since the beginning of the tgod bless america land that i love stand beside her and guide herthrough the night with the light from above from the mountains to the prairies to theoceans white with foam god bless america my home sweet homegod bless america my home sweet home >> and here to honor america with the singingof the national anthem, please welcome the children of motor sports outreach accompaniedby danielle pegg. o say, can you see by the dawn's early lightwhat so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? whose broad stripes and bright stars throughthe perilous fight
o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantlystreaming? and the rockets' red glare the bombs burstingin air gave proof through the night that our flagwas still there oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yetwave o'er the land of the freeand the home of the brave? >> a spectacular crowd on hand. and always heart warming to see the kids ofthe drivers being able to honor america with the singing of our national anthem. we come to bristol.
this is the highest bank short track. it's such after tight racetrack. the cars are always near each other. thisst a big race, you want to be a winnerof bristol night race. put all that pressure on the driver and putthem that close together and that's going to happen. >> most of these drivers grew up racing fridaynight. this track is named the fastest half mile. lap times under 16 seconds.
there's not a lot of real estate out there. with 40 cars they're going to be fightingfor every inch. >> we saw last night, an incredible race withthe xfinity series. sometimes out there, it was three wide, butsometimes they make it work. >> no question. >> they had to go three wide. they had to push the issue. if not, the guy behind you will pass you. then late in the race, we saw a big battlewith brad keselowski, kyle busch, two champions
got into trouble, racing each other for thatwin. two great drivers. but when you get on the racetrack like this,it forces them to be in position that causes these types of wrecks. >> those two great drivers dis agreed aboutthat incident last night. now they get another chance to race hard againstone another. tonight, will they be able to race each otherclean for 500 laps? >> and this is a racetrack where guys willhave payback. they'll take it upon themselves to try tomake it even.
one guy who's making, we think, his finalrace is jeff gordon. he's already retired a year ago. but filling in for dale earnhardt jr. because of a concussion, is this jeff gordon'slast race? what do we expect? >> with this track as tricky as it is, asfast as it is, will his veteran status pay off? can he get back to win? >> probably starting the race on the bottomand move up the racetrack, that suits tony
stewart. he's been fast lately, been oa roll, don'tcount him out. >> jeff gordon, a five-time winner at bristol. tony stewart has also been to victory lane. wouldn't it be incredible if one of them couldwin again. the three most recent winners at bristol. matt kenseth, a four-time bristol winner. joey logano has won the last two night races. can he make it the three-peat?
and possibly carl edwards who swept the yearis a possibility if he can win tonight.tonight. >> the last great colosseum. night racing, one of the hardest tickets inall of sports to get your hands on. command has been delayed because of weatherin the area. there was lightning a few minutes ago. so we they will wait to get these cars started. and while they do that, i want to show youonce again some of the intros that took place. tony stewart, probably receiving the loudestcheer and roar when he was introduced to the crowd, making potentially his last start atkristol.
ryan blaney had a hokie behind him. matt dibenedetto decided the look would change. he would go with the taylor swift look. the mike drop by kyle busch. i believe it was "this is my house" was thesong that was playing when he came out and was introduced to the crowd. because it's possibly his house. bristol has been good, too. kyle busch.
as he take a look at the chase standings,closing in on the final ten races of the season, the top 16 will advance and have a chanceto win the spript cup series championship. kyle larsen, right on the line. the cutoff line, only eight points above trevorbayne. .>> ray: a good win makes him race eligible. they've got to find a way to get good finishes. >> if you can win a race, you can qualifyfor a race. every position with a point. the heavy impact into the guardrail, unableto finish that last lap.
25 positions, as you mentioned, that's 25points. >> and think about points and how preciousthey are and how you can lose them. how many people led that race with 25, 30to go that didn't even finish the race. so that's the problem with what we saw atwatkins glen. and that's also what you can have here atbristol. >> kyle larson still in 16th, but only sixpoints behind jamie mcmurray. 16th currentry, so it looks like he's in,but chris buscher is going to shift that down. he's going to be 30 points behind his teammatesto make the nascar playoffs. >> rick: there are going to be big pointslost and big points gained at bristol here
on the high banks of the world's fastest half-mile. when we say world's fastest, they're turninga lap here at under 16 seconds. and the track record was set during qualifyingby denny hamlin, a blistering pace. he was under 15 seconds for his lap. again, the world's fastest half mile willbe the site of tonight's saturday night race. stay with us. stay with us people know me as dale earnhardtjr., racecar driver. but there's more to me than that. i'm also an animal lover, and to my animalsi'm the whisperer.
gus, hey, sit! where are you going? i know one that'll listen to me, little junebug. junebug! hey! ughhhh. well there's two i can always count on. that's laverne and vera. c'mon girls, speak up!
(bison grunt) well as you can see, we're makingsome progress. for protecting my pets and more. the bud light party is for everyone. men bar crowd:yeah! women bar crowd: woo! people of all genders! we don't care we'll sell you beer. we'll sell you a beer any day ofthe week. steel mill workers: yeah!
>> rick: welcome back. cars have been covered back up because ofthe possibility of rain and hail in the area. while they are covering those up, we wantto take a chance and a moment to listen to ken squire. he's put together an essayen the contrastingdifferences between the olympics and bristol. take a listen. >> the stadium, olympia 2,000 years ago, thegreeks tested body and mind to entertain their multitudes. that competition has evolved with a celebrationof contest and conquest are captured in a
single golden moment. the olympic olympic games where the 100 meterdash is covered in an instant, this is a place that tests man against man with a common denominator,the machine. its banks are so threatening, yet simply ahalf mile pell. bristol, where a parade of favorites willcreate 130 miles an hour challenges at 14 seconds a lap. a stadium where underdogs can make themselvesfolk heroes in the mold of earnhardt, petty. emotions run high under these lights whereyour chances can end in the blink of an eye. >> tony stewart chucks his helmet.
>> tony is not very happy. >> in both of our games, it's the sprint tothe finish, that one last push for the brink will makes these games all the same. >> the roar of the stadium. jordon, johnson, ken and for others it's achance to be on the top step of the podium. let the game begin. >> and this is the biggest stage. when it comes to short track racing, nightrace at bristol, up with of the most coveted trophies you could ever win in nascar.
>> steve: in this race, everyone wants towin. it's so intense. it's difficult to win this race. the racetrack is so challenging, it's hardfor the motorcycles, it's hard for the teams, it's hard for the drivers. if you can race from bristol, it's one ofthe most cherished things you can do. >> kyle: i think it brings drivers back totheir beginnings. banging dpoor door, moving cars for positions. that's what we see here from bristol.
isn't just norral racing action. this isn't trying to wreck each other. you have to put your elbows up. you can take no prisoners. you have to be very aggressive on this half-mileand control your area. if you let someone else into your area likea football field, yo they're going to beat you. you have to be aggressive. >> steve: you can get into somebody's wreckwithout even causing it.
you could be five, six cars behind it. look at tony stewart with the helmet throw. this racetrack just brings out emotions. because you want to win so bad, you get wrecked,it makes you mad. you've been in the car for a long time. physically it's demanding, it pushes you inevery sense of the word. when somebody bad happens, it really makesyou angry. >> 3,500 laps, you know, in distance, a littleover 250 miles, not a long race distance wise for the sprint cup series, but 500 laps arejust so many opportunities, so many restarts
to really kind of bang your competitor thewrong way. >> rick: we saw last night in the xfinityseries kyle busch and brad keselowski, they were racing hard and kyle busch when the racewas over, he said that brad was a dirty racer. and that was emotional. obviously after he got out of the car andhe was wrecked, he said brad is a dirty racer. well, brad's response was, well, then i guesswe both are. because he felt like kyle raced him the sameway. >> steve: it's just like we talked about,if you're a brad keselowski fan, you think kyle busch caused that wreck.
if you're a kyle busch fan, you say brad keselowskicaused that wreck. either one of those guys could have preventedthat wreck by both of them lifting or not trying to go for that spot. but you're trying to win the race. and that's what these drivers do. that's what highly competitive drivers do. when you do get into a wreck with somebody,you're not going to agree with it. your opportunity to win was taken away. but we love that about the sport, the factthat people are aggressive and they want to
win races and put themselves in compromisingpositions. that's what racing is about, especially atthis racetrack. >> steve: if we thought there were accidentslast night, you get yourself to this level, you take more than you give. you try to win the trophy for your team. tonight when you look at the sprint cup startinglineup and amount of talent in this field, there's way more drivers taking than giving. >> kyle: and you said it last night, thisis what you want from your driver. if you're the crew chief or you're on thatteam, neither one of those drivers should
have lifted. neither one of those drivers should have quittrying. both were going for the win. if you're on either up with of those guy'steam, you do what you wanted to do. go win that race. and that was the move to win the race. if kyle busch cleared him, he would have won. if he doesn't, brad k has the best chanceof winning. so again, it's a cherished trophy, you wantto win it and you have to push if you are
going to win it. >> rick: we saw the cover on the 19 blowingoff. the wind is picking up. hopefully a passing shower going through rightnow bristol motor speedway. found it. appliances. now we just need a guy. i got one! i'm from fertilizer...
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how's it going? hi! today we're going to be comparing the roll-formedhigh-strength steel bed of the evy silverado to the aluminum bed of this mpetitor's truck. awesome! alright, let 'em drop. [loud crashing] wooo! [laughter] let's see how the aluminum bedof this truck held up. ohh.
wow! that's a good size puncture. that's all the way through for sure. full on crack here. you hear aluminum now you're gonna go uuhh! let's check out the silverado steel bed. yeah...couple dents! i'd expect more dents. chevy clearly held out better than the ford.
>> rick: a little bit damp as the shower movesthrough the area. waiting forlele all-clear before they cango out and uncover their cars. right at the center of this racetrack is cllosus,located here in the middle of bristol motor speedway. we're talking really big. it's the largest outdoor screen display inthe world. four l.e.d. screens, 63 feet wide, 30 feet tall. the sound system, over 540,000 watt soundsystem.
this thing is 700 tons. a 747 weighs 500 tons. so it's 200 tons heavier than a 747. as a matter of fact, with the olympics, christthe redeaver weighs 700 tons there in rio, brazil. and actually parker kligerman had a chanceto experience it in a different way. take a look. >> let's do this. here we go.
three wide. many laps in the middle. what an incredible view. wow. i didn't tell anyone at nbc i'm terrifiedof heights. you can see over the grand stands into thehills. we made it inde colossus. we're overlooking the speedway. this will bring you all of the action saturdaynight.
>> rick: because it's a short track, it'sgoing to drive very quickly once they get the all-clear. it's a half mile track and it drivers veryfast. i was impressed parker kligerman went up there. would either of you? >> steve: the better question is would you. >> rick: i know i wouldn't. i'm terrified of heights. i wouldn't do it.
would you? >> kyle: i would love to watch a race fromthere, why not? seems like the best seat at the center ofthe track. it's truly impressive to see. >> rick: bristol, you have to tip your hatto everyone here at bristol motor speedway. the improvements that they have made withcollosus, they're actually going to be having a football game that will take place in theinfield. they're going to change everything and oneof the other things that bristol has done to the racetrack is they've added a resingoing around the inside.
you see the black area in the turns. they added a resin to add more grip to thatleft side for the tires so they can get a little more grip and try to get the bottomline to work again. >> steve: the reason they did that is becausewhen they redid the racetrack, the top lane became the preferred lane. so a lot of what we love about bristol wasthe tight race action. and the top became so much faster that youcouldn't run on the bottom. so now they put that resin on the bottom andtried to put a lot of grip into the racetrack. hit created a great race for the truck racethe other night.
last night the xfinity race was great. there's a lot of disagreement about how longthis resin will last. but by making that bottom groove fast e, ifyou catch somebody and they're running the top, you can run the bottom. create possibly two lanes. or better yet, we may only have one lane. we may have one-lane racing in bristol. but what's going to be so fun to watch thisrace is how the groove changes and how this racetrack changes as we go through 500 laps.
>> i think change for a racetrack makes forgreat racing. the teams have to decide how to go. this is the bottom of the racetrack. you see how dark it is, how much rubber. that's grip for the race team. they want to get their left side tires allthe way down. even the high side of the racetrack showsa little bit of rubber. go last night in the xfinity race. early on, the bottom line seemed like thedominant line.
kyle larson is up against the wall, makingtime, making three-wide passes and really this is, i think, the exciting part of bristolis now there are options. spins out, comes back, almost has a chanceto win the race. what we talk about the drivers need are differentlines through the corners so they can overtake slower cars. if you have a good car, you want to be ableto catch the leader. that's what bristol has accomplished. they now have different options and it's turnedinto extremely exciting racing. >> kyle: the track record yesterday in qualifying.
track record in pretty much all the seriesthat came here, they broke the track record. not only did it increase the intensity ofthe racing, it also made the speed that much faster. an already difficult racetrack. when something happens in front of you justgot made more difficult. >> they're turning a lap, the track recordwas broke by denny hamlin. he turned a lap in 14.573 seconds. you can't brush your teeth in 14 seconds andthey're turning a lap every 14 1/2 seconds. >> they just finished one while you were talking.
that's how quick it goes. and that's one of the big challenges at thistrack. we're going to talk about. it's not just the speed but the noise, thechaos, the confusion. 40 cars are going to fill up this high bankhalf mile. so the spotter to the driver is going to haveto be very, very clear with the direction they give their drivers. what happen lanes are available. if there's an accident, how are they goingto get around it?
and as a crew chief, when do you talk to yourdriver about how to fix the race car? you have about four seconds on either straightaway. by the time you get your question out, thedriver is out of sight. >> this track already dry. it looks like we're just moments away fromthe drivers being called to their cars. let's go to mike massaro here. >> mike: what eat it like to have to get readyand then have to wait. >> they were like get out of the car, getout of the car. but it should go green pretty quick.
>> mike: what do you take into tonight fromlast night? >> as the track rubbered up, there's a lotof different lines that were used. i thought the rubber got too aggressive upthere and you had to move back down a little bit. but i think we're just going to be chasinggrip all night long moving around. bristol has done a great job of making somemore grip on that bottom lane. i'm just looking forward to the race. >> mike: dupg the same line will be as itwas yesterday? >> i think it will be everywhere.
guys sliding, moving, changing lanes. it will be a heck of a race. >> mike: what does it mean for you to winat bristol? >> it's huge. a track like bristol is so prestigious. just want to go to victory lane as far asi can. everybody that supports our program at rcr. >> mike: what would it mean to when a cuprace here? >> o, man, it would be huge.
victory celebration, you might not see methe next race. it would be huge. hopefully we can do that. we just want to put ourselves in a position. that's what we did last night. give ourselves a chance and come up awesomein victory lane right there. >> mike: we understand you got engaged duringthe off-week. while there may have almost been a spoiledsurprise at the airport. what happened?
>> a security guy flagged me. it was the bag behind me. it went really well, though. she said yes. whitney, he's been an awesome part of my life. now my fiance and soon to be wife. >> how did you keep security from discoveringthe ring. >> i was just kind of trying to be as covertas i could and it worked out, though. >> congratulations on that for sure.
thanks for you time. back to you guys. >> rick: thanks, mike. we'll show you what took place in the xfinityseries race. it looked as though it was going to be a battlebetween brad keselowski, the 22 and kyle busch the 18. the two got together. kyle busch into the wall. todd dillon got into it.
then brad keselowski ran out of gas, givingaustin the opportunity to win this race. >> steve: got a really good restart. that set up opportunity to win. but everybody behind him, nobody giving up. close finish at the end. >> rick: it went into overtime and austindillon was able to hang on and celebrate in victory lane at bristol motor speedway a placethat every driver would like to have that opportunity to be able to celebrate. and the reason that the drivers aren't gettingto their cars right now is because there was
lightning in the area. so until they say the all clear for the lightning,they will still be either under cover or waiting to get into their cars. but you can see that the track is dry already. that's how quickly it happens. we know once they get the all clear for thelightning, they'll be get into their cars and we'll be seeing racing here at bristolmo store paidway. 500 laps of racing here. has to be extremely exhausting, not only physically,but also mentally.
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. >> rick: you never know what a driver is goingto say when they get out of their car at bristol motor speedway. nascar gets under way on monday at 6:00 onnbcsn. and steve, you and jeff will be part of thatmonday show, i'm sure breaking down what's going to take place tonight. and what took place last night from bristolmotor speedway. you had to be proud obviously of your brothertalking a little bit about he would like to do with some of his drivers out there.
>> steve: as only he can. >> rick: that's the way it works, though. as a driver, jeff, you' in that chair, you'rein that seat and you're going around this track for 500 laps and the only goal you haveis to win this race. when somebody gets yo your way of doing that,you're a little upset. >> kyle: worked your whole life to get here. do you know how many people are sitting watchingthis race tonight that would love to drive these race cars. when you're in the race and something happens,you get the opportunity taken away from you
to win it. it matters. >> steve: it's so hard to relate. you put 39 others out there, it becomes thatmore intense. it's very easy to cause a wreck here. it's very easy to get into a wreck you didn'tcause. it's an emotional roller coaster to be quitehonest for 500 laps. >> kyle: and the timing of season couldn'tbe any better. that is on everyone's mind, getting a winis on everyone's mind.
the emotion of running poorly is startingto overflow. we have other teams like joe gibbs racingand penske that have speed and consistency. now they're trying to protect. it's a great time of the year, like we said. something about under the lights. they turn the lights on, it seems everyonegets even more aggressive. >> rick: one of the things i love about crew,by the way. a lot of them are sitting here idly waiting. they can turn it on in an instant.
they'll be able to do an 11-second pit stop.opsir, this alien life form is growing at an alarming rate. >> krista: continuing under a weather delayat bristol motor speedway. 13 vehicles total jet driers on the track. you just heard rick, jeff and steve talkingabout all the intensity that goes into this race. but kyle, d.j., there's actually one, twoorganizations that sort of dominated the last few years. that would be gibbs and pen ski.
dale, you were the first driver for gibbs. what makes them so successful, especiallylately at this track? >> dale: i don't think there's anybody betterthan brad and joey logano. they have everything it takes to get the jobdone from the cars drivering well, doing everything there to the pit crews doing their job andall of that adds up to giving them a better chance. >> kyle: dale said it there, the gibbs drivers,that's an incredibly strong group of drivers. we know the hendrick drivers are. we saw that kasey kahne is the only guy tobreak up that juggernaut between these two
teams to win all the races here. but these drivers, when you look at kyle busch,carl edward denny hamlin, these guys know how to get it done at bristol. and this organization over the last 12 to18 months has really picked up their game. >> krista: you mentioned matt from wisconsin,denny from virginia, kyle from missouri, carl from nevada, they represent almost all fourcorners of our country. >> they came from outstanding short trackbackgrounds and they get the job done. so that allows them to understand places likehere. even though none of us ever raced on anythinglike this, you appreciate the effort it takes
to make that happen. but again, it takes that entire organizationto be good to make that happen. >> kyle: i'm going to throw the next layerin there, crew chiefs and engineers and all the guys that work on those cars and the leadershipthere. they can't do it without prd. if we look at the toyota program. >> krista: i don't know if the guys know butthey're on tv right now. >> yeah. >> i remember from the time toyota came inwith michael waltrip and me being there.
their mantra was, look, we want to come inhere and we don't want just one driver or one team to be good. we want everybody. everybody is going to share information. everybody is going to be good. >> i think we saw that. even though michael waltrip racing is notaround anymore. we've seen the gibbs organization rise andpick it up a little bit. we' seen the trd program and the toyota programand the commitment through joe gibbs and all
the organizations that they partnered with. they have definitely raised the level. >> krista: and joe gibbs drivers start one,two, three and five tonight. right now they're doing their job puttingthemselves in position for possibly another win. let's sort of flip the coin over. i can't believe we're going to say on theother side of that is hendrick motor sports. but jimmie johnson, i didn't even realizethis, his finish at watkins glen two weeks ago, the first time in his career he has everfinished last.
that's unbelievable. >> steve: we just don't think about that happeningbecause he's so good all the time. and they're able to repair and fix anything. he doesn't get in these types of situationsvery, very often. but unfortunately it's been more common thisyear for them. the entire organization is struggling. jimmie being the only driver over there rightnow to have won races this year with a couple of wins he had. but just to give you an idea, they lost abig part of their organization with jeff gordon
retiring somewhat last year. but just to give you an idea, starting in2012, they were over 1,800 laps led as an organization in 2012, '13 and '14. 2015, that went down to just under 900. this year, 400 laps led is all that it is. so that's a staggering number to me. and only one lap led in the last seven races. they understand they have work to do, butthey also -- we were talking about the outstanding people at joe gibbs racing.
hendrick motor sports have outstanding people,too. this sport does that to you. you think you're in good shape and the nextthing you find is yo you're behind a little >> kyle: those are phenomenal numbers. are you kidding me? they went down half and half again. but when you look at it, it sho uhs up inthe 48 team. that's a team we point to that's been theyardstick against which all other teams, whether you were gibbs, whether you were penske, itdidn't make any difference.
you were measured against jimmie johnson,and that 48 hendrick team. i know the last couple of years, they've gonethrough some stuff. we look at what's gone on with junior thisyear. bringing in a rookie with chase elliott thisyear. they will get back to where they need to be. but for some reason, they just misstep somewhere. you have to go back and figure out where thatwas and start again at some point in time. you can't count these guys out. i don't care where you go.
we saw them get in an accident up there. you're going to get caught in accidents andhave things happen to you. when they run up front like we see the gibbsdrive up front, they were just in front of it. they were leading, they were showing the way. now they're following. when you follow, you're going to get intosomebody else's accident sometimes. >> krista: rick hendrick said when you'renot doing well, you can walk away from it and point fingers, or you can jump in it andsay let's get with it.
we know how to do it. let's get better working together. he wasn't sure he wanted to put forth allof that effort. 500 employees and many millions of dollarswithin this organization, they're not going to stay there. they're not going to do that. and if you think by any stretch, i feel peopleand have people literally tell me jimmie johnson made so much money, won so many championships,trust me, he'll bring them back up. we'll probably be laughing at ourselves.
dale jr. gets back and it will happen. >> steve: i want to go back to rick hendrickas a human being. if we go back through tragedy and all thethings that he's been through personally. they draw energy from him. they draw inspiration from him. i said it earlier on prerace, jeff gordonstill refers to it as we. he's a part of that team. 400 laps rae led in a very short period oftime, he knows these numbers. they don't point fingers.
rick doesn't point fingers. i'm just trying to gather information forthis team to move us forward as an organization. >> krista: obviously the images you ear seeinghere, fantastic for the outlook tonight. because drivers have been called to theircars. the fans streaming back in. the weather has moved through. you saw trevor bayne jumping in. this is his home track. he's from knoxville, tennessee.
drivers very excited. i don't know if you can get any harder workersthan those guys down there who get those drivers ready. >> i think trevor bayne heard "rocky top"playing and got back into the car. >> krista: you know what happens at bristoldoes not necessarily stay at bristol because we take it with us back into the studio andstamford, connecticut. nascar america, you can watch it weekdaysat 6:00 p.m. eastern. >> dale: ill love to be in stamford and discusseverything that happened this weekend.
i want to talk about everything that's happeningand by the time we start turning towards midweek, we'll be talking about next week, the xfinityseries, back on another road course and the cup series will be at michigan. >> kyle: nascar mek, they're good to go mondayand tuesday. that's plenty of stuff between everythingthat's been done, before the race tonight. there's plenty. it's gong to be a big week on nascar america. >> krista: virginia tech going for a ridewith ryan blaney tonight. first, we're going to go racing.
going to go racing.ed by the hands of legacy. forged in the fires of racing. (engine revving) i've been challenged, testedand proven. whether it's on that track or off, the truthis- what you're made of... is what you're made to do. awwhawhwhawh ... this! this is why i love it re. at fresh air all up in your ce. my cousin wilbur in the city has to wear aleash just to go for a stroll.
i'm sorry, that...no. but with propane, you can live where you wantand how you want. and since it's both clean and reliable, youcould say propane is "man's best fuel." she knows what i'm talking' about >> krista: you think trying to race for awin at bristol is difficult? normally put the time and the calendar inthe conversation. we just saw chris butcher. he has sort of turned things upside down withhis win at book -- pocono.
>> dale: first time all year chris buescherand his team made it here. when we look at it, all he's got to do ispick up three points. >> krista: he's not on this list. he's three points out. >> dale: once he wins boom, he moves to thetop of the list. that 16th place, kyle larson, that totallychanges everything. now mcmurray is in the 16th place right there. and we saw a couple of weeks ago at watkinsglen, last lap, last corner, 25-point swing for this guy right here.
so anything can happen, and we saw last night,and we heard the booth talk about it, rick and jeff and steve talk about it. we heard those guys talk about it. the guys that led late in that xfinity racelast night didn't even finish the race. it doesn't make a dpirchs here at bristol. anything can happen. >> kyle: i think chris buescher is lookingto get things done. they didn't want to wait because they wantto get this done. but they're also in their minds right now,they know that they put more rosin down.
they think the bottom groove is going to bea lot better. they had to run in the middle. i don't think the night is going to be anydifferent. >> of that's a great point. you don't know whether the bottom groove isgoing to be the preferred line for 100 laps, 200 laps. you nengsed something, these guys are waitingaround. bristol is so intense. what happens for you guys' drivers when you'rebasically caged up like animals waiting to
>> usually do something stupid right off thebat. you have all the time in the world but you'vebeen sitting here anticipating this. you don't get an opportunity to race againfor another year under the lights. you'll get to be back here in april, but notunder the lights. you want to get going, but be smart righthere. you have to temper yourself down just a littlebit to get started here. >> dale: these guys starting up front, they'rethinking outside, inside. what am i going to do on the first few laps. you play the scenario on your mind and boom,the process stops and you have to go back
to the truck and think about something elseand you have to do that process again. a lot of pressure, a lot of tension rightnow. >> krista: there you see jeff gordon racingin at number 88 for his teammate dale earnhardt jr. jeff gordon thought he had retired forthe end of the last season. he said he will not be in this car at michigan. he had a prior commitment, if dale earnhardtjr. is not ready to go, alex bowman will fillin. when we come back, we'll turn things overto rick, jeff and steve for racing under the lights at bristol.
what do you want for lunch, honey? can i have some kfc original recipe? excellent choice. but might i suggest something a little extracrispy. my extra crispy, five dollar fill-up is freshlydouble-breaded by hand. it's tasty, real meal for just five dollars. [crunch] am i an extra crispy boy? [sipping] sure, kid. kfc.
it's extra crispy good. .>> rick: under the lights at bristol motor speedway for the nascar sprint cup series. the story lines before we fire engines, let'sgo to parker kligerman. >> parker: kevin harvick told me they've neverwon before at bristol but that they should have won four out of the five races. but tonight they're focused on one thing,that's winning at bristol. mart? >> marty: because he's up here in the front,he walked on to the racetrack and felt it
with his hands and said yes, the rosin isstill on the racetrack. he told me the first 20 laps will be the keyand i need to get to the bottom even though i start on the outside. mike? >> mike: there's curiosity in the 88 campthis week. is this jeff gordon's last race? it's a very real possibility. he's already said he won't be available inmichigan, and with the possibility of dale earnhardt jr.
with that, that would be up to jeff gordon. he said he's solely focused on bristol. he's looking for his sixth bristol win. dave? >> dave: his wins came in april. the crew chief told me we need to win nowto get momentum heading into the chase. that could happen here tonight in bristol. now it's time for karl and the rest of thedcontenders to crank those motors. >> drivers, are you ready?
for the thousands in attendance and the millionswatching around the world, with dedicate to the armed forces of the united states of america,ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to rumble! >> welcome to the basspro shops nra greatamerican night race at bristol. drivers, start your engines! >> rick: the sweet sounds of horsepower. we're about to go racing. under the lights at bristol motor speedway. edit my photos on the chatsnap? i showed you already like three times!
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i was made in the shadows of greatness. shaped by the hands of legacy. >> mojo and magic that bristol has been legendfor is back. >> yeah, baby! >> rick: it has many nickname, thunder valley,world's fastest half mile, the last great colloseum, bristol motor speedway. the starting grid will go across your screen. where everyone is starting tonight. let's talk with one of the drivers, the driverthat mans the number 4, kevin harvick.
see if we can chat with him. >> hey, kevin, there's been a lot of talkabout the changes made to the racetrack. can you tell us what to expect tonight? >> well, i witnessed and watched one of thebest races i've seen here in a long time last night. i think it's probably going to be a littlebit slick on the bomb for a couple of miles, but i think that will wear down as the nightgoes. i think the bottom will be the preferred lanethe first half of the race and then probably the top.
but i still think there will be enough gripdown there to make passes and move around better than you have in the past for sure. >> we certainly wouldn't expect for you togive any secrets away, but how do you know which lane you want to run in? >> i'll tell you in about 100 laps. that will develop as the night goes on. i think it will change. at one point you're going to see the 42 carmake up ground on the top. i think he'll be the first one to find thespeed and everybody else is going to follow.
got to be picking and choosing. i think our chevy has been good in practice. it's going to be a fun night. >> kevin, thanks for taking time. we'll be watching, good luck. >> thank you. >> rick: we're going to ride along with kevinand a few other drivers this evening. one being the 15 of clint boywer. he starts 31st.
just chatted with kevin harvick. he's starting 24th tonight. casey meares in the 13 has the geico in-carcamera and he will start 21st. starting 17th with the smithfield onboardcamera is aric almirola. also mir -->> rosin is a form of resin, the whole idea is to bring some of the powdered project toget them race ready. the biggest question is how long will it lasttonight? >> rick: there will be a competition cautionat lap 60 this evening. they can come to pit row, they can just notadd fuel before lap 60.
>> steve: pretty interesting, carl edwardspicked the bottom lane here. we've seen without heat in the rosin, it'svery, very slick. it will be interesting to see what happenswhen they drop the green flag. >> rick: they're about to do just that. 2 by 2, 20 runs deep, 40 cars, all fightingfor a position at bristol motor speedway. led around the track by carl edwards and dennyhamlin. they work their way through three and fouron the 24 to 28 h of degree banking. crowd on their feet, anticipating, bumpingand banging from bristol. green flag is in the air.
we're racing in. bristol. tthe 11 of denny hamlin off to a great start. and denny hamlin takes the lead away fromcarl edwards early. sparksing. >> steve: that top lane, the same thing wesaw last night, the top lane in the official start of the race is better. >> rick: denny hamlin just turned a lap of15.3 seconds. clean racetrack in front of him.
denny hamlin, chase elliott, carl edwards,kyle busch. blaney trying to get by matt kenseth. kenseth looking at the bottom. >> steve: that's what we're going to watchall night, rick. the combination of do you run low, do yourun high? matt kenseth appears in the screen. he got a great run off the bottom of the racetrack. >> rick: bottom line working right now. matt kenseth pulling away from ryan blaney.
the lower groove is working. >> steve: watch when he goes on the left sidetires. hooked the bottom of the racetrack. changes direction well, allows him to geton power and drive to the left of the 18 car. >> kyle: they're getting better the more theyrun in it. it seems like it's heat activated. as the tires run on that, they put heat intoit. they think it will get better, the questionlong is how long will it last? >> rick: ryan blane y is using the lower lineand it's working.
>> steve: 291 car enters the corner rightalong the apron. kyle busch saw what happens happening andwent down the bottom line. >> rick: chase elliott looking at the insidefor the lead. denny hamlin up high. chase elliott is going to take the lead awayfrom denny hamlin. that bottom groove working. chase elliott clears him and leads at bristol. >> steve: carl edwards on the bottom, chaseelliott did. denny hamlin making a run back on him .>> rick: goes up a little bit too high.
can't hook that left side. and now it's denny hamlin back to the front. diving back on the left side, chase elliottmaking the middle of the track work for him. >> steve: a good run on the corner exit. >> rick: oh, denny hamlin. >> steve: that opened the door for chase toget back on the bottom here. >> rick: kyle busch also takes the secondspot away. hamlin shot up the racetrack. kyle busch now on the back pumper of chaseelliott.
.>> steve: look how dark the racetrack is right there. that's all grip, that resin we're talkingabout. you have to get your left side tires in it. we've seen drivers miss it and go up the track. marty? >> marty: denny hamlin said it's so sensitiveyou have to be below that line, you know the drive, that's very counterintuitive to whatyou've learned here over the past few years at bristol.
but you have to be almost on the apron tomake the low line work to make the car hook around the corner. >> rick: and just completing the 14th lap,the fwans showing their respect to tony stewart, making his final bristol start tonight, thenumber 14. chase elliott, kyle busch, one and two. denny hamlin, ryan blaney, three and four. carl edwards, matt kenseth is sixth. all four of the joe gibbs racing cars in thetop six right now. >> steve: a.j.
lmendinger trying to fight his way back in. >> rick: a lot of fans like to see the bumpand run. right now, the bottom of the racetrack isworking for everybody that can stay down there. but they' got to hook their left side tireson that rosin. >> steve: we've seen several drivers costthem a lot of spots. >> rick: way up the racetrack goes the 19of carl edward. matt kenseth. fighting for position, just in front of him. martin truex jr., making a move to the insideof carl.
>> i talked to carl right before the greenflag. i'm going to start searching around. he had to find his car in the top groove. >>.>> tommy: just because the bottom might be better, we've got many laps to go. >> rick: martin truex jr. going to clear the 58. >> steve: jeff gordon won so many races wherethe racetrack was a bottom groove racetrack. so i think jeff gordon coming back from retirementin this race car for dale jr., i think this
bottom line is advantageous to h im. >> rick: hendrick as a team has led only onelap in the seven races prior to tonight. ryan blaney running up front b until justnow. and kyle busch has been able to take awaythe lead from young chase elliott. now it's elliott in ryan blaney. second and third. kyle busch out in front at bristol.bristol. i'm like a sponge for this stuff. i can learn it.
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if you don't think "this is right for me"when you think aarp, then you don't know "aarp." get to know us at aarp.org/possibilities. >> rick: caution has come out. rain, turn one. and it's going to be throughout the trackhere in just a moment. there's a cell that's passing through. kyle busch was able to make the pass. chase elliott led 14 laps. kyle led 10 and denny hamlin eight.
caution the free pass. going to the 15 of clint boywer. making their way around the pace car. while we're under caution, we will take aquick break to see more green flag racing from bristol motor speedway.r eeay come here! come here! wooo! what's up guys? we're dude perfect.
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>> yep. once we got down there straight through thefield, everybody moved down. so it's kicking up. >> steve: that conversation, rick, is betweenkyle busch and tony hirschman, a spotter on the roof. kyle only has what he can see out the windowand in his mirror. but on the radio roof, the spotter can seethe entire racetrack. they can see if any cars are making any timemoving up the racetrack. >> rick: a little rain shower is passing throughthe area.
that's why we're under this caution. >> steve: it's been fun to watch kyle larsontonight. he's already up 13 positions. as you would kmpt, he's running the top groove. he put on a show last night running the topgroove in the xfinity series race. almost made it work for the win. he radioed to his guy, the top was comingup really good. for the last four or five laps he's been thefastest car on the track. fun to watch him come up through the fieldand using that top groove, proving that it
does work. >> rick: absolutely. i want to take a look at tonight's ram gutsand glory. guys? >> steve: i think kyle larson has to be atopic of that. he has to find the guts to recover from thatlast spin at watkins glen. cost him 25 points. a good run tonight could put him back on theway to chase contention. >> kyle: and jimmie johnson, a guy we thinkabout having a tremendous time in sport, most
importantly, hasn't had speed to put himselfin races. could he get himself back in front to getback to victory lane? >> rick: we talked about the 42, only 37 lapsin, rick, he's already searching for grip up and down the racetrack. i think the dirt racer in him, looking forgrip on the racetrack. right here you'll see he's going to go intothe corner right on the right side door of the 2 of keselowski. has to be down the middle of the rag track. he is using all the way to the top, up againstthe wall, finding that grip.
look how well his car turns. look at the acceleration. >> just keep watching as this race progresses,he's gong to be high. he's going to be scrubbing that wall. he will push the borders of what the highline is. h he'll get up there before anybody else. >> rick: rain has left up so they're bringingthe feel on to pit road and stop them. we will take a quick break. the ford freedom sales event is on!
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>> rick: drivers use their hands a lot asfar as showing exactly how the car is handling. >> kyle: we talked about it before the racestarted. that's what happens. you're just always pushing. you never can catch your breath. these things happen. >> rick: how about this, that's great to see. you know, kyle busch and chase elliott gettingan opportunity to chat a little bit in the middle of a race.
kyle took the top spot away from chisel ottawa. elliott looked so strong early using the bottomline to be able to get by denny hamlin for the lead. >> steve: you see the big joe gibbs continuingalong with the other toyota of mark truex. a quick 38-lap test. now they know what their cars feel like. they can compare. denny hamlin, martin truex, comparing whatthe start was for these automobiles. i'm sure the next conversation is with theirengineers and crew chief.
we get this way, did we guess right? which direction do we need to go with ourcar. >> rick: pretty impressive, two young drivers,chase elliott and ryan blaney. here's parker. >> parker: you got to the bottom very quicklyon the start. it didn't look like the bottom had the gripright away, but then it came to you. >> yeah, i picked the wrong lane. i should have stayed up top and gotten morepeople. i let chase by me.
but then it got rolling pretty good and wewere roll on the bottom. just pretty loose right there. and now we're just starting 20 pull the otherway. coming in a little bit right there. we'll see where it goes. just a long way to go. try to get through the race and hopefullyget going again. >> parker: mike? >> mike: a special day for tony stewart.
his final race here. lap 14, all the fans in the grand stand heldup his card with his number on it. >> they're all going to see it on a replay. >> mike: what's the track been like? >> really, really loose on the corner rightnow. once we get more than 25 laps, the track willstart settling in and and we'll get going. >> mike: hang this up on your wall. >> i'll sleep with it beside my bed tonight. >> mike: good luck the rest of the way.
>> thanks, buddy. >> kyle: you heard him talk about, he'll missthis racetrack. when you are retiring, there are some racetracksthat you just love, that you have a pag for and you will really miss. and overall, it's time for you to retire forwhatever reason, but there are some racetracks that just mean so much to you. and this is one of those racetracks for tony. >> steve: and he's been busy early. sounds like his car is loose, but as a wilyveteran, he knows we'll get a little bit more
than 25 laps in and see where the track is. concrete racetracks never seem to start withgrip. i don't know if it's the pace card ride duringthe day on the sun setting on them. they never seem to have the grip when therace start. >> kyle: if my car ran well early at bristol,i was nervous. >> rick: jeff gordon was pulled out of retirementto fill in for dale earnhardt jr. who was suffering from concussion symptoms. and actually, earlier today we've been ableto keep up with the progress of the rehabilitation of dale earnhardt jr.
he posted on instagram this yesterday. -- video. >> i'm at the grocery store with amy. she's getting groceries. this is what my doctor call exposure, forme to go out into public places because i get really anxious unit brings out my symptoms. and you don't want that to happen. so here i am getting exposure. and then going home.
>> rick: watching dale earnhardt jr. walk around with his home and wondering, ifthose were some of the symptoms that he was suffering from. >> steve: if they didn't recognize him, heprobably drew attention with his even if and then they recognized him. he's done a good job of keeping everybodyabreast of the situation, letting us know kind of what the symptoms are, what he believesthe cause is. just showing us what he has to do to try torecover, to try to get back into the race car.
i think that's the most important thing toremember here. every time i speak with dale, every time wetext, h wants to be in a race car. he doesn't want to be out. the things his doctor is making him do, we'llsay he made the basketball. >> i said a four-inch vertical. thatting loos more like a six-inch verticaljump there. >> steve: i'm not sure, he can outjump me. >> rick: he's watching right now and he justposted on social media, rain delay, racing trivia.
sterling marlin was once spore-- sponsored by underalls. dale earnhardt jr. out right now. it was announced earlier that jeff gordonwill not race in michigan due to a prior commitment. so if dale earnhardt jr. is not cleared to race at michigan, then bowmanwill return to the 88 car. a late night race at contact. new hampshire is one of the toughest racetracks. i like that if dale jr.
can't run -- obviously we want him to run,but i like the alex bowman pick. give a young guy, a guy that's shown someprom, give him a shot. let him drive this race car. like you said, he had a really good finishgoing at new hampshire. so give him a shot on a bigger racetrack andsee what he can do. >> rick: once again, waiting for the showersto pass through the bristol motor speedway area. as soon as they do, they will dry the track,the drivers will climb back in and we will continue with racing under the lights.
lights people know me as dale earnhardt jr.,racecar driver. >> rick: showers have brought out a red flagcondition for the 404 drivers. -- 40 drivers. green flag racing on hold. 30 laps were completed. and it was kyle busch who led the most lapsalready. what does this stuff all mean? >> i'm not sure. we've got radar up here, lap times, lap tracker.
got a bunch of secret stuff. close this one? i'm just up here talking to dave. we've got to tighten the car up a little bit. >> what happened at the start? the bottom line was supposed to be tacky thereand help you. >> i thought it was supposed to be tacky. they said it was 18 inches of it. there was no grip.
we're just a little bit loose. we'll go back green, come back down for thecompetition caution. hopefully my guys will do the deal. have a super quick pit stop. >> rick: i want you to explain to the folkswhy you were so confident. oh look, our camera has come around here. it's pouring down here now. there was a reason you were so confident aboutthe sap that makes the resin that produces the rosin they put on the track.
why were you so confident it would be good? went hiking this week, right? >> i had stuff on our backpack. the stuff they use in colorado is better thena the stuff they use here. >> rick: the highlight might give you advantageearlier tonight. of. >> we had a comcast toyota that day and reallygood stanley toyota up here. we have a fast punch of cars. there's no reason we shouldn't be able todo it.
even if that bottom wears out, it's stillgoing to have more grip than here the past few races. that will be an option for people. it will be a little bit different. but we'll get fast. >> rick: kind of give you some boldness todo that because you won't lose as much? >> i had a lot of boldness until wrecked acouple of times in turn three. >> all right, i think we'll be fine once theygo green again. >> parker: a guy who started eight and fellback to 11.
carl fell back worse than you. what was causing you to fall back? >> i didn't fall back. it was a graceful couple of spots back, youknow? mainly i fell back because i about crashedin turn one or three. pretty loose on that new pavement or whateverthat spray they laid down. but it's all good. chevy is not too bad. just early on, got loose.
trying to work my way back up. wasn't all bad. we got 451 more laps? or 61 -->> parker: a lot. >> a lot of laps left. we've got plenty of time. you look behind us here, there's so many sponsorsthat get on this race car now. but get them all right now. so i don't have to try to remember all ofthem.
>> parker: it's raining a little bit harderright now. i'm going to ask you when we get going onthe radar it looks like we will get going. we saw the bottom was pretty slick to startthere. do you think this is going to constantly keepaffecting the racetrack? >> i think if we get a lot of laps in a row,i think it's. >> greg: to be like the xfinity race. it's going to go back to the top. no surprise, the 42 had the top working itlooked like. kind of get a move back there.
but you're going to have to move around. i think there's enough grip on the bottomif you get your car down there, you can make a move. but taking tires and speed is going to beon the top. we'll see. this place changes a lot. i'm always trying to learn it. we've got our car far enough up front, westay up there, good pit stops we'll have a chance to be there at the end.
but i noticed carl edwards got a lot of tvtime because he's so chatty. he's won a lot of races in the case. he's pretty calm and relaxed. we're going to try to do that. >> parker: i'm going to give you more tv time. you mentioned the 42 of kyle larson and sodid kevin harvick. then you asked me, how does he go to the topand do so well up there? what is it in your opinion? >> as my crew chief pointed out, he's beendoing that since he was, like, 4 years old.
going to the top and running the cushion. i think that's what he's grown up doing, that'swhat he's comfortable doing. he's pretty awesome doing it. it's amazing to watch. sometimes it's not so much fun when he passesyou pretty easy on the outside. but i'm going to try to learn some things. i would say he's one of the best two or threeguys to go up top. i feel like you get around el dora and thosetypes of places running the to in a sprint running the top at bristol is probably prettyeasy.
i'm going to try to learn as much as i canfrom him. >> parker: you mentioned the 42, watkins glen. you had an altercation in the last corner. have you guys talked about it at all and settledthings afterwards. >> that's two weeks ago. i can't remember that far back. i geemting pretty old. oh, i see it now. yeah, i said my peace with it.
it's really up to kyle. it was something that i was sorry about. you can't take it back. it is what it is. we move on. >> parker: the jet driers are going by. you can't hear a word what anyone is sayingright now. but i was going to ask you about the differencein road courses. now you're at bristol, a short track rightnow.
just talk about the difference a driver accliingyourself to such differences in racetrs. >> i have no clue what you just said. >> parker: never mind, mike take this away. >> mike: brad keselowski catching up on e-mailand things of that nature. taking advantage of the time here. what have you learned? >> you can't beat the race. you can beat yourself, you can't beat therein. there's a lot of fans here tonight.
but rain and lightning are in the area. we'll get through that and then race. >> mike: as you look in your chris call ball,what are you expecting as this night wears on? >> the bomb groove is already almost wornout. i would expect the cars to move up here verysoon. we're going to see the race change complexionanother two or three times. >> mike: did you learn anything last nightto take into tonight? >> always something to be learned on the racetrack.
last night was an interesting night. always learning and that's why we love racingas much as we can. >> mike: an interesting race you had lastnight. it became physical at times. why is it this racetrack always brings outemotions in drivers? >> it's a good question. you go to martinsville, everybody seems tosometimes get upset, but not as upset as you get here. maybe it just means so much to everybody.
bristol is one of those tracks, mike, thatyou think back on the history of the sport, saturday night under the lights, this trackhas been a part since the '60s. it just means so much to win here. it's so fast. it's so mentally challenging that i thinkthat wears on people for sure. >>. >> mike: penske cars have been so good butthe gibbs cars are so good lately. >> i would expect it to be a really good battleall night. i think this race is going to change complexionanother two or three times once we get going.
>> mike: thank you, brad. over to marty. >> marty: let's check with denny hamlin, runningfourth right now, a much quieter part of the racetrack. what did you learn in 38 laps? >> that was the most the racetrack has everchanged lap over lap that i've ever seen. you had to constantly correct what line youwere running, how much throttle you used, how much brake you use entering the corner. that was an interesting 30-some laps for sure.
so it was fun. we saw very quickly the bottom got sealedup and then it got a little bit better. so it's going to take a little bit of timefor sure. but overall, i'm pretty happy with the fedexcam are i. i think we'll make our way back to the front. we got kind of strung out there. i felt like we had a good rhythm going. ready to get back going whenever it gets going. >> marty: is the rosin getting picked up andlaid elsewhere?
what's gong on? >> i see it all over the sides of the goodyearwritten on the tires. so it's not on the track. that's for sure. it's -- there's always going to be a littlebit of it down there. so you're going to try to hit it when youcan. >> marty: what did the win do for the team? >> it was good. it was always great.
we really feel like we've turned it over thelast couple of months and have good finishes. i feel like, you know, we very easily couldhave three or four wins this year. normally one that really got me fired up. but i mean, i tell you what, this is aboutwinning a championship for me. even though the regular season is great, youwant to go out there you want to win a lot of races. to me, it's about what i need to do to makemyself and my team better in september. because that's when you really got to turnon the wick and be on your game. is i feel like your chases have gone reallywell.
we always perform well in the chase. then hopefully this year is no exception forthat. even though you had good results in the summeryou're still learning, correct? >> once we had the win at daytona, you goto the tracker if the first time you're going to be there for a chase race or a race lateron in the summer, why not experiment. the second race, that's what you've got. but the first race, we definitely venturedoutside the box with some things, learned some things for sure. and other things we learned that didn't work.
so like i say, it's about winning a championshipand, you know, that's where our goal is this year. >> marty: do you have more to say? >> i want to introduce the super fan. he doesn't know he's abto get drug on camera. he's with toyota. who's your favorite driver? >> denny hamlin. >> do the other drivers know that?
>> marty: now everybody knows. >> marty: we have created a toyota controversy. good job. way to create a controversy. good job, den in i. fist bumping over here. we created a toyota controversy down here. >> rick: timing is everything. trying to put a fan on camera and kind ofput him on the spot. and matt kenseth called him out.
>> steve: i think the other nontoyota teamsare thinking maybe this is a division they're looking for. they've been trying to beat joe gibbs racing. i would be over there spreading rumors. a minute ago, it was kyle busch. >> rick: such fun. but joe gibbs racing has been so incredible. and penske racing as well. especially at this racetrack.
and the current drivers for joe gibbs racingand penske drivers have won 11 of the last 12 bristol races. seven wins for joe gibbs racing drivers, includingbusch, hamlin, kenseth and edwards. and for penske, it was two wins a piece. two for brad keselowski, two for joey logano. the only driver who has messed up the dominationbetween those two teams has been hendrick driver kasey kahne when he was able to winin the spring of 2013. so there's a lot of drivers out there thatare trying to take over the dominance that penske and joe gibbs racing have tried toform here at bristol motor speedway.
as you see some of the fans trying to seekshelter as the rain continues to come down. the jet driers and the air titans continueto push the water down into the drains as it comes down. trying to speed up the drying process. but really when we look at joe gibbs racingand penske and the domination, how do they get to that point? how does joe gibbs racing, how diz penskehave such a dominance on this facility? >> steve: i think when we look at racetracks,specifically tracks like bristol, it's such a unique facility.
there's not a lot like it. when you find a setup that works here, ittends to work year after year. maybe the big parts and pieces, you can justdial it in for the tire combination or for the drooefr. we see it at martinsville, places like here,phoenix, we have dominant drivers. unique racetracks seem when a team finds anadvantage, it seems to stay longer. >> kyle: i think also if you look over thelags two or three years, to me the teams that consistently is use each other's setups, theteams that work the best, the teams that run more like each other on supds and saturdaysare penske and gibbs.
they don't have as much gap between theirbest car and their worst car, which means something is working well in the shop. the drivers are working well together so theycan use the information. even if, you know, they don't use the exactsame setup, they work off each other and they work well together. i think those two organizations are the mostconsistent, from their slowest car to their fastest car, they are more consistent thantheir other teams. >> rick: under a rain delay. we just heard from the joe gibbs racing driversthat actually it was super fan from trd, osaka
from japan. and there might be divisions between dennyhamlin and matt kenseth. he got called out. who was his favorite driver.appliances. >> krista: a red flag after just 38 laps. but the great news about this place, highbanks, concrete surface, once the rate stops they can get it dry very quickly. krista svoboda, kyle petty and dale jarrett. >> dale: they tried to put rosin down there.
they had time to do this weeks before this,but they tried to apply some more overnight. and i don't think that it's working quiteas well, listening to the drivers. but denny hamlin could have taken the leadmuch like the xfinity race last night, but you can tell the drivers are searching aroundvery quickly. >> kyle: and they applied the sealer and putthis product down on the racetrack as dale said ahead of time. we saw the truck guys raced on it. they updated it a little bit before the xfinityrace, but we've had rain up here after the xfinity race.
it's been raining off and on today. these guys keep talking about it's not takinglike it has before. they think it's already coming up. and the reason we saw the racetrack and everythingchange so much is because you had a group that wanted to experiment on the bottom. then you had a group that wanted to experimenton the top. and the top has come in, but people have movedall over the racetrack. we saw kyle larson drive up from the backto the front, just like he did last night. whether it was high side, low side or in themiddle.
we've seen experimentation so far. and that's why denny said it just keeps changes. you don't know where to run. >> dale: it's kind of like being on a golfcourse. >> krista: that should be his style. if he's not on the race course he's usuallyon the golf course. the bad news, we're not racing right now. but the good news, we can hear from some drivers. dave burns is with another one right now.
>> dave: what was the experience like therearic on the track. >> the first few laps were pretty slick downthere. as it heated up, it got grip pier and tackier. i moved to the top. at one point, guys were making progress. i lost about three or four spots. so i just committed back to the bottom. i don't know what my teammate is doing behindme. >> dave: does he have a mustard sponsorshipright now?
>> he has mustard with of ham. >> dave: you know about rosin you used topitch. >> i did. any young kid that watches their idols, mostpitcher in the my jor leagues they have a rosin bag at the back of the mound. it definitely grips up your hands to throwthe baseball. and so when you put it on the racetrack, itgrips up. >> dave: let's keep talking food. you're welcome to come back and eat food.
we have to talk about your time with the kingtoday mere at the track and your friends at waffle house. what did you get done? >> i'm pretty angry we put away all the waffleirons. we must have cooked about 430 strategic number,430 waffles and we gave away, i don't know how many pounds of smithfield bacon at theracetrack this morning. they put it all the way. i don't know if we ran out of batter or what. but a peanut butter waffle with bacon wouldbe good.
>> i was having a little snack. i was wishing we had the waffle maker outright now. it might be a long night, but i'm hopefulwe get it in. >> get the waffle maker back out. >> fire up the grill. >> he's probably sleeping in the truck ifi know spanky. >> dave: spank i can to the 4 3 hauler. which line was working for you? >> the middle groove was definitely the bettergroove.
the outside groove to start the race. i think we were able to make some positionsthere. then the bottom groove started coming in andthen it looked right before the rain the top groove was starting to work in again. i think we're going see the lane move arounda bunch. which is exciting. it will be even on restarts and you'll wantto move around to suit your car. if it's tight you go one way or if it's loosego the other. but you should be able to pass.
it should be exciting. >> dave: adaptability should be the key here. >> is that a real word? adaptability? >> dave: folks, sweet us if that's a realword or not. you think it's a whole english thing, n adaptability? >> i do. >> parker: chris buescher, you fell back from19. denny hamlin changed the most he's ever experienced.
you were saying the same thing? >> that's good. i was thinking it changed pretty quickly onme. i'm not dissatisfied with where we are rightnow. i lost some spots early. i didn't move up to the top early enough. i think everyone is talking about it. it's heading in that direction. the rain, it's going to be a little bit ofa delay leer.
we'll get back rolling. we're definitely thinking about where we'regoing to run line wise. what i need to change inside the car and beready for our competition caution so we can be ready to roll up on the top. >> parker: you actually made the final roundof qualifying for the first time this season. right time to have that happen with what you'retrying to do to make the chase. talk about what this team has been doing momentumwise after that win in pocono. >> yeah, this team has done a great job sincethe whole year. we've been working hard to get more speedeach and every week.
pocono was a little bit of a kick in pantsto make sure we make it into the chase. just a handful of races coming up here, we'reworking hard to get to that point. bristol when it's dry is one of my favoriteracetracks we come to. when it's wet, it's a little lower on thelist. we might be a fan of that. but, you know, once again, i'm excited toget back rolling again. we have a good team. it will be fun to praise. it's going to be a great time.
i feel bad for all the fans up here sittingthis thing out. it looks miserable up there. we'll get back rolling and we'll be able tomake up some points here this weekend and look at the next couple to do the same. >> parker: you mentioned that we should maybeput on the rain tires from watkins glen. would you get out there with the rain tires? >> i figure there's got to be storm left over. there's no way we ditched them in the warehousealready. that's probably a dumb statement.
i'm sure it wouldn't work. but might as well turn around backwards atthe same time if we're going to do it. put on some show of some sort. i don't know if it's good or bad. >> parker: chris remarked that we were lookingat all those fans out there and what great, dedicated fans we have still sitting out therein the grand stands right now waiting for this race to get going. >> mike: you know who put on a show? this guy, matt dibenedetto.
perhaps the most emotional interview we sawpost race all season long. take me back to that moment. what did that mean to you? >> oh, my gosh, i can't even explain how muchthat meant to us as a team. this was my career best finish ever. that was a win for us at bk racing. i was a little worried, because i was prettyemotion. i was really emotional in my speech afterwardsright there. and i was a little worried.
man, i look a little girly in my speech. i just broke down. i couldn't hold it together. my family there, my wife, my brother fromthe military. afterwards, it was so cool to see how mucheverybody shared that emotion with us. i had people texting and tweeting me sayinghey, don't worry, we cried with you. it was so cool to have that much support fromthe fans. >> mike: you look human. it gave us an appreciation for how much thismeans to you.
that was an incredible day. i've worked my whole life day and night. this is all i live, eat, sleep, breathe toget in the sprint cup series. it's been a dream since i was a kid. i come from a humble background. i didn't have a big sponsor to bring, nothingother than my helmet, fire suit and ability to drive a race car, which is tough nowadaysbecause this is a business. and for me to have gotten here, i feel likeis the equivalent of winning the lottery two times in a row if not more.
i'm just fortunate to be here. i want to be in this garage so bad for a longtime to come. i'm just doing everything i can and drivingmy heart out. that day, it was unbelievable because i feellike tf a big day for my career. i hope that we showed, you know, that we asa team are growing. and i hope that i showed that i can be inthe series for a long time to come. >> mike: what's it like to come back here? >> amazelinging. we've had bad luck since last bristol.
gosh, things have just -- you know, it happens. it happens in all sports. my dad calls it the sophomore jinx like baseball. it happens just as much as you can have abad string of luck, it can turn right around. it's a racetrack i should probably marry becauseit's been so good to me. >>.>> mike: i believe you were with your drive during driver intros. they were interesting. give me an explanation.
so there it is. i got the wig. we need to do the interview. >> mike: we're bringing back the moment herefor matt dibenedetto. that's a pretty good look for you. >> thanks. everybody has been complimenting me. my team said it's gong to be hard to drivewith that on. i think it looks okay.
if this is worth some speed i'll do whateverit takes. the funny thing about it, in all seriousness,we have a choreographed dance plan. and we requested second 33 to 54. they don't do it. my wife and i, it was our wedding dance, taylorshift "shake it off" we had a full choreographed dance. we were going to do that. for the fans during this rain delay, if ican provide any entertainment, i would be glad to do it.
>> mike: you can do the dance for us rightnow. >> maybe we can bring somebody over here. how about you, can you volunteer? no? >> mike: this is your wife? oh, my goodness. come on in. you guys did not get your moment during driverintros. but how about on national tv instead?
let's just pretend to hear the music. >> all right, three, two, one. >> clap, clap, clap and the players are goingto play, play, play, and the haters going to hate, hate, hate, hate. i'm just going shake, shake, shake, shakeit off, shake it off >> mike: krista i'll just let you follow that. >> krista: there's no way to follow that. that was exciting. i was hoping his wife would be there.
i'm not sure your wedding song should be "shakeit off." i'm excited right now that just happened. >> steve: his sister-in-law cuts my hair. i think she would not have approved with howthe wig looks there. casey, you have to work on that with matt. >> krista: i'm not sure we should open thisup. >> dale: that's no soul train right there. >> kyle: but at the same time, i have to saythis, obviously -- how do i phrase it? it takes a lot of something to drive is arace car.
and obviously he has it because he just didthat on national tv. >> krista: and sang with the wig. >> kyle: i don't even know where to go withthis. >> rick: let's go back he did an outstandingjob in spring. hopefully he can duplicate that run. he's a very talented race driver. i remember when he came and moved to the hickoryarea and he was just outstanding at hickory this is one of those drivers that just needsthat right opportunity in the right ride. not that this ride isn't good for him.
it's kind of an old school way of doing things. hopefully he has a chance to move his careerforward in spite of doing that other stuff. >> kyle: but he gave us some insight intothe team and that group when he said we've run well enough to have a couple of good top15 finishes, managing expectations. that's what that team does. they know they're not going to come out here. we talked about gibbs, we talked about penskeand other organizations. they're not competing with those guys. in a lot of ways they're competing with themselves.
if we can put it in the top 15, big day forus. if we put it in the top 20, good day for us. if we're back, yeah, that's not where we wantto be. finishing the way they did at bristol, thatwas a championship performance for that team. they looked a that the totally different. he and his family have put their heart andsoul into coming in here, moving in here and fulfilling that dream. and that was a peek at what that dream couldbe, i think. and that's why he was so emotional.
when you can see your dream and reach outand touch it like he did up here in the spring, that's pretty special. >> dale: and brisal is sometimes the greatequalizer. it's not all about the arrow problems youhave at other places. we've seen many stories like this at thisracetrack. and matt did a great skrob of getting hisstory and name out there. >> krista: maximizing the opportunities whenthey have them. and he maximized the television camera andtook it and ran with it. hats off, wigs off to matt for that.
now this guy, talk about a future superstar. we're going to hear from them coming up next. thanks for entertaining us during this weatherdelay. >> rick: it stopped raining here at bristol. we hope to get the track dry and going herevery shortly. tell me about the recruiting process and howbadly you wanted them to be part of their organization. >> it makes me feel really old when he tellsme that he came to my house trick or treating. william is a great young man.
he told me that his dream was to dry for us. and kelly and dale and lw, when i mentionhis name, they say we love that kid. so he's been kind of in and out of our family. and we're just really excited. our whole organization, jrm and hms, everybodyis excited about william. >> first of all, i'm sure hendrick gave outfull-sized candy. >> he's telling me all these things. i was at my daughter's house watching thedoor giving out candy. and i mean, i feel really, really old.
>> you're not that old, rick. trust me. >> i don't remember what he gave me, but iremember me and mr. hendrick and jimmie also. having the dream that i did and to race forjrm next year is really neat for me. i can't wait to get it going. >> i don't think people realize this is ahomecoming for you. you' driven for them before. >> i kind of told them to look out for meand watch around a little bit and, you know, luckily we came back together and i got thisopportunity.
i can't wait to get it going and see whathappens. >> marty: how does the rest of the year workknowing you're going there next year? >> dave wilson and joe gibbs were really happyfor me. that's really neat to see. they're hoping to within a championship thisyear with me. and right now, it's looking good and hopefullywe can continue that success and try and win a championship. because that's the ultimate goal. i'm definitely not looking past next year.
i'm looking forward to michigan and tryingto win a race there. >> rick, let's talk about recruiting youngdrivers. how tough is that game right now trying tofind young talent to help your organization? >> well, you know, it worked out really wellwith chase and it's worked out with jimmy and jeff. guys like william and chase have the wholepackage. they can do it outside the car. and he's like our water boy for the footballteam and then he grew up to be the quarterback. have to give dale all the credit for hiringhim and putting him in a late model and spending
the money. then he got a great opportunity. like he said, kyle busch has a great truckprogram with toyota. and talked to kyle, i talked to joe and, youknow, what's so cool about the whole deal is everybody wants to see william do well. it's hard out there. you've got to find them when they're youngand you've got to find a guy that fits your and this one was a no-brainer. >> how is dale feeling?
>> he's feeling really good. i had lunch with him wednesday. we tooked the road crew out to have lunchand we were talking old times. and he sent me a picture of him shooting abasketball. he's doing exactly what the doctor tells himto do. he looks great. he wants to get back in the car. but the doctors are telling him, we want himto be ready and stronger than ever. so we're doing what they say.
and we're just taking it week by week. but he wants to get back with the fans andthe car. he's doing exactly what the doctors tell him. >> how bad is it eating him up not to be inthe car, rick? >> when he walks through the shops and looksat the car and ready to go and nauk talks about how neat they look, dale cares aboutthe fans, the sport, and most of all his team and his sponsors. he is letting the doctors lead the way, buthe misses it. you can tell.
and you can tell when he does a chat withhis fans. everybody wants to see him back. but we want to see him back healthy. but he's in great spirits. he jabs me. i know he's getting much better. >> it seems like it's no a football injurywhere we say this is an eight-week recovery. it's day to day, week to week and you don'tknow when he's going to get back into the car?
>> i'm not a doctor, but they've told himthey think they can make him better than ever. and he's working exactly like they want himto. so it is a deal where he's doing what theytell him. and he wants to be back. we want him back. we want them to tell us when he's really okay. not just okay, but better than he was whenthey got out of the car. >> i know in the media center, they were askingyou about the performance of hendrick motor sports.
how would you assess where the team is rightnow? >> we've got some work to do. i spent the week with him in the body shopin the wind tunnel thursday night. not that i could do anything. but i believe in leadership and i'm supportingthem. and they're working hard. and, you know, you saw chase take the leadtonight. we've had some really rough luck with losingit in practice. the toyotas are fast, the fords are fast.
everybody is fast. it's very competitive. but when you wake up one day and you're noton top and you're working hard to get there, you just got to dig harder. aechb our guys are all -- we locked arms andwe're an army and we're going to come back. >> you certainly know hendrick motor sportswill be back. signing william byron certainly doesn't hurt. the future looks very bright. >> krista: it certainly does.
william byron five wins this season drivingfor kyle busch motor sports. a couple of things i want to talk about youwith dale, kyle, that rick said there. the leadership of rick hendrick, when he showsup, you're in the wind tunnel or you're the body guy at the shop. and rick is there, like i said, i don't necessarilyknow if i'm doing anything, but the leadership valuable, he says guys we're all together. .>> dale: that's the way he's run all of his businesses. that's why he's so successful.
this is a man who's been through a lot throughouthis professional career. his personal life. he's been through it all. it's a never-give-up attitude. that's the way he treats this. he won't send anything that he raes not willingto be there for. >> he feels the loss as bad as jimmie johnsondoes when he loses a race or chase elliott or whatever. he had tremendous amount of empathy.
and you can talk about servant leadership. he's there to be a part of it. he's not the leader. he's part of the group. and i think that's what we talked about earlier. in the preracing and earlier in some of ourcomments. he is such a tremendous fernlty and tremendousman you want to fall in line and follow him. by him being there this week, that's probablybeen a huge, huge step and a huge motivation for all the hendrick teams.
>> krista: even hearing him talk, you listen. what about william byron. he's 18 years old. kyle busch is the one that found william byron,found eric jones. but now signed with hendrick motor sportsto sign with dale jr.'s team. how bright is his star? >> kyle: outstanding. we talk about it. what is that?
we heard him speak. he's outstanding there. to get on national tv and talk, you wouldthink he's been around for a long time. you watch him drooi, that's even more impressive. you put those things together. he comes from a good family. he understands what it's going to take here. and he's not -- even though he's very appreciativeof this, i don't think that he's a young man that's actually in awe of all this.
he's just appreciative of it. he's just ready to take it and run with it. he's on the fast track, like we talked abouteric jones. i know that toyota didn't want him to getaway. i'm sure joe gibbs wanted to have a place,but he doesn't have a place. rick hendrick had a place for him to movehim alock here. and this is a young man we'll be talking aboutfor a lot of years to come. >> dale: i find that ironic that he does fitthe hendrick mold. he fits the jeff gordon image, the jimmiejohnson image.
he's driving for a driver -- or for an owner,kyle busch, that drove for hendrick that didn't fit and he's no longer there anymore. so that's kind of interesting when you watchthat. but if you look at hendrick with dale jr. at 41, with jimmie johnson at 40 years old,jeff gordon retiring at 43 or 44, he's positioning his team and positioning these guys to havesay chase elliott is my next guy. william byron is my next guy. these are my next guys. when you look at it, that's rick looking tenyears down the road, looking 12 years down
the road. dud he really trick or treat with the jeffgordon onesie. i'm william byron but i'm dressed as jeffgordon, trick or treat. >> krista: william byron was on the truckrace wednesday night. they were the first nascar race of the weekendof the big three. now william byron did not win that race, butthe guy who did is pretty big. because ben kennedy who is the great grandsonben kennedy. now it puts them in the chase for the truckseries. >> kyle: all these fans out here, becauseof nascar, that's why we're sitting here at
bristol in a race. because of bill france sr. and his great grandson wins a nascar race. that's historic. i don't know if we can go back and talk aboutthe guys who started football basketball, or baseball, and if they give everyone a championshipor everyone a game, whatever. but it is pretty interesting. and i think it shows is the talent in thattruck series. and that truck series chase, that playoffseries is going to be a tough series.
16, 12 and 8 in a truck series. that's a tough series to make. and these guys have run consistently well. started the team. you're with one team, moves on to anotherteam and wins a race. .>> dale: he's been so dedicated to doing this. he did an outstanding job. that's not easy trying to get your first win. as great as the chase is for the cup series,i think for the xfinity and the trucks, it's
even more outstanding because it's going tomaybe the end of the season even more exciting. >> kyle: his personality reminds me a littlebit of dale jr. a little bit of an introvert. a little bit of yeah, i know my dad is bigand all this stuff. you go out the other night and it's just likea dale jr. interview. that was cool. guys work hard, that was cool. but he reminds you personality wise of somebodylike that.
>> speaking of dale earn hrt jr., you heardheard dale jr. is spoke powe ecking at him. dale jr. is watching this race right now. he tweeted, rain delay racing trivia. sterling marlin was once sponsored by underallswith a picture to go along with it. >> dale: this is part of his rehab right here, go back to find old ads. please dale jr.
if you're watching, don't find any kyle pettyor dale jarrett ads to put up on twitter. >> krista: i would say the gaunt let has beenthrown down. >> dale: who would have thought, underalls. >> krista: we want to thank dale jr. for adding to our broadcast. we're going to hear from more drivers comingup. >> krista: the wea delas continue. jet driers were added at 10:03. we're getting you ready to go back to racing.
in the meantime, the good news, we get tohear from a lot of drivers, of course, that continues on nascar america. weekdays at 6:00 p.m. all of us, a part of the show. d.j., kyle, i know you guys love to talk aboutdrivers talking about drivers. and drivers are tweeting right now. nascar america krista, dale and me>> krista: that was a lot cleaner than your golf song. >> dale: i'm going to tell you something,it is fun.
you have drivers in studio, drivers over atburton's garage. aricalmirola comes in. nascar on your tv nascar america krista, daleand me >> rick: you had to dig from the back of thepack starting tonight. what's it been like back there? >> there was a few cars that really missedit loose. at this track, when you get loose, you'rereally just hanging on. but our chevy was pretty good. i was pleasantly surprised with the grip thatwe had.
also passed a couple on the top. so, you know, i think we're anxious to getback out and see what you have. the track is going to transition and changequite a bit once we get rubber laid down, whether that's tonight or tomorrow. but yeah, we've had a pretty good weekend. we thought our worst three laps were actuallyin qualifying. just got really loose. both the 42 and the 1 car, just missed itin qualifying. but both cars did pretty good in the race.
>> you have a friend back here, i don't knowwhich crew member that is, but apparently he's for jamie. >> it's amazing what happens at rain delaysat the racetrack. this is the car chief of my car. >> when i said i didn't want to interviewhim, is he mad now? >> ehe's dying for attention. you should probably sfwer view him. >> you good for a late start here? >> i get up early every morning.
it's hard to sleep on race days. i actually laid back down around 12:30 or1:00 today and slept for a couple of hours anticipating that we might be here all night. i feel pretty good right now. >> so jamie had a power nap, parker, we'regood to go. >> parker: michael is out with flu-like symptoms. justin, you got the call this morning. talk about getting that call and how you gotprepared to go in the race car. >> you never expect to wake up to find outthat you might be needed to fill in.
so, you know, really feel bad for him. he's not feeling well. at first i thought i was going to be a fill-inand relief driver. later we found out i was going to drive thiscar. unfortunate circumstances. we want michael to feel better. but at the same time, really cool that theytrusted me to drive this number 46. we got a good race car. i spent the first couple of laps just tryingto figure out where i was going and how i
was going to get there. and then i ended up speeding on pit road rightthere at the end. it's not been without channel tonight. but it's been a lot of fun so far. >> parker: you actually were looking at extrapadding to put in the race car because you were moving around too much. >> sitting in the paddock, it felt prettygood. on the racetrack i found i was sliding aroundmore than i wanted to. i was actually holding myself up with thesteering wheel.
i know they're screwing with me behind me. i can't tell what they're doing. >> parker: they're flashing the lights likea strobe light. i think they're having some sort of dancein there. >> where's the dance where everybody goescrazy, edm or something like that? it was calm and everybody goes crazy. they were watching the video trying to figureout how to do that on camera. thank you for letting me do this. but these guys are a lot of fun to be around.
if i was going to have to do this, it wouldbe with these guys. >> mike: another under dog story here, parkerhas to be michael mcdowell, running mid pack right now. ahead of some pretty big names on the racetrack. how would you describe the way the night hasgone for you sofr? >> it's gone pretty smooth. we made some spots up there early. running in the low to mid 20s, this is ourfirst year celebrating with them. there's only two road courses a year.
it's crazy to see the fs. >> mike: we have a window, right, you thinkwe might get this going soon? >> it looks like there's a little bit morerain coming. .>> headed towards the front, a little bit. i was able to run a little bit. you said you were committed to the bottom. how does that come in, do you feel like? >> i made up some spots in the top at thebeginning and then i went to the bottom. the bottom is so narrow, it's hard to stayon it all the way around the corner.
if you come off it a little bit, it reallygets sideways and wants to spin out. .>> mike: drivers are milling about now. >> krista: a great sign. i think we've heard from 15 drivers. you do get some fun moments. >> now everybody knows. >> krista: this is revenge. a relationship consultant for toyota. >> dale: and he likes all toyota drivers.
>> krista: there you see drivers getting readyto go back into their cars so they can continue racing here at bristol. >> krista: 38 laps of racing and we talkedabout this. we' seen a lit bit of everything. so what will happen now after this red flagand that rain delay? >> steve: i think they had more questionsnow than before the race has started. it's really thrown them a curve. they really expected the bottom of the racetrackto be much stickier and better at the beginning. now we'll see what happens as they go backout.
>> kyle: i wish we could go back to earlierthis afternoon when the bottom is good. i don't think the change is over yet. i think we'll continue to see more until weget the caution. >> krista: the rain came about 9:12. it's now 10:31. we've had plepty of time to discuss, thesedrivers have had plenty of came. if you thought these guys were ready before. >> steve: there has to be more urgency. there is more weather in the area.
these guys have to make moves now. >> ricyoeman's work during this rain delay. appreciate their help as we get ready forhopefully the continuation of night racing from bristol motor speedway. but it has been an interesting rain delay. when the rains game, they came down very hard. and then we met osaka kawazaua. he said to denny that denny was his favoritedriver. matt kenseth didn't like that at all.
he said wait a second. >> steve: and he let him in the trailer. go to denny's trailer. >> rick: and then the rains continued. a little fun with the petty motor sports drivers. the rains continued. a.j. lmendinger, those were jet driers, it wasso loud. the rain continued.
during the introductions, matt dibenedettodidn't get to do as he was imitating taylor swift was to do the dance he was flaning. we had that opportunity to see that. and steve, are we better people for beingable to see it? >> steve: i will go on record to say mattdibenedetto is a brave, brave man for doing the dance on television. >> rick: and the track drying continued. the teams are working to get their pit stallsdried. and the crowd has stuck around.
and hats off to them as well. and very passionate crowd can, wanting tosee racing here tonight. and heapfully they're going to see some more. we've seen 38 laps of 500 scheduled. and the drivers have been called back to theircars. there's an opening between the rain showers. so we're hoping that stays away and we canget some racing take place. we've had some interesting 41 radio communications. let's listen in.
>> we have a shrimp cocktail. >> i went down stairs and bought an arby'ssandwich, t be honest. >> rick: guys having a little bit of fun there. under this rain delay. i'm glad we're not keeping the stats for caloriesconsumed during the rain delay. something about rain and the racetrack, everybodyjust got done running an ironman. tai all need about 5,000 calories to keepgoing. >> marty: the drivers are all saying the samething, this might be a race to halfway. they're looking at the radar and they knowthere's a sense of urgency here.
they know we have maybe 45 minutes to an hourbefore the next shower comes through. they want to get to halfway. it's going to ramp up the intensity. and jeff, you know as a driver, if they getto halfway, it's a depletely different race. >> steve: if you get halfway, it's official. we saw at pocono, a sense of urgency. you see different strategy, trying to be inhalfway. these potential shor racing. >> rick: those circumstance.
s are eight miles out the radius. there's a cell heading in our direction. the guys are being strapped in their cars. the the window net is strapped up and readyto go. >> steve: we see guys gain position, kylelarson has already gained 13 positions on the racetrack. david reagan, nine positions. so there he's the opportunity to pass herein bristol. >> rick: back spasms were hurting him prettymuch the entire race.
an aggressive burnout had him walking to victorylane. denny hamlin was able to celebrate, but itwas gingerly. he had to hitch a ride then walk to victorylane. that helped out. >> jeff was treated for lower back issues. even though you're strapped into the seat,the amount of force you have to put into the steering wheel, it's a lot of core strength,torso strength. these drivers are athletes, but they takea tremendous amount of abuse. lap after laugh t all summer long, denny hamlinunfortunately has had some pretty severe accidents.
every time rick and i use -- you wake up and say, you know, today is a bad day for my back. tomorrow is a different day. i don't think it's one specific thing. it can seem to hit him at anytime. >> steve: a lot of drivers have sore lowerbacks. that certainly has to do with driving a racecar and being in the seat and the way you're belted into the car and how you have to workyour feet. it's not a coincidence that so many drivershave lower back issues.
>> rick: and you wonder the rain, we talkedabout, they did run a handful of laps, 35, 58 laps, you warm up and get going, then youhave to get out for a rain delay. and denny hamlin had this problem here atbristol before. we ran a handful of laps. and then we had a rain delay. when we came back, the driver's equipment,that isn't denny hamlin getting bahhing into the 11 car. that's eric jones having to sub for dennyhamlin. he got out, had the rain delay.
i'm not sure what exactly happened but hehad a back issue where he couldn't compete with the car. you see right here, trying to help eric jonesabout what the car should drive like. it's within of those things, not just thevehicle sitting on pit roe, the athletes do as well. and the inches are fired meaning they're readyto roll back out on the racetrack. see if the rain will stay away long enoughto get a little bit momentum built up. kyle busch has led the most laps, 16. denny hamlin led the other eight laps thathave been completed.
>> rick: you get a glimpse of the dash fordenny hamlin and some of these drivers all different. a similar dash configuration as far as thenew electronic dashes. caution is out. the red flag has been put around. the cars are rolling off of pit road. >> rick: waiting out a little>> steve: all that waiting it out, remember, these drivers are a night race. only 39 laps into a race and it's late already.
it's 10:45. a quarter to 11:00, they've been waiting torace all day. they've been in the car, out of the car, theyget ready to get going again. they get ready to race. as marty talked about, they know more rainis in the area. could we get to halfway? ke gut to halfway, can you position yourself? the combination of waiting all day, havingto get out of the car, when they drop the green flag, it's going to get very aggressive.
>> rick: aggressive? how about chaotic. >> steve: the two go together at this racetrack. >> rick: drivers will roll around the tracka little bit here as theically make an attempt at drying pit road. they want to make sure that surface is dryas well. the drews will be working on that. the drivers have a tremendous amount of trust. you have to.
you sail down into turn one, you have to knowthe track is dry. and nascar does a really, really good jobof never releasing the cars, never dropping the fleen flag unless the track is dry. there have been occasions where it rainedand they dropped the green flag and it rained quickly. but drivers really trust nascar to make surethe track is ready. >> rick: sot drivers and crews were told atthe drivers' meeting there would be a competition caution at lap 60. what that means is nascar was letting theteams know that for sure there would be a
caution that came out at lap 60. and at that time, the teams could come topit road, they could check the tire wear and they could add fuel. if a caution came out prior to lap 60, noteams were allowed to add fuel to the car, but they could come and make any adjustments,changes, tires to the car. they just were not allowed to add fuel. and that's normal for a competition caution. nascar has let us know the competition cautionwill actually be longer than lap 60. it will come after lap 60, but until we getback to green light conditions, they don't
know exactly when that will be. they will convey that to the teams as soonas we get back to green flag racing. >> steve: the race car is in the top lane. they want the race car to go into the toplane to try to dry it. if you're in the bottom lane knowing you haveto restart, where are you going to go? you see the 21, those guys are on the bottom. they want to get that rosin thrown in. they're going to have to restart on the bottom. not unusual to see drivers go to the lanethat they want to clean off before the flag
drops off. >> rick: are you telling me they're not goingto follow instructions? >> steve: on a lap by lap basis. >> kyle: quarter by quarter. >> rick: nascar added a rosin, almost likepine tar or a tar that they put on the bottom of the racetrack about 18 to 24 inches onthe bottom of the racetrack to try to add grip to the bottom so the drivers could hugthe bottom of this racetrack. the progressive banking goes from 24 degreesall the way up to 28 degrees at the top of the track.
the preferred line has been moving up to thetop of the track. wanted to see if they could get to a preferredline at the bottom of the track as wl e. they added the rosin. it worked well in the xfinity race last night. how often times we hear... the praises sung of wealthy men... but you very seldom hear them sing of thehonest workingman. his hands may be both rough and hard, hisclothes and speech be plain... but you will find his manly heart withouta spot or stain.
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>> rick: welcome back to the vast pro shop. >> steve: he wants the insideline. .>> you want to know what the spotters see in the rest of the field. that's one of the things. >> rick: the guy who has been successful. carl edwards, to straight short track wins. the last with three straight was rusty wallaceback in 1993. the sprint's network reliability.
save 50% on most verizon, at&t or t mobilerates. rick, you knew whether it's bristol, if youwere anywhere throughout you were going to have a good day. .>> hey, i need some help. what do you got? he would set you up in the garage. >> rick: a few rain drops falling there infront of the pace car as we saw. and there have been things that haven't gonewell for rusty wallace. and jeff gordon was involved at this racetrack.
pushed out of the way in 1997. >> steve: there was only one lane. if the car in front of you was in it, youhad to move them out of the groove. >> rick: the rain looked to be coming backand it is pouring once again. absolutely pouring. the jet driers are still on pit road. they're going to have a little bit of troublegetting to pit road here as soon as the jet driers will move in. >> steve: it's raining hard enough now thedrivers are really going to have to be careful.
they're going to have to really slow down. there is no grip whatsoever. when it's raining, it started pouring. remember, there are so side windows in here. >> rick: it can go through the engine to thethrottle body. you have concern where all this moisture isgoing to end up. >> rick: once again, the field being broughton to pit road. the track has been covered. it was a deluge.
imcame down about as hard as it's come downtonight. and we thought this cell was going to getto us. it did a little bit quicker than was anticipated. and take another look at the radar. this cell is right above us right now. you see a little bit of orange there. as it is raining hard core. it's still fairly hard. it looks like it might keep going for quitesome time here.
moving right through the bristol motor speedwayarea. the teams once again will cover the cars backup. they gave it a valiant effort. the track was dry, the cars were fired up. they were making a few laps. officially they made ten. >> steve: you talked about trying to keepthe inside of the cars dry. that's where the radio is, the left side door. just trying to keep the water outside of therace car.
>> rick: clint bowyer trying to get back onto pit road. and once again, the red flag comes out. a good effort, but mother nature is not allowingthis one to continue. so the crews will once again cover up thecars. and we will go back into a waiting pattern. martin truex jr. jumps out quickly. while the cars are being covered and the crewsare once again making sure the drivers are out of the cars and the cars are covered,we'll take a quick break.a quick break. people know me as dale earnhardt jr., racecardriver.
>> rick: the cars are covered back up. the last time the sprint cup series was racingwas weeks ago at watkins glen. so let's take this opportunity to scan allfrom watkins glen. >> good luck today, bud. see if you can't get up there and finagleyour way to a win. >> the last road course race of the year,green flag is in the air. >> spinning off the course here in the innerloop. >> we'll get back up, i'm sure. >> the 88 car.
>> he creamed it. >> pass through, uncontrolled tire. >> some of these drivers, some of these teamsare making it harder than they need to make >> we have to pass through dave, outside tireviolation. caught speeding coming on to pit road. >> going to run right over. >> the hits just keep coming for the 48. a pass through. >> oh, the 10 of danica patrick, she getsshovelled out.
now she's lost it. that's going to kill her strategy. >> did danica make ig out of the turn one? >> sorry. there's nothing i could do without gettinghit. everybody is such a [ bleep ] to me. honestly. they are. i'm sure you guys see that.
>> slow down, slow down, slow down. >> jimmie johnson is in. >> i don't know how i made it through that. >> oh, my god, you made a hell of a move aroundjimmie johnson right there. oh, my god. >> red flag here. >> you have grass all over the grill. >> am i allowed to get out and wipe it off? >> you can try it.
>> i have a joke. why is it that a chicken coop has only twodoors. if it was four days it would be a sedan. >> she was taking advantage of the upper handof the relationship. >> rick: so the car is rolling again backto yellow. >> a.j. allmendinger won't be happy about this. >> there will be zen laps to go. here comes the 18, three wide going into turnone.
way up high on the 18 and the 2. and again the 2 go wide. >> denny hamlin underneath him to take thelead. >> i knew that wasn't going to work. >> wrecking over here. >> got dumped. we're all done. get everything loaded up and get out of here. >> [ bleep ] i can't [ bleep ] turn everytime i get down into the [ bleep ] corner.
>> thank you for carrying me all the way offthe track. appreciate that. >> drive all the way back to pit road. >> stay in the car. >> they're making me get out of here, guys. >> just tell him to stay in the car. we're under red flag. >> i can't do. they're standing in the window yelling atme.
>> do not get out of that car. >> it should be interesting from your seat. the 2 and the 18 there and you have the 47and the 42 still mad at each other. .>> go ahead. >> keselowski, the white flag goes in theair. one lap to go. >> do not look in your mirror, i've got you. >> coming up on the final turn. >> your bumper now.
>> that son of a [ bleep ].>> spinning in front of you, stay low. dig, dig. >> denny hamlin will win at the glen! >> good job. >> 78, martin truex is not happy about it. >> and denny did just that. looking at the standings after watkins glen. and right at the cut line is kyle larson andtrevor bayne. but remember, chris butcher with a win atpocono needs to get into the top 30 in points,
three points behind at the start of this race. once he gets into the top 30, he'll move aheadof rye nan muman and the drivers that not won. that will push that cut line down to whereit will be below jamie mcmurray. and just above kyle larson. >> kyle larson l to look for 30 points toovertake jamie mcmurray. to think you have to race your teammate forthe position is going to be even more difficult. right behind kyle larson, we have some othercars that have shown, trevor bayne, we don't want -- it seems like nobody wants to talkabout trevor bayne, but he's done a great
job all year, hanging around that cut line. >> ryan blaney is quite a few points away. but they have some speed to work themselvesback in. there's enough races as fast as they are,they can't have any bad races, but if they finish as well as they run, they can movethemselves up. >> rick: mike, what's going on on pit road. >> mike: this team leading the race, the 18team, you can see how relaxed they actually are during this rain delay. a little mad football.
looks like a breakaway here. the packers trying to catch up to the panthershere. they're down by two touchdowns. but one of the crew members just got tackledon the 20. but a big game in madden here. the 18 team taking advantage of the breakin action to catch up on their video games. that's always important. >> rick: mike, it's just around the corner. that means nfl kickoff weekend on nbc.
.>> kyle: i'm a panther fan in the super bowl. i watched the broncos beat the panthers. so i am looking forward to thursday nighthere in two weeks. >> rick: when we come back, we'll watch someof the exciting racing that took the race last night. >> rick: we're just after halfway. listen into austin dillon's communications. >> the top is actually not turning anymore. hopefully they'll keep rubbering it up toomuch.
>> rick: they're mentioning the top and thebottom, making up some time on the bottom. and that has been the change here at bristol. they polished the bottom groove, used chemicalsas well as the tire dragon to try to bring that groove back into prominence at bristol. and we'll have to find out how that workspast the halfway point. it looks like ear going to go at least anotherlap when the green flag comes out. >> it's three wide, all over the place. what i like about it is that you don't haveto run in one place. you think about the old bristol, you had torun right on the bottom.
the more recent bristol, you had to run rightaround the top. it seems like now you had to run sort of inbottom, the middle and the top. i like the drivers have someplace to go ratherthan just one groove. >> jeff: if you're faster than what the racefans seem to want, i want to see fast cars move to the front. they have to have options. >> rick: they've had options tonight. we have seen them two or three wide aroundthe high banks here at bristol. kyle larson, eric jones.
141 laps remaining from bristol. >> rick: he was the first car scored a lapdown in 12. he will get a lap down. >> that bottom is loose. >> steve: got loose into the corner. keep up with it. the other guy that won on that exchange tookthe pass around to get back on the lead lap. puts him back in the lead lap and now he'sable to pit. get fuel, get tires.
>> hang on, hang on. >> jeff: now we're hearing it's brendan jonesthat will get the free pass. >> rick: parker? >> parker: got that lap back, he's been veryloose on entry. using that wave around to their advantage. >> it was a risky move. >> rick: get closer to additional camera angles,driver stats, track information. available on mobile, tab let and connectedtvs. down load the app for more.
now? so the third caution has come out. eric jones on the inside, we assume once againlarson has chosen that high line. >> rick: we've seen great racing tonight. tomorrow night, the sprint cup series willbe racing here at the last great coliseum. it follows the gold medal soccer game, brazilversus germany. it's joe gibbs racing one, two, three fortomorrow night's start. vequalifying. hose on the track.
they'll clean that up before we get readyto go back to racing. the restarts have been interesting. and eric jones has been here's what they hadto say on the communication about the restarts. >> i'm just letting you know what they'resaying. >>.>> rick: as long as you're not doing anything wrong, you're fine. >> jeff: i didn't see anything wrong. there was a little concern he was maybe infront of the 42 for a brief moment. we have seen the last several years, the insidelineon the straightaway, they struggled to get
going. we saw it in the cup race, the xfinity races. when you start second, you don't get to -- youdon't get to pick when you go. kyle larson on the outside, he's going todecide when he wants to go. we've seen drivers struggle to get rear gripand make a move. so far tonight, he hasn't been able to leadwith it. >> two by two, weekdays at 6:00 it's nascaramerica. that returns on monday. of course, the big news will be dale earnhardtjr., will he get cleared for michigan?
we know jeff gordon is not going to be behindthe wheel. if dale jr. doesn't get cleared, it will be alex bowmanat michigan. >> rick: twof by two once again. larson on the high side. restart zone, green flag back in the air. another good start for kyle larson. erik jones, kyle larson, what a two. >> they checked it under caution.
they believedverything was okay. the smoke was intense contact with the 3 whenhe spun. >> rick: it's exciting there but that couldbe bad also. you can wear through the part of the tirethat's very important. i'm sure going around this racetrack at over130 miles an hour, that's not what darrel wallace jr. wants to have happen. .>> steve: as you mentioned, the smoke is gone. it's going to be good or really bad.
but he continues to run laps. >> rick: definitely very shiny on the leftrear of the 6. larson still has kyle busch behind him. the 62 running the high line along with him. that's how fast the lap takes at bristol. eric jones has taken the position away fromkyle busch. it was larson, kyle busch, now jones backon the hunt. trying to get by the 42 of larson. >> steve: not just easy.
that car looks like it's a little free chasingthe back of it a little bit. >> rick: marty? >> marty: we talked about ryan bhfr the race,they've had problems with the car. he said it got worse for him. they have a broken right rear shock. see it going behind the wall. they have actually cut both of the rear shocksoff the 39 car. remember he's on the chase bubble. he has 20 points to the good.
we'll see how it shakes out by the end ofevening, rick. >> rick: already lost a lot of points. only five points above the cut line now. as ross chastain in the 4, five points behindhim. once again, it's two and three wide aroundbristol. suarez down to the bottom of the track, tryingto get by. >> rick: we've seen the 2 of austin dillongoing down low. >> steve: carrying maumt into the corner. just enough where you can move up the trackand clear the 1, takes the top lane away.
>> rick: low there entering the turn. kyle busch coming back into the picture. >> steve: as the run goes on earlier in therace, we saw it looks like kyle lor son get better and better and better. early in the run,ing they've got to find away to put pressure on larson. >> rick: and will that bottom lean work? as we ride along with kyle busch again, runningthird. >> rick: larson and jones runs that high line. >> rick: larson out in front of eric jones.
larson turns down trying to get by the slowerlap traffic. an in doing so, almost opened the door foreric jones. now a little bit of clean track in front ofthem for just a moment. here comes kyle busch to the bottom of thetrack getting into the mix. >> rick: eric jones continues to close thegap on kyle larson. and jeff, i asked moments ago, i know thingsget a little crazy here, but how do you set the pass up between these two? >> jeff: it's so difficult when a car in frontof you is so good on the outside. kyle busch starts to catch these two, ericjones' options get limited.
if he makes the move and it doesn't work,then kyle busch takes that sot spp you have to keep pressure on kyle larson and hope hegets a little too high. loses a lot of momentum. or again, lap traffic. we are going to see lap traffic play a rolein this race. brad keselowski, ty dillon and jeremy clemens,the top ten. darryl wallace jr. and brandon jones on the lead lop. that's 12 cars on the lead lap at bristol.
kyle busch running third. lig coming out of two. it was the 60 going around. in his first xfinity series race. >> that wreck didn't happen right in frontof the leaders, but it happened just from front of the leaders to put a lot of pressureon him. it would have been. easy for jones not to see that and get intothe back of larson. they did a good job.
>> that was the situation where the 60 ofgreg gaulding was sideways among numerous cars. >> there's some pretty serious damage to theback of that car. >> 33, brendan rhodes sneaks by. >> everyone ducking to go down low. >> you see the leaders right here drivingin turn 1, they can't really see what's going on in turn 2. so they give notice to the 20 behind me. the spotters are getting this informationas quick as they can, but the corners on this
track are so sharp, you can't see around them. the speed is so fast it would have been easierfor erik jones to get on the back of larson. he got in the back of him, but he didn't getin the back of him proud enough to not spin around and cause any problems. >> jones still chasing kyle larson. kyle larson has been out front in the 160and 194 laps complete. cars on pit road once again. >> brad keselowski pitched out of age rightnow. he talks about being super.
when they turn that stuff, a miller light. >> they've got the one car of elliott sadlera little bit better now. they're just going to put new tires on it,no changes. actually a wedge adjustment, but it's betterfor elliott who's running in the top five. >> saw the smoke coming out of the rear ofdarrell wallace jr. the crew putting a little attention to thatrear. last stop at liberty. >>> welcome back to bristol live. it is coming up on 11:24 eastern time.
we want to let you know it has officiallybeen called for the evening. we will try to race tomorrow afternoon. that will be on cnbc. the nascar sprint cup series race from bristoltomorrow at 1:00 p.m. eastern on cnbc. so a night race has now become a day race. it will be a sunday afternoon race from bristol. the weather looks a lot better for tomorrow. we're very hopeful for that.
but again, the rains have continued on andbecause of the length of the race that is still in front of us, nascar has decided thatit would be best to move to tomorrow afternoon. so once again, 1:00 p.m. eastern time on cnbc for tomorrow's race. and guys, obviously a difficult situationfor the drivers, the teams, everybody. as they gear up for a night race. >> the concrete in general, you know, allof your notes. >> maybe the top groove, something to thinkon. i don't know if that's good or bad to be armedwith that information.
the track will be slick. you don't get to make major changes. you've got what you've got. >> rick: does that favor carl edwards? joey logano won the last two night races,can he prevail under the sunlight? >> steve: i think what he does is takes alot of notebooks and throw it out the window. the groove has been new. what team can adapt. the teams are going to have to adapt.
when the groove moved up the racetrack they'regoing to have to adjust their setup to see if it will fit. now we're going to have to see that tomorrowafternoon. >> rick: so as the rains have come once again,the race will be run tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 eastern on cnbc. does it favor anyone, jeff? is there anyone who can come out of it andthink okay, this is a good situation for me? >> jeff: i don't know who that is. the people in the garage probably don't knowwho that is either.
the rosin at the bomb of the racetrack, ithink going into this race no one really knew who the favorite was going to be because thetrack was going to change so much. denny hamlin said he never had seen a trackchange so much in that few of laps. we talked about kyle larson trying to bounceback from the point he is lost at watkins glen. trevor bayne, kasey kahne. they're going to have to sleep on this onemore night. only a few more weeks between now and richmond. you have to get those points.
>> rick: we've gone from a saturday nightrace to a sunday afternoon race. again tomorrow, 1:00 p.m. you can see the conclusion of the nascar sprintcup series race from bristol. >> run off turn four. we're all the way back to the start finishline. kevin harvick wins the daytona 500. >> we've got one car coming across the start/finishline. >> they're wrecking everywhere. >> and mark martin, a bridemaid once again.
>> i really thought they were going to throwthe caution. i was still ahead. and they were wrecking behind. if they would have just thrown the yellowbut they waited and they waited and they waited. and i didn't have any at the end. >>en ma, it's the daytona 500, can you believeit? >> number seven. >> the green flag and we are under way. >> it's almost utter chaos the first threeor four laps.
>> jeff gordon into the outside wall. >> massive turn number four. they're still crashing and colliding. >> are you all right, bud? for now. i don't know. >> racing after a big crash early, we thoughtthey might settle down just a little bit. but when you come to talladega, apparentlyit's just in your blood. they haven't let up one bit.
>> we're seeing a few faces up front. >> junior just jumped in behind you. 88 is on your inside corner now. >> dale earnhardt jr., what a save! >> keep dig, man. try not to lose the pack. >> got a run on the outside. >> you guys can go to the top, go now. too late.
>> carl edwards now leads the way. brad keselowski on his back bumper. >> he's all over you. just you and him. >> that's it. >> contact here in. edwards goes up in the air. a wild crash as it comes down to the start/finishline. >> holy cow.
>> i don't want to wreck a guy but you'reforced in that situation. but there's nothing eld i could do. >> for the first time in his nascar sprintcup career, brad keselowski is in victory lane. >> number six. >> quite honestly, it looks to me as if it'sraining just about as hard as it has been in the last half-hour or so. >> the fans have waited patiently. they're ready.
here's the green flag and the race is underway. >> dale earnhardt is back on pit road on thiscaution period. >> now terry labonte takes the lead from dalejarrett. >> dale earnhardt has finally moved back upto seventh spot. >> earnhardt, though, is on the move onceagain. >> a run of dale earnhardt tonight. >> of. >> moves into second place. >> there's earnhardt lurking in second position.
>> wins the rash! crashes but he wins any way. how about that? >> whoe! >> they gave a little shot in the back here. i beat him across the line. >> he's going to get him, though. >> lee petty on the center. >> didn't try to run into him or nothing.ohim or nothing.e going to be comparing the
roll-formed high-strength steel bed of thechevy silverado to the aluminum bed of this competitor's truck. oh no... we have to go home. why? i left the garage door open. what if that derelict troy sneaks in? and he has band practice. what if it turns into a millennial yard party!
and what if they refuse to leave!? relax. we have at&t. see? no biggie. no biggie! at&t digital life smart home security helpsconnect you to your home, so there are no more what ifs. >> come on, you got it, you got it>> number five
>> bill elliott has the lead dale earnhardtalmost got on the walls. bodine spinning! and earnhardt goes into the lead elliott issecond. el yol trying to slide underneat it won'tbuy it closes in again right behind earnhardt. and earnhardt loses it, comes back and elliottgoes inside earnhardt on the grass >> low and goes high and he's loose in theturn and has to cross back. >> now look at this. i didn't try to wreck it >> he was trying to cut me off any way heckwe'll see what happens this week
>> too number four, $3 million built this2 1/2 mile speedway the largest crowd ever gathered at daytona wait for the fast carsto run. the race is on the first race is run in 23minute, 142 miles an hour. only 40 cars still running at 300 miles. petty and in um ber 42 oldsmobile, chapmanthunderbirdin a showdown race at 10035 miles an hour using the vacuum by 42 to bring him along. the checkered flag, the race is over the officialdecision based on photos such as this gave lee petty the number 42 the viktdry by a marginofless than one yard >> number three.
>> every race this season to honor the memoryof dale earnhardt, we will be silent on the third lap of the race. >> three wide. here comes dale jr>> into three to get a good run off four got him the lead. five laps to go. >> i thought last year's photo finish wasa thriller, this may be better >> here comes jeff gordon dloezing down onharvick >> somewhere, too, must be dale earnhardtbecause this is his car that kevin harvick
is driving. >>> the fans saluted dale with the number3 on the third lap. kevin harvick salutes him on the way to victorylane. >>> i kept praying for dale to help me. he did>> the unfortunate circumstances, all i got to say is this one is for dale. >> goes back to the inside>> somebody's got to give. >> and into the wall goes busch. blue the dog here for propane.
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you're that guy from verizon who switchedto sprint. i used to ask if you could hear me now, butit's 2016 ...and sprint's network reliability is now within 1% of verizon. and sprint saves you 50% on most verizon,at&t and t-mobile rates. that's why millions have switched. make that millions plus one. can you hear that? don't let a 1% difference cost you twice asmuch. switch to sprint today.
rollin' down the highwayburnin' through the fog if you see me at the crossroadsyou can hear me wail and moan but if you hear that fiddleand he's swingin that sickle then don't look twice cause i'm gone not justanyone could be a racecar driver like casey mears, but anyone could save money on carinsurance with geico. geico, see how much you could save. >> here's tony stewart, one of the greatestrace stretches in dmaz car history keselowski slides wide he's in the grass. >> the start/finish line, checkered flag>> brad keselowski scores the victory.
>> and earnhardt still has the lead incredible>> lee petty, a victory by a margin of less than one yard>> harvick >> we are now down to the final two finisheswho is going to be number one? >> the green flag is out to start the greateststock car race in the world. white flag comes oit richard petty gets outof the groove he gets a little high. the center of the groove, you hear him knockingon the door. he has pulled up he goes down to the insideof petty. >> david pierson has the lead going into thethird, number tloo e >> they're three abreast into the last carthey almost touch as they go down low they're
going to be side by side as they head to thefinish line. >> they both spin, they're into the wall bettyis sliding, slamming into the wall he's coming down towards the finish line. will he make it? he the car stops 300, 400 feet shy of thefinish line pierson is still running. david pierson moving down through as theycome to the stripe. the winner is car number 21. an amazing finish. richard petty's car demolished the front end,as well as car number 21.
an unbelievable finish>> look at the car, the tire smoke is coming off. and it seemed to be slid in there. he slides across him then he tries to correctit looks just as this moment as if he's got it corrected david pierson's car slams rightinto the wall. then richard petty starts to go loose again. >> car number 21, david pierson has come homevictorious the race is over >> going down the backstretch. >> pierson has won the daytona 500 in themost dramatic finish in the his rit of the
game>> number one, we return to darlington historic speedway>> kurt busch lost an engine in practice started 42nd, and now he leads by three seconds>> i don't think he's going to have time. we've got another race, we've got a race tothe finish 12 laps to go. that's enough time i tell you, he's got time. it's going to be really exciting really, reallyexciting. >> butch craven really gets off turn fourhard >> right there in the middle he's going toget down that's not the way to do it, i don't know . come on, baby, come on somebody's gotto give into turn one.
>> that was not a very good idea>> got into him. >> i'm telling you, kurt busch is not goingto give up the win. >> ricky craven is not gong to give up either>> come on, ricky. he gets on the high side right there. >> there we go>> here he comes, here he comes. >> who's going to get off turn four>> have you ever >> no, i never>> wow >> what a finish>> that was one happy group there. >> that was a lot of fun>> i'm sorry i wrecked the race car.
i had no power steering. >> look at craven fighting that steering wheelpontiac has the kick out on the nose >> he wouldn't have won. look how close this fennish is>> 0.002 of a second >> there you have our ten fantastic nascarfinishes. the list may be debated, but the sweetnessof victim vi is without question >>> the march towards the 2016 verizon indycarseries championship continues this weekend from pocono. indy pocono 500 qualifying, up next we welcome,everyone, i'm.
>> brian: brian till, paul tracy, townsendbell kevin lee, robin miller, katie hargitt and jon beekhuis in the pits talk about thetricky triangle it was tricky this morning for several of the drivers start with ryanhunter-reay. >> they tried to knock out a equal similaron the first run. big impact he loses the back end at the exitof turn one massive hit. luckily, ryan hunter-reay was able to walkaway, but the car, not repaired in time this was charlie>> yeah, kimball hit the wall hard look what pops out of the car. his steering wheel we thought the wheel cameoff in the corner but it didn't.
it came off with the impact from his knees. >> brian: this is onboard with simon pagenaudhis bad 2016 season continuing in practice this morning they were able to get montoya'scar and kimball's car repaired and back into the tech line. for ryan hunter-reay, he was not in tech linesoon enough he will not qualify. here's the weather 80 partly cloudy. as the clouds kind of come and go, it willbe interesting to see if the track changes and the balance of the cars change>> we'll be watching that track temp number. 120 degrees.
pretty warm. these cars very sensitive to the surface temperature. are. >> brian: do you want to be the first guyout? >> i think you probably do the track temp,going to rise as the often carries on, so, i believe it's an advantage to go early here>> yeah, turn one is going to be the place where i think you're going to make it happenhere the straightaway is so long. we've been watching guys in practice lookspretty easy to go flat in the tunnel turn, flat in turn three, but turn one, everybody'sbreathing it a little bit, doing a down shift
if they can get that flat, townsend, goingto see a big lap speed. >> brian: got dixon waiting to go devin? >> kevin: they didn't get much practice time. they had some gearbox issues and felt likewe had six different install laps to figure out what was going on things have dramaticallychanged since the test i'm hearing that up and down pit road those that felt like theywere really good, felt like they found something from last year, it didn't necessarily transferso, all that said, they're coming in a little bit blind he didn't get a true qualifyingsimilar. he said, we're going to go really sensitivehere.
>> townsend: you want to make sure you havea good car for the race 500-mile run 14 degrees of banking in turn one. eight degrees in two, and then six degreesdown in turn three >> see dixon warming up here, townsend likeindianapolis, the last couple tracks we've seen, tire falloff could be critical, so,we'll see how quickly he warms up we know it's critical at indy. >> townsend: well, his confidence level isgoing to be determined here. this is where you put the most amount of hatral load on the car and get a good feel for the balance, the confidence, the lack thereforethat comes from that balance if it feels good
right here to scott dixon, then he'll be onit for his first lap. >> brian: i noticed down the front straightaway,even there, he pinned the head down, looking to make an adjustment on the car, on the wheelperhaps? this is where you have to get that good run. getting ready to carry the speed down thisfront straightaway .7 of a mile in length. out of turn three and he'll come to the green>> so fast at texas. really quick in iowa the last month, thingsreally have not gone his way. he's really taken a hit in the points so,if he's got any chance at this championship, he's got to get it turned around this weekend.
>> townsend: you know, for everybody in theverizon indycar series, we're had a breather the last couple of weeks and i know
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