IS THIS WHAT YOU INVISIONED??

Yep, Bristol is back.

The Tennessee bullring drew much commentary in recent years for the type of racing it failed to produce. On Sunday, both the track and winner Kasey Kahne himself, delivered the punch fans have been hungering for at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Food City 500, there were 17 lead changes among 10 drivers but there could have been many more. Throughout the race, drivers would pull alongside one another, with one getting a run off the turn but unable to complete the pass on the straightaway. Dogged determination kept the battles alive off and on throughout the showdown.

The final 100 laps of the race boasted epic battles for the lead and for other positions throughout the top 10. But wait,you watched it didnt you? You saw the three wide and a couple of 4 wide too right!!

Did the right fellow win or was you disappointed in the results. .

I thought it was an exciting race... the parts I watched. For some reason I awoke and got up at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday and found myself napping during the race.

A lot of teams paid the price for changing only two tires. Goodyear says excessive brake heat was melting the beads and causing the blowouts.

I thought we were gonna see a pretty good race between Jeff and Matt until Jeff's blowout took them both out.

Seemed to me I saw a lot of passing in the pack and was a little surprised with Matt's postrace comment about passing, "I thought we had the fastest car that run, one of the only cars that could pass out there, said Kenseth.

excellent race... enjoyable as hell......

Race was great. Where were the fans? Seemed like an awful lot of empty seats at a track where you used to have to kill to get a ticket. Not being negative here, just asking. Gen-6 cars, Kyle Busch on the pole, Danica in the field, what else was there to want and still more empty seats than I ever thought I would see there. Guess it will be a disaster at California UNLESS they can manipulate the number 10 on the pole. But even that may not work in California.

NASCAR could do the Bristol track and race fans a huge favor by moving the Bristol "Spring" date into real Spring and out of cold weather. I used to help promote a date at Richmond in February the week following the Daytona 500, so I know what it's like to fight ice and snow. Even though we always sold out, it was no fun for anyone. God bless race fans who sit in stands in below freezing weather with wind in their face.

Great racing at Bristol this past weekend. Kahne was probably a worthy winner once Kenseth was out. Logano thinks he had the best car of them all though.

Sad about the empty seats but atleast the TV ratings were up.

One thing of interest I've discovered. Before this year, I don't recall seeing graphics on the number of green flag "passes" during a race and frankly didn't even realize they kept those records. Now, suddenly, after Las Vegas and Bristol, the number of green flag "passes" is popping up on every racing website I frequent. No mention is made of whether or not some of those count the passes made on cars entering the pits on green flags or not, but the inference is that in Las Vegas and Bristol at least, the green flag "passes" of the Gen-6 far exceed those of the previous two years which are used for comparison. Is NASCAR grabbing at the straws they wish us to see? I'm glad the new car is competitive and I like the Gen-6, but don't become so disillusioned with those statistics that the fans missing from the stands are ignored. Oh, and by the way, I read a post yesterday on Yahoo Sports indicating the television ratings dipped for Bristol. Is that the start of the post Daytona-Danica euphoria? I just wish we could get this sport back on an even course. Improvements have been made this year with the elimination of the top 35 and the new car. I think NASCAR just needs some better leadership although I do have faith in Mike Helton.

DISCLAIMER: (for those to whom it is necessary to clarify). I am not a hater. I am not envious. I am not jealous. I am a fan with opinions I like to express.

Uh oh... I smell the price of commercials increasing to pay for FOX's big new NASCAR broadcasting contract and to pay the salaries of our own "Two Bit" Legend's favorite sibling self-proclaimed expert announcers, along with paying the salary to get Erin Andrews away from ESPN to FOX so she could not find Danica, but entertain us bobbing & weaving in sync to the kissing advances of recording "artist" 50Cent on Daytona's pit road.

My most sincere apology to the ever correct Ms. LillEy. The television ratings ARE, in fact, up this year as she states. Of course, considering where the ratings have been, 8. whatever percent is not such a wonderful thing. Good, yes, that it's going up, but I wonder if that trend will continue.

What I did read was on Yahoo Sports with quotes from Jayski, USA Today and NASCAR Scene which all indicated severe drops in attendance at the races so much that advanced ticket sales are down 20% since 2009. The Brickyard has deopped 27% since 2009 and Michigan down 42% over the past 6 years. As for Fontana, where the series runs this weekend, it was not worth mentioning as they are literally expecting only those celebrities PAID to attend to show up. There are several issues concerning Fontana on several racing related sites this week, none with what I would call an upbeat slant. Dang, it's getting to were I dislike always posting the negative stuff, but NASCAR needs some more positive than what they have. Not all NASCAR's fault, granted.

pretty good racing - the logano-hamlin issue isnt over - these two never got along at jgr - these two will be back at it at some point - all said and done - the nationwide seris has the best racing right now .