Let’s face it… there’s nothing quite like the first time. While that can be said for a variety of life experiences, I’m specifically talking about your first NASCAR Cup race.

Yep, last night’s Discover BCS National Championship Game ended up being a route. But the buildup to the game (for weeks and up until kickoff) certainly was intense and enjoyable – especially in the world of social media. The one common thread that echoed from fans across Twitter, Facebook and YouTube throughout the period clearly was “passion.”

I’m posting this blog on Monday, Dec. 3, but I’m actually writing it on Saturday, Dec. 1, sitting aboard an Airbus A321 Jet somewhere over… hmm, Oklahoma maybe? Who knows?

While I’m not a poetry aficionado, every now and then, a line from a classic rings true.  Case in point, Robert Burns in his 1786 effort To A Mouse, wrote “The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry.” Which in good ol’ boy terms, like I’m used to, means “Plan all you want bubba, but somethin’ can always (and often does) go wrong.”

Be it a round track battle on the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway, or a 300 mph duel at Thunder Valley, fans arrive… you watch the event… you go home. For all practical purposes, all you see is the finished product. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. In fact, that’s how it’s supposed to work.

By BEN TROUT

Mystery... Drama... Uncertainty... The unexpected... The unknown… Be it a good novel, a box office hit or your choice of any CSI, NCIS or Law and Order TV episode, there’s a natural attraction to suspense.

Ask a lot of NASCAR fans. Ask a lot of Bristol fans. Ask your family. Ask your next-door neighbor. Ask them… At the end of the day, “What really matters?”

By Don Freels, Bristol Fan 

Twice each year, race fans, their families and friends take a weeklong camping vacation in the foothills of northeast Tennessee. They typically stay in the same campground, and perhaps even camp in the same spots.

Some blogs just simply speak for themselves. And yes, this is one of them.

Ann Thompson of Goose Creek, S.C., just happens to be 88 years young. She recently visited Bristol’s holiday attractions; in particular to see her great-grandsons (Matthew and William Agostinelli) ride down the HVAC Chill Hill Tube Slide.

By BEN TROUT

Ya just gotta love those rare sports moments. You know… the ones that separate themselves from all others. In short, the ones you’ll remember for years to come. The ones, that in all probability, you’ll talk about to your grandkids one day.

By Ben Trout

Sandwiched between the August IRWIN Tools Night Race and the opening of our holiday season with AutoTrader.com Speedway In Lights, lies one of my favorite times of year on the calendar.

I’ll readily admit that as an employee of Bristol Motor Speedway that my favorite time of the year truly is our August Race Week. And, I’ll also readily admit my least favorite time of the year is the week that follows.

Nope, I can’t say I’m an adrenaline junkie; not even close to the thrill seekers we saw here last Saturday with the Team FMX freestyle motocross guys.

But trust me, I do know when the adrenaline kicks in. For me, and many of my cohorts here at Bristol Motor Speedway, it’s when we look up and see that the calendar says, “August 1.”

Sometimes when you sit down to write a blog, you just don’t need a lot of words. Today is one of those days.

And for all practical purposes, today I only need two. And those words are “Thank You."