NASCAR Warmup: Food City 500

What: Food City 500
Where: Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee
When: Sunday, March 16, 1:30p/ET on FOX (Green Flag 2:00p/ET)
Distance: 500 laps, 250 miles
Weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 53. North wind around 10 mph.
2007 Winner: Kyle Busch
Predictions: Keep Reading

Breaking Down the Food City 500

Goodyear Still a Hot Garage Area Topic

It all started with Tony Stewart one week ago with his inflammatory comments directed at NASCAR's sole tire supplier, Goodyear.

Stewart continued those barbs this week in interviews and on his weekly radio show trying to make it clear that Goodyear desperately needed to change its practices when it comes to developing a race tire. Simply, Stewart felt that Goodyear has long been too conservative with its tire combinations in order to save corporate face.

Goodyear and NASCAR both staunchly disagreed with the stance, but for once, Stewart was able to speak his opinion the entire week.

Jeff Gordon originally had thought Stewart had gone over the top with his post-Atlanta remarks, but Friday he told the media that he thought that Goodyear had brought a tire combination to Bristol that didn't quite make sense.

Kasey Kahne reiterated those statements, as well.

"The left sides are wearing a lot," said Kasey Kahne, who had the fastest lap during the final practice before rain set in. "There's a lot of tire rubber on the track, which is going to make it kind of tough for two- and three-wide racing."

The tires could produce either issues with blow outs or the racing as Kahne said, which leads to one thing, and one thing only.

When exactly is Goodyear going to actually devote every resource to racing?

Sprint Cup races are not supposed to be testing grounds for tire combinations, they are races. Fans pay to see races with quality racing, not testing or chances taken with tires.

Predictions

The Food City 500 will be an interesting race after the rain over the weekend. Drivers have practiced on a race track that started out very green -- without any rubber in the surface to increase grip. By the end of final practice, the track had taken on more grip.

Then it rained hard again to take the track back to its "green" state.

That being said, the Food City 500 promises to be a crap shoot for the first 100 laps. Teams will be starting up front due to rain canceling qualifying that may not belong there, and the track will be under sunny conditions for the first time nearly all weekend.

I expect by lap 400, though, that there will a couple of clear favorites that we're used to seeing at Bristol, including Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, and Kyle Busch.

That, though, leaves out one driver who has just been itching to score a victory with Toyota.

Tony Stewart.

Enjoy the race.