Despite changes, Bristol can still unleash havoc

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Debris from wrecked racecars sat piled in the garage area, as crewmen hammered on mangled vehicles in desperate attempts to get them back on the track. A bump-and-run led to a cool-down lap confrontation which led to recriminations and name-calling on pit road. The raucous, singular voice of 160,000 spectators cheered and booed with enough gusto to shake the mighty grandstand, all of it a signaling boisterous approval for a facility some feared would never be the same again.

Just another tame Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, right?

Nobody tossed a helmet, punched an ambulance, flipped a middle finger or tried to physically assault another competitor. But the concerns that this venerable old speedway deep in the Appalachian hills has been damaged beyond repair floated away Saturday like tire smoke drifting into the Tennessee night. A seven-car accident, call-outs over the radio, Carl Edwards using the bump-and-run to beat Kyle Busch, hard feelings left evident on the racetrack -- all signs that this half-mile concrete oval is as ornery and as capable of wreaking havoc as ever.

"If I could have passed him without getting to him, that's what I would have done," Edwards said after rattling Busch's cage with 31 laps remaining to record his sixth Sprint Cup victory of the season, and close the gap a little more on the series points leader (watch video). "That's it. That's not the best way to do it. But if I were a fan and I could only pick one race to go to, this one would be hard to overlook."

It hasn't seemed that way for much of the last two years, since NASCAR unveiled its new car at this motorsports shrine, since track officials replaced the old concrete surface with a new one that allows drivers to pass more cleanly, since the looming Chase caused many title contenders to get all conservative in the facility's showpiece night event. When compared to Bristol's colorful history, recent races seemed staid. Some called them boring. Others threatened to turn in tickets for a place that's been sold out 53 consecutive times. (Continued)