2009 Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway

2009 Sharpie 500:

It's time for the 2009 Sharpie 500. The Saturday night short track shootout in Bristol. Tempers will run hot this Saturday night in Bristol with close quarters racing on the tight half-mile high-banked short track. This is NASCAR at its best.

Pressure is building towards the 2009 Chase for the Cup. Will Mark Martin hold on to twelfth or can Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer or Kyle Busch battle their way into the Chase with just three races remaining?

Tickets:

Speedway ticket office (423) 764-1161

Buy online from TicketsNow (direct link)

The Track:

Measuring in at .533 miles and featuring variable banking in the corners. Bristol Motor Speedway is very tight and very fast. Racing here was once compared to racing jetfighters in a gymnasium.

In 2007 the track was torn up and reconfigured. They made the track three feet wider, smoothed the transitions into the turns and added variable banking.

Race Distance:

500 laps = 266.5 miles

The Big Picture:

Jimmie Johnson's fuel mileage woes last week in Michigan cost him a spot in the points. Johnson sliped to third behind Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon.

Mark Martin also ran out of fuel at the end of last week's race. Martin was up to ninth in points but coasted to the checkers out of fuel and ended up falling to twelfth.

The top twelve:

1. Tony Stewart
2. Jeff Gordon -284
3. Jimmie Johnson -303
4. Carl Edwards -505
5. Denny Hamlin -514
6. Kurt Busch -543
7. Juan Montoya -613
8. Kasey Kahne -616
9. Ryan Newman -655
10. Greg Biffle -679
11. Matt Kenseth -689
12. Mark Martin -709

Storylines:

One year ago Kyle Busch came to Bristol on top of the NASCAR world. Busch had visited Victory Lane eight times already in 2008 and held a commanding lead in the points.

Flash forward to 2009 and Kyle Busch has just three wins and a dismal average finish of 17.6 in the 23 races held so far this season. Kyle Busch finds himself fifteenth in points scrambling for a spot in the 2009 Chase with just three races to go.

Kyle has two career Bristol wins but neither of them under the lights in August. If Kyle Busch is going to make the Chase it is time for him to turn up the heat.

Media Coverage:

TV: ESPN Saturday August 22ndd 6:30PM Eastern.

Radio: PRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Actual Race: 7:35PM Eastern

Recent Events:

2008 Winner: Carl Edwards

2008 Polesitter: Carl Edwards

Last Year:

Last year Bristol Motor Speedway added another chapter to its storied history.

Carl Edwards used the bump-and-run to swipe victory away from Kyle Busch in the closing laps of the 2008 Sharpie 500. After the race was over Kyle Busch took exception to the pass and hit Edwards' car with his. Edwards then spun Kyle Busch across the track and continued on to his victory celebration.

On track fireworks like these are the reason that the Sharpie 500 is still one of the toughest tickets in NASCAR.

Predictions:

Carl Edwards won this event each of the last two years. Since they reconfigured the track in 2007 no one has beat Carl at Bristol in August. Although winless so far in 2009 Carl Edwards still makes a great pick this Saturday night in Bristol.

For my backup this week I would pick Mark Martin, but he will be points racing and unlikely to gamble again for a win. Kyle Busch needs to run well but does not have a good track record of performing under pressure.

This week I am settling on Denny Hamlin for my backup pick. Hamlin was third here a year ago and second here in the spring. He knows how to get around Bristol and is due to visit Victory Lane.