BMS Follow-up: Richard Childress Racing Concentrating on Next Race

Richard Childress had reason to be happy Sunday.

In fact, the car owner and former journeyman driver from North Carolina had four reasons.

Not only did Clint Bowyer win Saturday’s Sharpie Mini 300 in a RCR Chevrolet, but Jeff Burton led a 1-2-3 sweep for Childress in Sunday’s Food City 500.

"You know, I’m sure nobody is going to rest on this," Childress said. "We’ll have meetings [Monday], have plans ‘cause we know everybody else is working hard to come after whoever won this race.

"Now, we have to concentrate on the next race."

Childress had a rather odd victory celebration planned. While some NASCAR drivers and owners like to spend their off days in glamorous destinations such as New York City or the Bahamas, Childress said he was leaving for Mongolia on Wednesday.

As for keeping in touch with his team members back at the sprawling RCR race shop in Welcome, N.C., Childress has a contingency plan.

"I have a satellite phone," Childress said. "I can call them up and talk for them there."

According to several observers, NASCAR officials took Burton’s car back to their research and development center in Charlotte for inspection.

Vision Problems

During Sunday’s Food City 500 on the Fox Network, play-by-play announcer Mike Joy mentioned repeatedly about the sellout crowd of over 160,000.

Yet, there were clearly many empty seats, especially in the upper reaches of the massive facility. All tickets were sold months ago, however.

"Yes, we saw some empty seats, despite being sold out," said Wayne Estes, BMS vice-president of events. "With the highest gas prices in U.S. history upon us, some ticket holders apparently chose to stay home.

"We all hope this situation improves, for everyone’s sake."

In addition to the slumping economy, some fans voiced concerns with the damp and chilly weather throughout the weekend.

"We have no idea at this time what NASCAR will do to the 2009 schedule," Estes said. "We will not see our dates until much later this year."

Fantastic Finish

Until the drama-filled closing laps Sunday, some fans used the B-word [boring] on various NASCAR message boards.

The final 11 laps featured all sorts of thrills and spills, however. And Childress feels that more compelling racing is yet to come at BMS and other tracks.

"I think you’re going to see other teams, they’ll get in the deal," Childress said. "It will get faster and faster...and better racing with this Car of Tomorrow."

While the race didn’t feature the usual BMS carnage, Estes felt all the essentials played out. The Food City 500 was halted by just 10 cautions for 68 laps, but there were 17 lead changes among eight drivers.

"Thought we had a great race Sunday, one that has fans telling us Bristol is back," Estes said. "We never thought it went anywhere."

As for the lack of wrecks and general mayhem, Estes true racing fans appreciate the multi-groove action.

"Sunday’s Food City 500 provided great racing for great race fans, fans who want to see real racing," Estes said. "And, like all of the really classic Bristol races, it had a ‘moment’ in the last 10 laps that keeps people talking for days, weeks after the checkered flag falls.

"Those moments you remember have common threads: something that happens near the end among those cars with a chance to win, the cars all 320,000 eyes are watching.

"Everyone watched Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart’s ‘moment’ develop, because at that point in the race, they were the show, and then something happened between them, changing everything."

Burton is among the respected drivers in the NASCAR garage. The former short track racer from South Boston, Va. has a well-earned reputation for clean and insightful opinions.

"And what made everything great for me was that a great Virginia veteran came out on top, and the sport’s most beloved car owner had his first Sprint Cup Series sweep of the top positions," Estes said.

Peeved Viewers

According to three sources in different parts of the Mountain Empire, viewers were unable to watch Saturday’s Sharpie 500 on television.

"The issue had nothing to do with a blackout by us," Estes said. "Comcast had issues."

According to a statement that Estes received from Comcast officials, the race was not blacked out.

The statement that Estes received from Comcast went on to say that "The ABC affiliate in Tri-Cities which provides the ABC feed lost both the analog and digital transmissions. They have no backup feed they can provide us.

"Please note that this is an ABC issue, it is not caused by Comcast nor can we effect it."

Bristol’s Best

One of the hidden stories of the weekend was the performance of rookie Sam Hornish, Jr.

The former IndyCar champion was under the spotlight Sunday after he earned the No. 7 starting position when Friday’s qualifying session was rained out.

Hornish has struggled mightily to find his niche in NASCAR, yet he was steady Sunday en route to a 29th place finish. Bristol’s Chris Carrier is the crew chief for Hornish at Penske Racing.

"We pretty much did what we came here to do and that was to stay out of trouble as much you can here and finish," Hornish said.

"With the tough luck that we had in two races and a lot of things that we really couldn’t control, I’m just really happy got out of here in the top-35 in points."

First-year driver Aric Almirola, 24, was another hidden hero with his career-best eighth place finish in the No. 8 Army Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

It was the seventh career start for Almirola, who is scheduled to run 11 more races in the high-profile ride he shares with Mark Martin.