MOORESVILLE, N.C. – As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway for Sharpie 500, Dale Earnhardt Inc. driver Regan Smith knows that short tempers go hand in hand with racing at the short track.
“Someone’s always mad at someone else at Bristol,” Smith said in describing the action at the. 533-mile track. “Either you’re mad at someone or someone else is mad at you. A lot of the time, you’ll see a couple of guys beating on each other in front of you and you just know that they’re having a little disagreement. It’s all part of racing at Bristol.”
“The best thing you can do at Bristol is control you’re temper. Of course, that’s easier said than done. There’s just not much room to pass, so a lot of the time you might have to bump a guy a little to nudge him out of the way. You’re rubbing up against people almost every lap and they’re doing the same to you.”
The driver of the No. 01 DEI/Principal Financial Group Chevrolet has another way to describe racing at Bristol.
“I saw an ad on television the other day for the race,” Smith said. “It’s the one where the guy takes a bunch of die cast cars and throws them into a dryer. That’s what racing at Bristol is like. You’ve got 43 cars on a small track going really fast. It’s a recipe for disaster – or fun – depending on which way you look at it.”
Smith leads Sam Hornish Jr. in 2008 Rookie of the Year points, 178-177.
“Sam gained some ground us on last week, so we really need a good run on Saturday. It looks like the Raybestos’ rookie battle is going to be close until the end of the year, so every race is critical.”
Regan Smith’s Nextel Cup Results at Bristol Motor Speedway:
2 starts, 1004 of 1010 laps completed (99.4%), 0 laps led
Win: 0 (0.0%) Average start: 14.5 Total Winnings: $199,647
Top 5: 0 (0.0%) Average finish: 25.5
Top 10: 0 (0.0%) DNF: 0
Car Facts: #036
Race Facts: 500laps/266.5 miles
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