BRISTOL RACE REPORT
by Stenzo
track reporting by Speed


SPEED WINS FIRST RACE OF 2001 SEASON!
Speed's Return to Championship Form Could Mean Trouble for Fellow Competitors

Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TN (4/27/01) -- The race started with the SPEEDLAN boys spread throughout the field, with Stenzo in 9th, all the way to Speed in 30th.   Like so many races here at the “World's fastest half-mile” track, there were many caution flags throughout the race.   The first yellow flag came out on lap 2 when Coyote hit the 10 car, causing a wreck which blocked the track, causing Speed to run into Jay, then hit the 77 car into the 1 car.   Speed was in 23rd position when this happened, and decided to pit to fix the minor damage to his car and rejoined the pack in 27th place.   On the lap 7 restart, Stenzo rear-ended the 20 car that had started slower then he expected, causing the 20 car to spin down into the 10 car.   Meanwhile, the 88 car lifted and Coyote ran into him, damaging his front bumper.

On lap 30, with Stenzo right on his rear bumper, Coyote got into the 77 car and almost hit the inside pit wall, falling from 2nd place to 4th, but with good driving skill managed to save his car.   The second yellow flag came out just a few laps later when Stenzo hit the 77 car, which spun and smoked up the track in turn one.   Bob lifted off the gas and Coyote hit him, relegating Bob back to 6th place.   Under this caution flag on lap 37, Speed came in to pit for new tires and gas, but went a lap down doing so, and had to restart behind the leader in the 28 car.   The race restarted on lap 39, and Speed, who was anticipating the start, rear-ended the 28 car, causing the 28 car to spin and the 20 car to hit the brakes, creating a bottleneck at the start-finish line.   Meanwhile, Stenzo, who was in 2nd place, hit the 20 car just as Coyote hit him in the rear, bringing out yellow flag #3 on lap 44.   Stenzo was forced to pit to fix his damage and rejoined the field in 24th position.

By lap 47, Bob was up to 2nd place, but hit the leader in the 12 car, spun down the track toward the pit wall, saved it and came back up onto the track in turn one, then got hit by the 25 car and spun off the track again, dropping him back to 20th place in the process.   On lap 58, Coyote hit the 88 car which hit the 1 car, and the pack all had to hit the brakes to avoid the incident.   Stenzo, who had worked his way back up to 10th place, ended up piling into the rear of the 99 car in the chain reaction, causing major damage to the front of his car, bringing out yellow flag #4.   Under this caution period, Bob came into the pits with Stenzo for repairs and new tires, and would rejoin the field in 19th and 20th place respectively.   The damage Stenzo sustained ended up causing him to go down a lap when Coyote passed him in the pits on lap 97.   Coyote ended up earning the 5 bonus points for leading the most laps of the race, leading 54 of 175 laps.

On lap 110, Stenzo ran into the back of the 5 car, then hit the outside wall and lost a tire, forcing him to pit again under green.   While Stenzo was in the pits, Bob hit the 12 car and the 26 car on lap 111, bringing out yellow flag #5.   Coyote then handed the lead over to Speed when he came in for four fresh tires and fuel, and came back out in 8th place.   On lap 121, Coyote hit the 1 car, which hit the 99 car, and as they slid down the track, several more cars became involved in the wreck, including the 18, 43, 9, 10, 5, and Bob, which brought out caution flag #6 of the day.   While under caution, the 26 car ran into Stenzo, damaging Stenzo's car and forcing him to have to pit again for repairs.   So it was no big surprise when Stenzo retaliated by punting the 26 car into the wall in turn 3 to bring out yellow flag #7 on lap 127.   (NASCAR called both drivers to their trailer after the race to discuss the incident.)   On lap 146, Coyote got together with the 17 car, and 3rd place Bob narrowly avoided hitting them, but the 8 car was not as lucky, and the ensuing wreck brought out caution flag #8.   On the lap 148 restart, Stenzo hit and spun the 20 car to bring out caution #9.   Like the saying goes, “Caution flags breed caution flags”, especially here at Bristol Motor Speedway!

The race restarted on lap 149, and Coyote in 2nd bumped Speed who had a slow start, and they both spun down the track, which allowed Bob to take the lead.   This wreck brought out caution flag #10.   While under yellow, Speed came in to pit for new tires and rejoined the race in 10th, only giving up two positions.   As they went back green on lap 164, it looked as if Bob had the race in the bag, until the next lap, when he came down across the front end of the 15 car which was a lap down, and was not even thinking of slowing down as Bob spun himself out on his front bumper.   As Bob spun down the track, Stenzo hit the 15 car up the track into the 22 car.   As this happened, the 33 car stood on the brakes, and 5th place Coyote hit him hard, then slammed into the outside wall, blowing his engine and ending his day.   This would be Coyote's 2nd DNF of the year.   The field was now under caution flag #11.   The race restarted on lap 172 for a three-lap shoot out, and Speed, who had new tires, rocketed to the front to win his 1st race this season.   But the caution-filled race ended under yellow as Bob got into the 22 car to bring out the 12th yellow flag of the event on the very last lap.   Bob ended up finishing in 7th, Stenzo was 18th (three laps down), Jay was 22nd (four laps down), and Coyote finished 29th (ten laps down).