Thunder Valley is the site of the mayhem that will unfold Saturday Night in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series. It’s another Wild Card race this weekend with huge Chase implications on the line for drivers that are on the cusp of being IN or being OUT.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”208″][/media-credit]Since this is the first Matty’s Picks column for a race at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS), I’d like to share some insight about my experiences in Thunder Valley.

I first attended a race at BMS in August of 2000 at the age of 13, and the only other track I had been to at that point in time was my home track, Watkins Glen International. The trip started with my mother interviewing each and every guy I was making the 13-hour trek with, and ended with a night of racing that I will never forget.

“Mom, I’m in good hands” is what I told her as she analyzed the less than reputable characters that my Uncle Ed called his ‘Racing Friends’. These were the guys that showed me the ropes and gave me the grand tour of Bristol. It all started when I was in charge of gathering 15 or so cases of beer that I was told “should last us until Saturday Morning”, WOW!

After the adventurous 13-hour hike to the great state of Tennessee, we arrived at Bristol just in time to see the morning fog lift and reveal the monstrous ‘Coliseum’ that is Bristol Motor Speedway. We were camped on top of the hill above the Drag Strip, so looking down on the track for the first time really put things into perspective for me. This was the largest sporting event I had ever been to…

In utter disappointment, I found out I wouldn’t be able to step foot into the grandstands until Friday morning, due to the fact there is no on-track activities on Thursday’s at BMS. I was like a kid (literally was one at the ripe old age of 13) on Christmas Eve for the entire day on Thursday, anxiously waiting to set my eyes on the high-banks of BMS.

I managed to sleep just a couple hours Thursday night, and was in line to enter the track at the crack of dawn on Friday. I made it a point to drag my Uncle Scotty (who woke up with a massive headache Friday Morning – I wonder why?) to the track first thing on Friday. I think he was just as excited for me to see the track for the first time as I was. “Get ready Matty” he said, as we walked underneath the grandstands and finally got a glimpse of the morning sun peaking through the cracks of the aluminum seating.

I was in awe; it truly was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It looked like God himself had carved the track with his bare hands. My jaw dropped and I was halted in my tracks by the enormousness of the 160,000 seat arena.

If you haven’t had the pleasure of setting your eyes on Bristol Motor Speedway, as a race fan, I would put it on your bucket list. BMS has been keeping me going back for years now (couldn’t make this race weekend unfortunately), and I will keep returning until the day I die.

Michigan Recap

It was another great weekend for my picks last weekend at MIS, with me taking home a Top-5 and a Top-10 for my two picks. I’ve had a bit of a ‘Summer Showdown’ myself the past 3 weeks, with a combined average finish for all my picks of 4.8. Averaging a Top-5 each week is good enough to make The Chase, so if I can keep the momentum going, I think I have a real shot at the ‘Nostradamus of NASCAR’ title at the end of the year.

My Winner Pick last week was Roush-Fenway Racing driver, Matt Kenseth. Kenseth was one of three drivers to average a Top-10 finish going into Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway (9.5), and kept his strong finishing reputation going with his 10th place finish in the Pure Michigan 400. Despite leading 4 times for a total of 15 laps, Kenseth fell off throughout the day, failing to capitalize on his fantastic track position he had all day.

Kenseth spoke of his finish after the race, “We ran okay. Most of the day we had really good track position but we didn’t have the balance or the grip that we had here in June and we weren’t a threat to win which is disappointing. Overall we stayed up front most of the day, except the last lap.”

My Dark Horse pick last week fared a bit better than my Winner Pick in regards to finishing order, netting me another Top-5 for a Dark Horse pick. Brad Keselowski is the hottest driver in NASCAR at this point in time, and I used him to my advantage last weekend at MIS.

I’m not really sure it was fair to pick him as a Dark Horse, but his average finish going into last weekend’s race spoke for itself. Brad hadn’t had a finish inside the Top-20 at MIS, the grounds for me to coin him as a Dark Horse for last Sunday’s race.

Keselowski never made it to the point on Sunday, but did run in the Top-10 for the majority of the 200 laps at MIS. His 3rd place finish marked the Blue Deuce’s 5th Top-5 of 2011, also his 3rd straight Top-5 finish, and marked my 3rd straight Top-10 Dark Horse pick.

Bad Brad spoke in the Media Center following his 3rd place finish, “We were decent today. Probably not as good as we needed to be to run with the 48, the 24, 18, those guys. But probably a 5th to 10th place car. Just executed really well. Had some good restarts. Had some good moves in traffic. Good pit stops, good strategy. Found our way up into the top 5 there with 75 to go. Just really solid effort. We need just a little bit more speed.”

Bristol Picks

It’s extremely tough to make picks this week because Bristol is such a juggernaut. With just 2 races remaining before The Chase for the Sprint Cup, drivers aren’t as willing to take risks and drive above themselves in August as they might have in the March race at BMS. There are a few drivers like Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, and Dale Jr. who are pushing for a win to solidify their chances at taking one of the Top-10 spots going into Richmond, and other guys like Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, and Kurt Busch who might be out there just trying to stay out of trouble and salvage a decent finish in an effort to gain maximum points for their efforts Saturday Night.

Winner Pick

There is one guy that I can guarantee will not be on-track trying to salvage a finish on Saturday Night. When you talk about Bristol Motor Speedway, you can’t help but talk about Sprint Cup Points Leader, Kyle Busch’s recent dominance (besides the Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday Night) in Thunder Valley.

Before Wednesday Night, Kyle Busch had won the past 5 NASCAR events at Bristol Motor Speedway. He hasn’t finished outside the Top-10 since March of 2008, and has won the past 4 out of 5 races in the Sprint Cup Series at BMS. You could say that Kyle Busch is a bit of a ringer at Bristol, but as everyone knows, nothing is for certain at ‘The World’s Fastest Half-Mile’.

Traditionally, Kyle Busch hasn’t started in very good position when the green flag flies at Bristol, which might be why it’s so fun to watch the 26-year-old wheel his car to the front. Busch has started in the Top-10 just one time in his 13 Sprint Cup starts at Bristol, but has wasted no time in establishing his dominance throughout the duration of the 500 lappers.

Triple-Duty assignments have helped Busch master the high-banks of BMS, and another trio of races this weekend will give Busch the experience he needs to visit Victory Lane Saturday Night.

Dark Horse Pick

Kasey Kahne made his name in short track racing by catching the eye of Steve Lewis at Williams Grove Speedway in early 2000. Kahne won the season-opener at Williams Grove in Pennsylvania that year on this way to being named USAC National Midget Series Champion later that season. He joined the likes of other great Short-Track drivers like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart who had also been named USAC Champions in prior years.

Many parallels can be established from USAC racing and Short-Track racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and historically those with USAC Racing experience fare pretty well when it comes to the Short-Tracks in the Sprint Cup Series.

Kahne has a decent history at BMS with three Top-5’s and six Top-10’s, but it’s his efforts in the March race earlier this year that has me turned on as my Dark Horse this week. He averaged a running position of 6.59 on his way to a 9th-place finish in the Jeff Byrd 500, and his pit crew had a hand in his excellent finish.

The No. 4 Red Bull Racing machine ran just one lap outside the Top-15 in March, so look for Kasey Kane to qualify and run towards the front all night on Saturday.

That’s it for this long-winded edition of Matty’s Picks, but I couldn’t help to share my experience with Bristol Motor Speedway.

Stay tuned next week for my insight on the final race before the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup begins.

Until Next Time…You Stay Classy NASCAR NATION!