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By JOANNE KORTH
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 23, 2001
After several days filled with discussions about trajectory vectors and occupant kinematics, the Winston Cup series heads to thrills-a-minute Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend for some plain ol' fun.
Everybody loves Saturday night racing at Bristol's high-banked, half-mile oval. Everyone, that is, except the body-work wizards responsible for banging out all those dents.
"Bristol is the reason race cars have fenders," said Jeremy Mayfield, driver of the No. 12 Ford, who has two top-five finishes in the past three Bristol races. "This track is nothing but beating, banging and lots of speed. Every race there you end up with one winner and a whole bunch of guys who are mad at each other.
"This is pretty much everything stock car racing is all about."
On Tuesday, NASCAR revealed the results of a six-month investigation into the crash that killed Dale Earnhardt on the last lap of the Daytona 500. A trip to Bristol is tailor-made for lightening the somber mood.
Bristol is all about fun.
"You go really fast, you turn really quick and you feel like a pinball when the night is over," said Kyle Petty, driver of the No. 45 Dodge. "If you don't like short tracks, you just don't get what stock car racing is all about.
"The Daytona 500, the Southern 500, those races might have been the ones that put NASCAR on the map, but the (short) tracks like the Bristols and the Martinsvilles and the Richmonds are the ones that made NASCAR go before there was a map."
The 36-degree banked turns guarantee action-packed excitement. The close-quarters racing makes keeping the car in one piece until the end of the 500-lap event a considerable challenge.
"The racing is close and there are always enough cautions that if somebody is starting to run away, the yellow flag can just reel him back in again," Petty said. "You try to run by yourself but, most of the time, you're working your way through traffic -- whether you are trying to get away or trying to catch up."
BACK TO THE STRIP: Legendary Top Fuel drag racers "Big Daddy" Don Garlits and Shirley "Cha-Cha" Muldowney will come out of retirement to compete at the 47th annual U.S. Nationals Wednesday-Sept. 3 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Garlits, 69, will try to break the 300 mph mark for the first time in his career.
"That's a no-brainer, as long as I stay on it," Garlits said. "We'll find out if I have any guts left. The good part is it'll be over quicker."
Muldowney, 61, who won 18 races and three championships, will be back behind the wheel of her trademark pink dragster; Garlits will drive Gary Clapshaw's Top Fuel dragster.
"It's not an easy thing to give up the seat at Indy," Clapshaw said of one of the NHRA's most prestigious events. "But when you look at the big picture, I think it's a pretty nice thing for the fans, the association and the racers."
Garlits, a 35-time NHRA Top Fuel winner and three-time champion, won the last of his eight U.S. Nationals titles in 1986, beating Darrell Gwynn with a speed of 266.66 mph.
FORMULA ONE MOVES: Former champion Mika Hakkinen will return to drive for the McLaren team next season, according to a newspaper in the driver's native Finland. Also, the Jordan team signed driver Giancarlo Fisichella from rival Benetton.
BLADE-LESS RUNNERS: The U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association will celebrate its 10th anniversary Sept. 1 with the STA-BIL Nationals in Mendota, Ill. The circuit held its first national event in 1991 as a promotional stunt, but the concept caught on. "Now we have local clubs and state associations across the country, a network television series, international events in England and Canada, and more than 600 sod warriors coast to coast," said Bruce Kaufman, president of the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association. "It goes to mow, you don't ever know."
TV TROUBLES: The American Speed Association is seeking an injunction against TNN to prevent tape-delayed telecasts of two races next month. A hearing is scheduled Aug. 30. ASA wants the races in St. Paul, Minn., on Sept. 3, and Clermont, Ind., on Sept. 29, to be broadcast live.
-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.