At least for a while Saturday night, it seemed like old times at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Rusty Wallace executed clean passes in the blue No. 2. Harry Gant made a late-race charge in the green No. 33. And Sterling Marlin dominated the field in the yellow No. 4 Chevrolet.
This wasn’t a replay on ESPN Classic or the Speed channel. It was the real thing.
While Saturday’s Late Model event for NASCAR legends and former BMS winners needed more balance and organization, the drivers and fans appeared to have fun. That’s the main thing in a top-heavy sport reeling from high prices and empty seats.
No question, the top levels of NASCAR racing could use a big dose of creativity and unpredictability.
So give BMS officials credit for coming up with this ambitious idea and somehow convincing the drivers to compete. That hefty feat was accomplished in a matter of months.
If there is another legends event, the field needs to be more even. Put the drivers in the same kind of cars, invert the field based on age – just do something to spice things up.
The 52-year-old Marlin was impressive in his flag-to-flag victory. However, it’s ludicrous that Marlin is qualified in today’s Food City 500, but was still allowed to compete with the likes of 77-year-old Junior Johnson and 70-year-old L.D. Ottinger.
Marlin drove the same car Saturday that he competed in twice last season at Music City Motorplex in Nashville. Compare that to Johnson, who had not been in race car for 45 years before a recent test session at Tri County Speedway.
True NASCAR fans spent the past few weeks salivating at the concept of watching their heroes compete at one of the most action-packed tracks in motorsports.
Many of those same fans made numerous calls to media outlets to check if the Saturday Night Spectacular would be televised.
There were a few interesting moments during the race, but something seemed to be rushed. That was evident from the lackluster reaction of fans after the event.
As expected, the announcers on ESPN2 were almost giddy in the prerace buildup and event coverage.
The idea of legends racing in NASCAR might be a dreamy idea on paper, but on Saturday it failed to live up to the hype for some tradition-loving fans.
agregory@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2544
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