Paved with good intent

When Bristol Motor Speedway resurfaced its .533-mile track in preparation for last Saturday's Sharpie 500, Jeff Byrd, the track's president and general manager, cautioned his minions to be prepared to face a backlash.

"When we first started the whole process, in light of the mixed reaction we got after a repave at our sister track in Las Vegas, we sat around in circles and said we've got to toughen up and have a thick skin," Byrd said Wednesday by telephone. "And we were talking about the [anticipated reaction of] drivers."

When race winner Carl Edwards combined with runner-up Kasey Kahne (who led 305 laps) to lead 487 of 500 laps of a Nextel Cup Series event highlighted by a green-flag run of 126 laps before the first caution, two- and three-wide racing in the graduated banking of the corners, and largely devoid of any carnage, Bristol fans loudly wailed their 160,000-seat equivalent of a Roman Coliseum had been ruined.

"The drivers were unanimous in their praise and they went out of their way to thank us for the changes," Byrd said. "Dale Jarrett even stood up in the drivers' meeting and, on behalf of the rest of the drivers, thanked our design team for doing such a great job and for listening to the drivers."

After he finished third to climb to second in the points race, Tony Stewart climbed from his No. 20 Chevrolet and proclaimed, "It was the most fun I've had at Bristol in my career. Even the night I won wasn't as much fun as tonight was. You could just race all over the racetrack."

Comments like those were music to Byrd's ears. It was, however, the vitriolic reaction of fans and NASCAR beat writers that caused Byrd to cringe. "I spent most of my time [Tuesday] answering e-mails from fans," he said. "I've decided that our fan base has been divided by the wreckers and the racers and it's very evident that a segment of our fan base were just interested in the wrecks."

Stewart went on his Sirius Satellite Radio show and expressed incredulity over the negative fan reaction. Byrd said he appeared on Claire B. Lang's XM Satellite Radio show Monday and expected to get pummeled by fans, but was pleasantly surprised. "I was on for an hour and we took about 10-12 calls and every one of them was positive," Byrd said. "And they weren't screening the calls so that they could get a positive reaction, they were looking for a mix.

"It's really kind of puzzling to us, but I understand that the race fans sign our paycheck, and I understand that we built our racetrack to driver specifications," Byrd added. "I also understand that, according to NASCAR data, we had 2,147 passes for position in the Sharpie 500 and 997 for the Food City 500 [in March]. It's a lot more competitive racetrack, but that doesn't mean anything to a certain part of our fan base because they're interested in wrecks."

Despite the protestations to the contrary from a certain segment of Bristol's vox populi, "We have improved the racing, but not the wrecking," Byrd said. "I understand that racing appeals to certain people and the wrecking appeals to a completely different group. In a perfect world, we'd approve of racing and rubbing - not wrecking."

Stepping in

In an unexpected twist in his quest to pry his car number from Dale Earnhardt Inc., Dale Earnhardt Jr. last weekend rose to the defense of his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt, who had been savaged in the court of public opinion and vilified as the reason why Junior would not be able to drive the No. 8 for Hendrick Motorsports next season.

"It is about time to give Teresa a break," Dale Jr. said. "She makes the decision on the number because she owns it. And as much as I am disappointed and frustrated over the fact I don't get to keep driving the No. 8, the stuff I've read on the Internet and the stuff I'm hearing that is going on, the remarks about her, directed toward her, I don't think anybody deserves that.

"If people just take a step back and look, she hasn't done anything intentionally that is detrimental to me."

Some of Earnhardt's fans, though, have cited the ongoing rift between their favorite driver and his stepmother/car owner as a major reason he decided to eject from the cockpit of the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet to drive an undecided car number with an undecided sponsor.

"I have a good future, I have a good opportunity in my hands," Earnhardt said. "She is doing what she needs to do, what she feels like she needs to do. I think everybody needs to lay off a little bit because she was married to my daddy and I know he wouldn't be too happy about it, what's going on and what's being said about her. It bothers me a little bit."

Old faithful

Nextel Cup veteran Ricky Rudd, 50, will make his 900th career start in tomorrow's Sharp Aquos 500 at California Speedway. "This is a record that just kind of sneaks up on you," said Rudd, who holds NASCAR's mark with 788 consecutive starts from 1981-2005. "I started out as one of the youngest guys in this sport [at 18] and now I'm one of the oldest guys out there still racing." Rudd, who was lured out of semi-retirement to drive the No. 88 Ford for Robert Yates Racing, said he planned to park it for good at season's end, but seemed to leave the door open for a Mark Martin-style return. "The only way I would get out of a rocking chair would be for a limited schedule with a competitive, winning operation that is ready to go and for some unique situations if someone was needed to help fill in the gaps," he said. "But I'm not looking for anything. You can call me retired." . . . Kurt Busch, who is holding down the final spot in the 12-man Chase for the Championship with two races remaining, won the pole at California Speedway yesterday with a fast lap of 182.399 miles per hour . . . Indy Racing League fans will have a rooting interest in ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" this season after Team Penske driver Helio Castroneves, the two-time Indy 500 champion, confirmed his participation as a celebrity hoofer in the fifth season of the popular dance competition. "I don't think I'm strong on anything in dancing right now," said Castroneves, 32, of Brazil who will be paired with Julianne Hough, winner from the show's fourth season. "I thought Samba would be something that I might get away with, but after three days of rehearsing, I can see that I need a lot of practice." . . . Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon, who leapfrogged Andretti Green Racing's Dario Franchitti for the lead in the IRL points with his victory at Infineon Raceway last Sunday, will attempt to expand his 4-point lead over Franchitti (560-556) in tomorrow's Detroit Indy Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the season. "I think with the competition in this league, it's very tough to sort of give anything up. You've got to keep the same pressure on," said Dixon, whose victory at Infineon gave him three this season on road courses and tied him with Tony Kanaan, third in the points, with a series-leading four overall wins.

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com; material from personal interviews, sanctioning bodies, race teams, sponsors, and track publicity departments was used in this report.