by Darrell Waltrip

Updated: August 29, 2007, 9:50 PM EST 77 comments

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I watched just like you did, but I also watched on Wednesday night and Friday night. The Truck race on Wednesday night was exciting, and the last few laps of the Busch race on Friday night... that's as good as it gets right there, anywhere you go. It was some good, hard, side-by-side beatin' and bangin', let it all hang out. Let the rough side drag. Get her to the finish line. Don't-bring-me-back-anything-but-the-steering-wheel kind of racing.

I thought, and I'm sure most people did, that Saturday night was going to be a barnburner, the race of all races that Bristol has ever seen. But it didn't turn out quite that way.

You know I'm old school, and I look at this sport the way it used to be. That's the way I've grown up to know it to be and the way I think it ought to be. When somebody starts telling me that , I've got to find the guy that keeps these statistics. He's got to give me a lesson in what that means because two guys dominated the race, leading the better part of 500 laps. I saw those two guys pass each other once or maybe twice.

I don't know about you, but a pass is a pass for the lead. And a pass is a pass at the start/finish line. Unless they're freezing the field, they don't count who is leading the race on the back straightaway. The start/finish line is golden. That's where everything takes place, and everything is counted. I think they might want to rethink how they keep their statistics because I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I saw two guys dominate the race. I don't know about all of the other things that may have happened somewhere else on the racetrack while I wasn't looking.

But anyway, fans and media didn't complain about the track on Wednesday night. They didn't complain about the track on Friday night. Everybody had high expectations for a real knockdown, drag-out kind of a show, but it was very obvious from the get-go that Saturday night's race wasn't going to be that way. It went forever without a caution, but over the last two or three years, we've had long green runs and green-flag pit stops at the World's Fastest Half Mile. If you don't believe me, ask Jeff Gordon or Mark Martin. They're a couple of guys who have entered pit road under green in the wrong place. So we've had some recent races that have gone and stayed green for quite some time so it's not all that unusual.

If the track was good on Wednesday and Friday, what was different about Saturday? You guessed it. The car.

I've talked with a lot of guys about Saturday night's race, and it was just so difficult to get that Car of Tomorrow to handle the way the drivers wanted, which hurt the kind of racing that they can do. A lot of the guys aren't confident and are uncomfortable with the car. The crew chiefs struggled with the setup.

Even though we've had a number of Car of Tomorrow races this year, no one seems to have a handle on what it takes to make the thing work. It looks like it's hit and miss. It looked like the Hendrick guys had it for a while, and then the Gibbs guys had it for a while. Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne — driving a Ford and a Dodge respectively — hadn't been heard from in previous Car of Tomorrow races, but all of the sudden, they rose to the top. So it seems to be pretty hit and miss with that car right now.

I can't fault the racetrack. If the track was bad, none of the races would have been good. The different thing was the car itself. It just goes to show there's still a lot of work to be done for the Car of Tomorrow to be as competitive as the current car. The Trucks and the Cup cars ran pretty close to the same speed, and the Busch cars were the fastest of the three. That's not necessarily healthy for TV ratings and fans at the track as well.

Maybe it wasn't the track at all. Maybe it was the Car of Tomorrow. Maybe the tires were too hard. Or maybe it's the effects of the Chase. The last couple of years, this race has become more and more affected by the Chase. Guys drive this race a little differently because some don't want to jeopardize anything and some have to finish to get all the points they can. Bristol is one of those wild-card races where drivers say, "Look, I'm going to drive cautiously and conservatively, and get out of here with as many points as I can."

Drivers almost forget about trying to win the race because they're just trying to finish the thing. You've also got to remember that a lot of the young guys that were wild and crazy for a couple of years are starting to mature a little bit. They're starting to learn how to race on a track like Bristol with a little bit more give and take so the maturing of these younger drivers is starting to show up, too.

Whatever it is, it doesn't really matter. It's still Bristol. It's still 500 laps on one of the fastest short tracks in the country. Obviously, it's unpredictable because we were all predicting a smash 'em up, bang 'em up, crash 'em up exciting race, and we just didn't get what we anticipated. When your anticipation and expectations are high, sometimes you're disappointed. A lot of people felt that way on Saturday night.

But you've got to admit that the prerace show was an incredible sight. Holy cow, those cards with the American flag and USA and the MRO kids singing the National Anthem, you had the sights, sounds and all the anticipation. I don't care what they do, the Bristol night race is one of the best races of the year. Any driver that wins at Bristol will tell you he counts that victory as one of his greatest accomplishments. Folks, take it from me. We should, too.

Oh, by the way

As I watched the Bristol race, it was definitely a little bit different than I had expected, and it reminded me of going to my favorite restaurant. It's a place where I love to eat. I love the menu, food and atmosphere. All of the sudden, they've changed the menu, and I thought, "I love this place. I loved the menu the way it was. Whose bright idea was it to change it?" That's how Saturday night affected me.

Trust me. In the end, when the teams get more comfortable with the Car of Tomorrow and Goodyear comes back with a racier tire, it'll get back to the Bristol we all know and love. In my mind, they can't do anything to take away the excitement, hype, fun and prestige of winning at Bristol. It's still right up there with Daytona, Talladega and Indianapolis. It's still one of those races that drivers want to win.

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Oh, by the way II

This week, I played in Larry McReynolds' golf tournament, which has turned into quite the event. Larry and Linda, his wife, have done a great job of promoting, developing and nurturing it into something really special. They give half of the proceeds — which has turned out to be considerable the last year or so — to Motor Racing Outreach and the other half goes to the North Carolina chapter of the Special Olympics. It was a fun tournament. I played with Jeff Gordon's crew chief Steve Letarte and some of the guys from Hendrick Motorsports. That Letarte is a piece of work. He is a funny man. I had a great time playing golf with him.

I left the tournament, and on a somber note, Stevie and I attended the funeral of Sam Conway, a gentleman that worked for me for a couple of years. He was a great guy who helped us a lot in the 1990's when we had our own race team. Our condolences go to his wife Ann and his son, Kevin, who you might know drives some Busch races for Joe Gibbs Racing. They're sweet, godly people. Sam was a committed Christian and a good man. I know he's gone to a better place because he was a godly man.

Oh, by the way III

Stevie and I are also praying for Harry Pedley's family, including his wife Betty. I worked in his shop up in Owensboro, Ky., and you may have seen me standing beside car number 100 a number of times, which was Harry's car. He helped me build engines and cars when I was just getting started in racing. Without people like Harry and a few other buddies in Owensboro, I never would have accomplished what I did in racing. Harry was just a hard worker and an honest, straightforward guy. He built a heck of a race car, and I won a lot of races for him. He was a great friend, and he'll be missed, too.