NASCAR drivers David Ragan and Denny Hamlin praise Bristol Motor Speedway

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Long before they landed rides in the lucrative NASCAR Sprint Cup ranks, David Ragan and Denny Hamlin were fans.

They traveled to different tracks with their families and dreamed of someday landing a part in the big show.

After an intensive Goodyear test session Tuesday, both drivers affirmed their love for Bristol Motor Speedway and expressed confidence that supporters will continue to pour into the half-mile concrete oval.

“If I were a fan now, this would be place that I would come,” Ragan said. “Just for excitement and for a good time, there’s no better racing than a Saturday night at Bristol.”

Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Speed also participated in Tuesday’s test, which was closed to fans and media. Montoya and Speed were not available for comment.

According to BMS Vice President for Public Affairs Kevin Triplett, track officials are “running behind” in their efforts to sell tickets for the Aug. 18-21 NASCAR race week.
“We’re certainly not where we want to be, and we’re scratching our heads trying to figure out what to do about it,” Triplett said.

Triplett said that BMS employees held a brainstorming session Tuesday. The topic was ticket sales, and the drawing board filled up quickly.

“In various shapes and sizes, we have 47 different initiatives that we’re either doing or discussing,” Triplett said. “That a lot of balls in the air.”

While the 2010 Sprint Cup series has featured fireworks and feuds on and off the track, attendance and television ratings continues to be sluggish. The lackluster interest was reflected in the rare sight of nearly 22,000 empty seats for the Food City 500 on March 21 at BMS.

Ragan said there are plenty of dramatic storylines to attract diehard and casual fans.

“The racing has been extremely good over the last month or two,” Ragan said. “I think it helped when NASCAR told the guys in Daytona that, ‘We want you race a little harder and we’re not gonna govern everybody as hard.’
“But I think the biggest thing that we can attribute the good racing to is that all the teams are a little closer. When everybody is bunched up together, that’s usually a good recipe for some action.”

With five wins, some dramatic late-race charges and his struggle through knee surgery, Hamlin has created headlines. He currently ranks fourth in the Sprint Cup standings.

“We’ve been good for sure, but we’ve had a rough couple weeks and we’re trying different things to make our stuff better,” Hamlin said. “We concentrate so much on the bigger race tracks, and it seems like our short track package has fallen off a little bit. That’s why it’s a good thing for us to test at Bristol.”

The former Late Model ace from Chesterfield, Va., has posted wins on the short tracks at Richmond and Martinsville during his career. Hamlin is eager to complete the short track triple with a victory at Bristol.

“I think we’ve lead on the last lap twice here, but we just haven’t been lucky enough to get the deal done,” Hamlin said. “We’ve mechanical failures and a lot of things happen that’s not of our doing.”

Ragan held off Roush Fenway Racing team Carl Edwards to win the Food City 250 Nationwide Series race at BMS last August. Before the 2010 season began, Ragan admitted that his BMS breakthrough gave him a boost a confidence for the Sprint Cup wars.

“It’s big anytime you can hold off one of your teammates and arguably one of the better drivers here at Bristol in Carl,” Ragan said. “That was our last win, so obviously that’s something that is still in our memory bank. It would be great to get a win on the Cup side of things here.”

Ragan feels the Goodyear tire test, which concludes today, will benefit all NASCAR teams.

“The tire haves been good here in the past, and [Goodyear] is always try to make things a little better,” Ragan said.

At a typical tire test, engineers and drivers experiment with different scenarios and setups to lock in a reliable and racy tire compound.

“We will not know until another few weeks until Goodyear goes through all their data what tire we will be coming back with, but I think the tire that we raced here with in the spring was very good,” Ragan said.

Meanwhile, Ragan and the entire Roush Fenway stable continues to slump. Ragan is currently mired in the 24th spot in Sprint Cup points.

“If we knew what was wrong with our cars, we would be the first ones to change,” Ragan said. “We’ve been good at a few tracks, but consistently we’re not as good we should be.”

As for the prospect of empty seats for the Aug. 21 Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol, Ragan believes the Bristol fans will eventually respond.

“I think that everybody is just waiting until the last minute,” Ragan said. “It’s kind of like Christmas. It’s gonna come, but everybody waits until the last minute to spend that extra dollar. I’m sure they’re going to sell a bunch of tickets the week of the race. [NASCAR fans] will be here.”

Triplett said that BMS officials have received no information regarding the 2011 NASCAR schedule. The prospect of alterations to the schedule has been a simmering debate in recent weeks.

agregory@bristolnews.com | Twitter: @Greg_BHCSports | (276) 645-2544