When the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series cars return to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend, two of the corners on the half-mile oval may feel like they’re missing something about three feet of something.

It won’t be an illusion. Bristol Motor Speedway is extending the Steel and (SAFER) barrier 84 feet coming out of Turns 2 and 4,  a move that will narrow those transition areas by about three feet each, which should make for tighter racing at the 160,000-seat facility.

Kevin Triplett VP. of Public Affairs at Bristol Motor Speedway said “We know it’s three less feet coming off that transition. How the drivers will adapt to that, we don’t know.”

“What we’re hearing from folks who aren’t renewing their tickets, from the majority of them is, it’s economically related, and there’s not a lot we can do about that. But we are hearing from a lot of folks who say, Bristol has been known to be tight, and you guys have given them so much room.

“There’s an element out there that loves three- and four-wide racing, and there’s an element out there that would love it to be a little bit tighter. So we looked at how we could do it keeping the element of safety in mind. We decided, well, we could extend the SAFER barriers. And adding SAFER barriers, we think, is always a good thing.”

The alteration, which Triplett said would be completed in time for this weekends race, will not affect Turns 1 and 3. It also does not involve moving the concrete wall, but rather extending the barrier into parts of the frontstretch and backstretch that had previously been uncovered. Some traditional race fans have grumbled about a perceived lack of action on the otherwise popular short track since a 2007 resurfacing which widened the racing surface by about four feet.

“This will take some of that back,” Triplett said. “It will narrow it up. It will tighten the transitions in the turns.”

Triplett said the idea arose in a meeting a few weeks ago, and that the track’s operations team assured management they could get the work done before Bristol’s spring NASCAR weekend. Triplett said he wasn’t sure how the change would ultimately affect the racing at the facility, which has sold out 55 consecutive Cup Series events yet still has tickets available for its upcoming race.

“Honestly, it’s one of those things where, how do we respond to some of our fans and still have what we have?” he said. “We don’t know what the result will be. We know it’s three less feet coming off that transition. How the drivers will adapt to that, we don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see how that goes.”

David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM contributed to this report.

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