron like bp says it shoots you back up the the racetrack so caution flag is out here in bristol this is number eight second place runner dale jarrod gets spun around a couple of others tangled up in behind him [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] bristol tennessee in the bristol motor speedway nascar on tnt with live coverage of the sharpie 500 for the nascar next l cup series after a kind of timid center section of the race with more than 200 laps of consecutive green flag racing we're setting the sparks flying and stacking up the yellow flags now dale jarrett uh is falling back to eighth from second after getting turned around over in turn number two yeah the restart um robbie he was down on the apron actually trying to avoid contact with the 88 he couldn't go any lower than he could but he got down in the corner a little bit too strong you see the different angle of it and boy matt kessler just gets by 88 car sterling marlin funded by carl edwards tony stewart clobbered by jeff green [Music] here's the shot that tells it all goes down goes down further and there's just nowhere else to go [Music] rusty walsh you're going to be able to see the 99 car going there bam in the back of the 40 car and uh so pit stops here the pit road just having been open dale jarrett is in along with sterling marlin and tony stewart and the cars involved in this wreck getting repairs made we'll get some we'll get some further updates in just a minute back in bristol half a lap from the restart to the sharpie 500 the nascar next door cup series on tnt with 127 laps to go with the green flag waves napa field summary 10 leaders tonight the race dominated though by gayle earnhardt jr he's led 195 with 372 laps seven cars out of the race and the lead changes inflated some by a run of green flag pit stops we had midwest that would put him tail end of the lead lap if you can stay in front jimmy johnson nice restart i'm a little surprised if robbie he was kind of sleeping there a little bit on a start jimmy johnson the leader david junior second matt kenzick jamie mcmurray fourth elliott sadler fifth followed by jeff burton sterling marlon dale jarrett now in eighth and ryan newman the lucky dog on that last caution lead lap 9th place for the lead barnard jr inside jimmy johnson that 48 car has been wiggling and wobbling since we went back to green well we can see i can wiggle and wobble towards that eight car because junior has some fresh towers on there better than better than the 48 car marty what about the 40 there's he complained no he's not complaining the car is a little bit free but i'm a good friend it's what he said as jamie mcmurray made a nice save there chad canals came over the radio into that caution he said you're doing an excellent job i've never been more proud of you tonight than i have ever big compliment for jimmy johnson tonight and a 31 of rodney gordon runs the 11th position under that caution nascar notified the 31 team that if he hits any more cars tonight he will go to the garage oh there they started with that that real estate didn't they wanted yeah he was one down there but jeff gordon was filling it and he's got a big problem well he's trying to he was trying to stay as being the first guy a lap down and he's got these lead lap cars all surrounding him yeah if i'm matt kenseth i'm going to lay the bumper to him really quick and i know robbie's trying to do everything he can to be in the lucky dog position but matt's got a good race car and he's got to go rocky's no longer in the lucky dog position when jeff gordon went by him that was for that spot so gordon now the first one lap down in 11th place robbie gordon uh jeff that was robbie back in 12th matt kansas waving at him out the window saying why you you talk about looking out the women seeing that jam up yep once again there it is that would be the pressure point he's gonna get tagged if he can get to him and all this behind robbie gordon are racing for position on the lead lap kenzit mcmurray sadler jeff burton robbie up out of the way matt this 30 team is having an awesome run tonight rocky ryan who's jeff burke spotter said the 17 at kensington and the 31 and gordon are feeding at each other pretty good stay on your toes be cautious in case something happens luckily the 17 has motored by now his teammates behind him now this is one guy you really don't want to hold up because he's racing for the best position for richard jones racing and richard's going to get on the radio and tell him robbie move out of the way [Music] 115 laps to go watching the uh the pressure point on the field if you will the front uh cars in front of this group spread out somewhat erin hart jr johnson uh the first car lap down jeff gordon matt kenseth jamie mcquarrie elliott sadler those cars all kind of spaced out on the racetrack at the moment jeff burton by his teammate brian vickers 25 not on the road now mark martin the sticks car is up there rusty wallace crutch oh man bobby labonte carl edwards tony stewart again casey kane who's that radiator steaming that's carl's edwards michael waltrip got some damage in it he's continued away but he's driving around the racetrack smoking and caution is out for the ninth time in the race it all started i guess when mark and the 25 car got together rusty gets in the back of the 16 dj gets the back of rusty and somehow gets by oh man tony stewart got a piece of that pretty big one nowhere to go this would be the accordion effect see these guys check out the funniest so you check up but it just stacks up behind you and unfortunately that's what happens and unfortunately you get caught up in somebody else's mess gracious how many times they hit him two or three man most everyone has driven away from the accident scene except carl edwards follow up on the damage when we come back pit road is closed right now here in bristol too [Music] [Music] so carl edwards not enjoying his first next el cup experience here at bristol tonight he's got that uh that bristol anger look going dave 17 of matt heads up a little bit tight they make a white adjustment for that four tires they hated to take those off because that was a set they really felt good about marty jimmy johnson your leader coming in pit road his car right now is a little bit looser he says looser than it's been all evening they had a pound to the right left rear tire rather trying to tighten up that car said it wasn't like that before dale earnhardt junior the stall in front of him the car is good no different the 42 of jamie mcmurray they talked about taking two mcmurray said let's put four on and let her eat let's see what happens jeff burton did not pit i think it's good strategy i don't have any problem with that oh watch it gotta stop down there boys let the traffic clear the stop paddle is up and we'll get back going here in a minute so jeff burton's going to take over the lead of the sharpie 500 with 109 laps to go his team choosing to stay out on the track under this caution big mess off the turn two has put the yellow flag out and got the cleanup crews kind of busy so [Music] [Music] all right [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] riding around under caution 394 laps complete on a hot sultry night here in the tennessee hills at the bristol motor speedway you know it takes a lot to run this half mile at bristol a very demanding racetrack elliott sadler's team currently in fifth and the subject to today's built for tough moment is exactly how you prepare a car for the bristol motor speedway what you do is you just reinforce everything and you lift everything up in the race car the frame rails are higher the engines are higher there's more front braces on the front there's more braces on the rear of the car so you can withstand all those bumps you can expect during a race you have also goodyear brings a different tire here you have to be prepared for that and you have to select the right shots to withstand this demanding racetrack check out the website there and elia sadler currently having a fairly nice run in fifth position alan okay marty is teammate for robert yates racing dale jarrett continues to go on and off pit road under this caution we'll get a further update on that in a moment but they're still cleaning up under the yellow flag in the sharpie 500 at bristol [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] 101 laps to go and we go back racing at the sharpie 500 in bristol for the nascar next l cup series jeff burn brian newman top two did not hit under the caution flag and back on the lead lap curt bush crying for four straight was in front of the leader when the yellow waved and behind him jeff gordon the lucky best caution dale jared is in tenth place arnold made several pit stops under the yellow we'll get an update there in a minute why is jeff gordon being black flag he did not go to the end of the line on the restart where he belonged okay so as soon as he got it back jeff gordon is going to lose it he's going to lose more than that right down the network for the championship leader bill well robbie loomis is really upset he talked to the afghan down off the pit box talked to the officials made sure they were where they were supposed to be jeff gordon where to go jeff said i was there they waved me by if they waved you by they said you could go in front of them loom is continuing his discussion with the officials on pit road right now very unhappy now he's being posted now and nascar race control being i guess you'll only lose one lap let's see so jeff gordon off the base your championship leader with a little dispute with the uh the referees here comes jeff 30 miles [Applause] boy that is a long long stretch leader 35 miles per hour feels like you're going backwards so it'll be one lap plus the field that jeff gordon will be down after just getting back on the lead lap here's the race for second you see jeff burton the leader is pulled away from these two ryan newman and dale [Music] bristol so jeff gordon has only ended up 15th the last car one lap down now this is jimmy johnson 48 elliott zapper 38 for fourth and fifth positions and these guys are in some traffic and mark marvel and lobby gordon are battling for position that's for 12. and that's what you're you're doing everything you can to get by the guy in front of you then you look up in the mirror and you see there's somebody right behind you right under your mark martin in the sixth thirteenth place the third car one lap down he is racing for twelfth with robin gordon in the 31. mark's gonna let him go get back in line now if jimmy johnson could get underneath the 31 and mark can stay with jimmy johnson he can follow him through looks like mark is trumping just a little bit with his six card now to get around the racetrack he went down to turn three it looked like he had the same problem that a lot of other as he bottomed out in that corner and the car moved up just like marty's report you know they're building these cars everything's up so they can get the car soft so they come down and and that's exactly right what's the 38 saying not very happy right now wally he came on the radio under the last caution should attack the least amount of grip it's had all night long right now i don't know what to do i'm trying the best i can todd parrish crew chief came back on the radio said you're doing a great job hang in there let's get a top 10 out of the night dale jarrett is running in 10th place after several pit stops under that last caution dave i wanted to define several for you alan several with six stops during that last round of yellow flag and they think they made the right changes to it dj hasn't said a thing on the radio and he's up to uh good speed right now so jared tried to hang in there after getting bumped and spun around over in turn number two up front hasn't taken junior long to run down jeff burton and it's fun how about the 30 car matt last pinned on left 369 and then a tug on the left right fender as he loses that spot to dale earnhardt jr tug on the left right fender also a slight air pressure adjustment it felt like this set of tires was the best that he's had all night he didn't run through any debris so he wanted to stay out and see if he could get what he could get matt dillon hart jr has led more laps than anyone tonight trying to laugh rusty wallace again the car has been very fast on the last stop no changes for junior he told the guys very happy with the car it's very good i think we got one got a win coming tonight that sure looked that way i'll tell you what this is what this team needs to get ready for that final 10 races in the chase for the nascar next el up get some confidence up get a good car under the belt which they have tonight before they do yeah because it's been a lousy couple of months for dale earnhardt jr he's finished out of the top ten in five of the last six races since chicago our little debbie lap leaders on the night will show you that he's been junior a lot 214 next most lap sled rusty wallace and he just had that part down on the bottom all night benny that i mean you know that's what you got to do to get around this place but see look at that hugs the bottom 10 different drivers that have led so far tonight this car looks a lot like the eight car that martin truex drove here in the spring in the national series race i think with what junior learned last night what they had in the eighth goal in the spring is one reason he's running so well tonight then a rally back night for ryan newman billy's up to third boy he sure has remember what he said on the wagon during the discover card countdown to green you don't just gotta keep the nose clean you gotta try and keep the whole car clean and he's got a relatively good job with that pick up a lot of spots with those other guys pitted on the last caution we'll see what happens in the last 80 laps 75 laps right now 2.6 seconds behind leader david jr newman coming into this race in 13th place in the next o cup championship standings 44 points out of 10th place so what does the race to the chase look like now with all of some of these goings on here lately ryan newman has moved back into the top 10. kane out he's 27 back mark martin up to 12th but he's 30 points back look at how tight that is here's my thought on on the broader picture of that tonight but all the things that had happened to all the different people right now the order of them hasn't changed that much aside of newman sliding in there by a spot and most of the guys you know we saw bobby the body gets spun we've had harvick out of the car kyle petty in but it's just tightened everything up and which makes these next couple of weeks even more important let's get an update on kevin hartrick's car now being driven by kyle petty dave actually alan i want to update you on kevin harvick he's not able to talk to us right now because he's too dehydrated his seat actually dug into his left bicep according to his team that was the biggest problem then it went numb very hard to race a car that way and that led to the dehydration kevin apologized for not coming out to talk to us dr jay golden the rcr team position is attending to him getting him full of flute fluids and trying to get him back to health now he'll sit in his holler and watch the rest of this race and you know that's a tough job for kyle i mean kyle's getting in an unfamiliar race car i'm sure it doesn't fit very well and he's just trying to do the best he can for for that race team and the 29 car now being shown six laps down in 25th place don't forget kevin harvick this is the third race he's driven here this weekend during the crash contract last night in the nasdaq bush series race last night so dale earnhardt jr is out in front with 70 laps to go in theory having made his last pit stop on the night but we'll see if the yellow flag waves again you never know what might happen coca-cola racing family of drivers performing fairly well tonight here in thunder valley the sharpie 500 on tnt is brought to you by sharpie right out loud by chevy the winningest name in racing an american revolution and by aflac ask about it at work 62 laps to go in the sharpie 500 dale earnhardt jr is gone from second place right now i guess he is fun when you have a car like that here 3.2 seconds is the gap from first to second it's all junior right now here at bristol marty yeah career start number 171 trying to win number 13. looks like that might be a pretty good possibility to do that tonight when you talk about dillon hart jr and people who might have counted this team out to win the championship that might have been a premature mistake they have several tests left for the last 10 races this season like many of the teams who will be in the chase for the championship dude they start next week in new hampshire then they go to dover then to martinsville then charlotte then kansas then phoenix then homestead all in the next 10 weeks trying to get ready for the chase for the championship the eight team is determined they can win this championship if they do win tonight that will be a big boost confidence wise into proving that they can junior has been dominant here at bristol this weekend not just tonight here's a race for seventh place that 97 card kirkbush hasn't been in focus much tonight started pretty deep in the pack way back in the 24th spot eighth spot now that uh lucky well i actually didn't even need the lucky dog he passed the leader on a restart and was out in front of the caution wave to get himself back on the lead lap and try to make it four straight leading us to it's time yep cue the duck our aflac nascar next door cup trivia question who was the first driver to win four straight nascar next door cup races at bristol motor speedway and if you listen to me earlier this weekend you get it wrong because i had it wrong maybe cale yarbrough it was cale yarborough very good vp hey good vp gail won four straight races here sweeping both the 76 and 77 events all driving for junior johnson while racing for three straight championships was daryl waltrip another four straight winner here part of his record seven straight fiscal victory so now kirkwood is going for his fourth straight win at yeah he better hurry he's running out of time wally and daryl both driving for junior johnson when they won all those races here at bristol here battle for second spot newman goes to second one he's four and a half seconds behind dale jr matt allen the big picture for both dale jr ryan newman is the championship this year the big picture for the 30 car jeff burton just put that car in victory lately four seasons and their bigger picture is 2005 they're continuing to try to gain confidence continuing to try to gel the best finish this team has ever had was a second two years ago with jeffrey to new hampshire trying to knock down a top five they are having a very stellar night yes they are i'll tell you now he's got some pressure coming from behind by jimmy johnson in the 48th you know jimmy told me friday just before qualifying he said i just cannot qualify this racetrack i seem to race over okay but i qualify poorly and boy is he correct he does race because he had to start at the rear and here he is trying to battle for the third spot jimmy johnson's team pitting at lap 21 under an early yellow then not pitting at lap 57 when most of the front runners did it got him in their track position moved him up to fourth as a matter of fact at that time and uh johnson has held his spot near the front of the line the rest of the night 4.6 seconds behind leader hart jr i'll tell you he uh he's going in a hurry and you better get out of his way because if you don't he's going to move you out of the way did you do that he came up behind scott riggs here off of turn four and look at the closing speed he had gotten back rick's did a great job saving that car but junior's got to be careful i mean he's that could have been he's so much faster than most of the other cars he's having a problem trying to judge his speed relative to the next assist he's got the best part out there he's just got to be patient right now and pick his spots [Music] he can't just sit back and cruise because he's got ryan newman behind you but he's just got to be careful so junior clearly in command another way to follow the race during the action is to log onto nascar.com and check out pit command real time telemetry set up your favorite driver's view follow along in this case with junior and ryan newman comparing their lap times their telemetries and all the rest as you see in the goal round you see that junior's one full corner in front of ryan newman nascar.com four more 44 laps to go here at bristol now 43 our last break during green flag action will caleb jr go to victory lane for the fourth time in 2004 [Music] [Applause] [Music] so not gonna be gordon's night tonight he is back in 14th place the fourth car one lap down after a penalty earlier it is all dale earnhardt jr right now let's take you through the field certainly through the lead lap cars there are ten of them marty snyder with an update on the leader earnhardt jr just an awesome performance from dylan hart jr tonight obviously leading the most laps he's had nothing on this run the car is excellent no change on the last stop pointing for his third career short track win bill already only one guy goes to victory lane at crystal but there are going to be several winners here tonight including the 12 car of ryan that car wasn't very good yesterday right now second just over 30 laps to go last week jeff burton debuted in this 30 car scored the team's best finish this season of 12. tonight he's working on their first top five finish since last summer with steve park in michigan he hasn't said anything on the radio just motoring along 32 laps left to go to get this car in the top five marty matt three laps ago jimmy johnson came on the radio so the car is getting tighter but after three weeks of engine failures and being in a backup car this week this is a solid run for the 4018 having a very very good night elliot sandler the 38 car you're looking at sliding around no grip hanging on though todd parrot is crew chief telling him you're doing a great job not dave 40 car of sterling remember he started third tonight ran in the top 10 all night long and even after he got spun on lap 370 has done very well fitted for two tires on lap 391 with no changes today jamie mcmurray told me before the night started we just need a top ten tonight so far they had that running in the seventh position and then 15th in points pretty happy with this car what a rebound for kurt busch was 36 in this race at one point has gotten back on the lead lap loose when the car starts out he gets tighter the longer he runs though it could have been a much worse night dave marty matt kent has stopped for four tires on lap 391 and made a wedge adjustment but he just radioed in and said my car's too tight i just can't do anything with these guys behind him dale jarrett again stopping on lap 391 just went down a lap to leader they alert hart jr but they stayed on the lead laughter for making all those repairs and now junior fighting actually dale jarrod fighting in 10th place alan we know what you were trying to say there dave dj trying to hang on to his top 10 finish at this point greg biffle the next guy he is racing for the spot it's pretty confusing because everybody you know so scattered on who's on the lead lap who's not so the race to the chase jeff gordon losing ground to jimmy johnson tonight if they finish as they are johnson running fourth and jeff running 14th ryan moving back into the top ten and guys who earlier tonight looked like they had opportunities to crack that group finding problems at various points through tonight and really not getting any help still tight very tight but what might have been junior's in a lot of traffic right here this is where ryan newman can make up a lot of ground if you can't get through the traffic don't forget next weekend it's the new labor day weekend event for the nascar nexto cup series in the california speedway under the lights seven o'clock eastern time on nbc one week from tomorrow the race to the chase down then to two events it's back on tnt in richmond virginia two weeks from tonight under the lights junior trying to put jeff gordon two laps down why don't you know that makes him feel good talking about junior because he is jeff gordon that sat on the pole and looked like his car looked like he was a the favorite to win this race and junior's now lapping the 24 pounds i know it makes an awful lot of people wearing red shirts in this crowd seems good because a lot of them were just jumping up and down [Music] 21 laps to go what a night for dale jr started back in 30th place pitted early in the race back on lap 87 then stayed out on lap 58 when the other front runners pitted got himself tracked position and has held it for the rest of the night i'll tell you one thing that's going to be one exhausted young man on this thing i think all every driver out there all 40 are 30 of them are going to be exhausted when this thing's over that toward left one of green flag in the middle just got the most of them johnson just got by for a spot for third place so good recovery for the 48 driver after three straight weeks of problems that found him in the garage before long before the checkered flag was scheduled away going to california next week a track where jimmy johnson runs very well former winner there yeah you know these guys on our 30 team got to be pretty happy i would think struggle this year jeff burton finished 12th in four of the last five races in the last three straight he's gonna be very happy to come up in the top five or top six finish tonight see biffle there in the 16 car last week's winner in michigan this last one green flag he has been pretty fast in the 16th car he is a lap down he's currently in the 11th position i don't know if he'd catch dale jarrett don't think he has time but he's only got 15 laps to do with vpn he's got some ground to make up so in front question is will dale jr get hung in any traffic if so is it enough to help ryan newman the answer is probably not as newman is about uh not a straightaway behind him at this point these guys have been added for about 50 to 75 laps right here robbie gordon in 31 mark in the six sterling in the 40. you got mcmurray right here 42. it's all these guys been racing hard and mark realizes one that's three points in that 31 car in front of him if he can just get behind mark is racing robbing for 12th place sterling marlin not racing with these guys for lead lap spots but marlon is racing the 42 in the 97 of mcquarrie and kurt bush right behind him and then you've got matt kenzen and then the leader dale jr closing quickly mark just can't seem to get close enough to the 31 car to really do anything with them so far boy 31 really got a shot off the corner there big story mark martin's night lap 227 under a green flag pit stop he came down both pit roads instead of just the one that you do under the green flag and it dropped him way back in traffic he never has made up the ground and just think what might have been oh he was easy top five car i think easy leader dale jr just passing matt kenseth putting the ninth place driver lap down marty an even more impressive night considering allen on the first stop of the night they made a wedging air pressure adjustment on the second stop they undid what they did on the first stop since then only two air pressure adjustments for the eight car it's been awesome from the beginning much needed night of recovery for this budweiser racing team from dale or heart incorporated they are in our junior last one on may 15 in richmond virginia led the championship after nine races this season the second after five more dropped to third at the pocono race stuff out the window yeah matt kendrick got bumped and there's the retaliation bump yep oh he had 17. way out of shape coming off turn two i'll let you know if anything happens out here [Music] one of those kind of things just thinking back to july 18th the day that he was burned in that fire in the sports car race uh the morning of the sports car race out at sonoma california what a tough journey it's been for the young man i remember watching him walk into the garage area in new hampshire limping badly the neck bandaged wondering probably in the back of his mind if he'd thrown his chance at a championship away or how badly he'd heard it certainly they've had reason to question that in the past month and a half that's one good thing about this new point system that nascar has put in place the chase for the nascar next door cup he could loaf a couple races and when he was hurt and he still is in contention i'll tell you what it's great this next two weeks are going to be a lot of fun there's a lot of pressure right now on top 15. coming around to two to go for dale earnhardt played jr laps tonight of the 500 his father won here nine times he's trying for his first and what he does not want to see here let me get that white flag he said please let me get that white flag and here it is final lap for dale earnhardt jr 160 000 here at bristol on your feet heavily partisan crowd a place where his father had so much success he won the daytona 500 earlier this year he'll add another of nascar's majors to his resume tonight as dale hart jr wins the sharpie 500 in bristol i'll tell you this place is so it is a special one for these guys this is a tough place to win a race dale earnhardt jr the first ever driver to sweep a weekend here at bristol the blitz series race and the cup race in the same weekend i know that sounds hard to believe but that's the fact he's trying to do his donuts and other guys are trying to get back to the garage area there you go now the tractor is junior [Applause] that's why he made the bumpers may have been the first time someone's ever done it here at bristol but the third time dale earnhardt jr has ever done in his career that's a very interesting burnout isn't it tony yuri seniors that reminded me a lot of his dad did it remind you of him yeah he uh he loves this place this place in richmond he loves it and uh you know this whole team loves this place uh where could you go racing for uh this many people you know how uh looks like the whole thing's already a lot of blood water stuff you know we've lost this race twice and uh threw it away a couple times ourselves loose wheels and stuff like that so we're just gonna have to bring her home tonight that bulldog and chevy's been uh awesome all night long and we needed this dog that's too much man we've been awful and uh you know we just uh we've had a slump going and uh we got straightened out tonight i hope what a recovery for this race team an awesome night for dale earnhardt jr i mean he's still got tires to low on but he burned him off by now that looks like a chevy winning moment to me chevrolet congratulating dale earnhardt jr and the number eight monty carlo on today's big win no car has dominated cup racing like the defending manufacturers champion chevrolet and american revolution [Music] junior gonna roll up right onto the roof into victory lane we'll talk with he and the other top finishers in the sharpie 500 tnt returns to thunder valley [Music] [Applause] foreign [Applause] um the sharpie 500 on tnt is brought to you by sharpie right out loud by nextel coast-to-coast walkie-talkies in under a second nascar and nextel partners in speed and by miller vote miller for president appears good call [Applause] and welcome to the next l post race show from bristol motor speedway where dale earnhardt jr has won the sharpie 500 and has just rolled his car into victory lane bill dale earnhardt jr and victory lane at bristol the same place his dad was five years ago tonight the night where he said he just wanted to rattle terry labonte's cage and that night it was an earnhardt in victory lane and tonight dale earnhardt jr is here after winning the night race at bristol and as is common with these guys there's a big celebration did you bring enough towels for everybody because we're gonna need them here man yeah you had a little fire going on there too tell me about your night oh man i'm worried i'm more out that's a long green flag run i think it wore everybody out first off i want to say hey to my grandmother martha my uncle randy had some heart surgeries getting better and happy birthday again to my sister all my family members man this is one of the biggest wins in my career why is that it's bristol baby but it's a it was a long road getting back to victory lane if you go between your last win and this one dale you've had some tough days yeah you're gonna have that you know you can't be number one all the time so it makes them sweeter man that's what makes the wind sweeter the face handed to you you know wouldn't enjoy them as much so man this is huge for me this is awesome for my team we really needed that hey teresa i know she's enjoying this this is awesome you've been coming here for a long time special to get up here yeah yeah i come to a lot of races here when my dad drove and man i mean he just he made this place magical to an earnhardt fan and me being one of them so uh i might not have done it like he did it just now but it was pretty damn close well he was in victory lane here five years ago tonight yeah we seem to keep on matching numbers somehow or another but uh wherever he's at he's laughing he's got to be enjoying that butt kicking that was a good race i didn't think i had that good car really but she was bad you're gonna celebrate you're gonna celebrate oh man we got sunday off we don't get that all the time it's gonna be awesome dale earnhardt jr in victory lane at bristol i think he's happy dave ryan newman started fourth today fell as low as 25th the lap down are you happy with second yeah i mean that was awesome run for our team we got more more happy guys on our team than i've ever landed on the moon i'm pretty sure but uh just a great run for all tell dodge you know got caught there in that pit deal gordon slipped through his pits and i was kind of gauging my stall off of his and kind of blocked us in and i had to fight back got the old lucky dog again and you know just use a little strategy and matt did a great job with the car you know we weren't perfect at the end but it was good enough for second and that's uh that's top five is what we needed no top tens in the last four races a big recovery tonight marty solid night for jimmy johnson as that would load unloading the backup car yesterday would you believe me if i told you to finish third in this race tonight i i believed in my heart and i believe it every week even with the problems that we've had and the mistakes that i've made i know in my heart this team is capable of winning and i was a little upset somebody got into me on that restart there and i lost a bunch of positions and had to fight my way back to third so too bad that happened you know but glad slows teams back in action i got to thank my guys for working so hard i mean i put them through the ring this last month and then i heard this weekend in this hot weather they've been working their butts off to get this backup car already so thanks to all of engineering motorsports and lowe's and all their employee owners uh we're back on track back on track as he says from 43rd to third for jimmy johnson matt unofficially jeff gordon still holds a 24 point lead you just about saw everything tonight on this half mile that was the hardest fought 14th place finish i've ever had at bristol uh you know we we didn't have the best car but i think we had a top five car but um i tell you what i'm on my way to what is the big white truck now because i think they really made a big mistake on uh on the call there for black flag me because they uh you know i knew i was supposed to go tail in longest line i waited waited for cars to go by me there the inspector the pit told robbie to tell me that you know if they wave you by or they're wrecked and you're okay and so i'm waiting i look up there's nothing but wrecked cars behind me that won't pass me and dj went by me and then i think he was tailing alongside so he let me go by him and uh and then kyle petty waved me by him and i got in front of him we took off and john scott black flagged me and that cost us a lot of position so i want to find out what the deal was that i can't change it now but i'm pretty disappointed he finishes 14 tonight go plead your case dave jeff burton the best finish for the 30 car this season ty's your best this year at dover jeff how pleased are you a good night for us uh this is a really good race team we need to keep building we're still not where we need to be we need to keep building a great start for us um i need to say thank you to my trainer i feel great i'm ready to run on the five another 500 miles very good allen all right dave thanks so we've heard from four of the top five finishers plus jeff gordon and we look at the results from tonight's sharpie 500. elliot sadler finished fifth remember what he said at the start of the race how stressed out he was about it he's one happy camper he will he's probably the happiest guy there except erner jr naturally who's thrilled today kurt bush's try for four straight at bristol comes up short he wound up eighth jeff gordon 14th by mark martin bobby the bonnie 16th guy that was in the top still probably in the top 10 points but closed it up casey kane 21st place and kevin harvey will salvage a 24th out of that kyle petty in relief rusty wallace led 79 laps involved in a crash rondo finishing 26th and some of the drivers who spent considerable time uh in the garage with troubles during the race and joe nemechek probably the saddest of this bunch of source yeah almost like here's what i want to say here we go i'm telling you what this is going to be unbelievably close ryan newman moves up three places back into the top ten displacing casey kane who falls out look at that two guys are tied 35 35 45 45 and two races to go wow so it's next weekend the california speedway then two weeks from tonight richmond international raceway to three-quarter mile short track the race to the chase very dramatic the meantime this evening was all about dale earnhardt jr who led 295 of the 500 laps in a dominating performance to pick up his fourth win of this season next saturday on nbc at three eastern the nascar bush series race from california presented by best western next sunday on nbc 7 eastern nascar next del cub series racing from california coverage starting with discover card countdown to green under siege two dark territories next on tnt dale earnhardt jr is your winner tonight

Channel: NASCAR

Views: 68,036

Keywords: NASCAR, motorsports, racing, stock car, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, chase elliott, fantasy sports, fantasy fastlane, glass case of emotion, ryan blaney, crash, wreck, pileup, pit road, penalty, race track, super speedway, highlight

Id: gWlw6KxhF1s

Length: 187min 8sec (11228 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 01 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/CaptainRon16]

“It’s Bristol Baby!”

[u/MediocreMets]

When he is doing his burnouts, that is so neat to see the flashbulbs going off on camera. Kind of stinks that camera phones now-a-days don't have the same sort of affect (or effect.... one of those)

[u/[deleted]]

Honestly that was one of the more tame Bristol races of the 2000’s until the repave. But hey older 2000’s races at least.

[u/burningrubber4]

What a year Dale had in 2004.

[u/89LSC]

Was this the one he spun himself out for a caution or was that the other Bristol that year?

[u/NASCAReddit]

Man, I miss NASCAR on TNT.

[u/Buckeye2443]

This was peak NASCAR popularity. Highest ratings. Most popular driver sweeping Bristol night weekend. Man, what a time.