NASCAR: Winners And Losers From Bristol

Winner: The Outside Line

After changes at Bristol in past years, NASCAR hoped that maybe the high line wouldn’t be the center of attention at the track, however, nothing has changed, as all speed has continued to run up top. Drivers even tried the bottom line during practice but were never able to get anything going.

On Sunday, it was the place to be all day long for any driver competing for the win. The outside line was the source for movement as the critical final restarts were based on who was starting there.

Being caught on the bottom created a reverse-Martinsville effect, in the sense that drivers had to try to find a gap to jump into up top rather than down low, like they do at the paper clip. In any instances, when a driver would fail to complete a pass, they would lose 2-3 spots due to other cars closing their openings. For many drivers, creating space gave them a fallback option, should they struggle once getting to the inside of another driver.

Near the end of the race, we saw many cautions, resulting in many late restarts. That again proved the dominance of the outside line as Carl Edwards started up top and successfully defended his position every time. Drivers who started n fourth, right behind the No. 19 car, would get a nice run and quickly move to second.

It was the same narrative as always at Bristol: the high line is the right line.

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