Man, you’ve gotta love those short tracks, especially next week’s race venue: Bristol Motor Speedway. Noisy as heck, drafting aplenty and as has been the case this season, NASCAR feuds.

You’ve probably heard about the running feud (although NASCAR says it is over) between Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski. This bears watching as the Bristol layout is one that is conducive to plenty of bumping, hence the Hamlin-Keselowski reference.

There’s the Carl Edwards factor that factors into this, as well. He did his hired gun thing by flipping Keselowski during last weekend’s race at Atlanta and was assessed a three-race probation, as a result. I venture to say that if Edwards or anyone else, for that matter, have designs on commencing some wreckage at Bristol or any other track from this moment forward, look for NASCAR to lay the hammer down more severely – perhaps actually suspending a driver for a race or more.

As narrow as the Bristol track is in some corners, the SAFER barriers will make them even narrower, which should provide for some squirrely moments on certain turns. Fortunately, the SAFER barriers have been painted, so the drivers cannot plead ignorance on this issue whatsoever.

My prediction for this race at Bristol? I like Tony Stewart’s chances this time around. The sexy pick has been the Busch brothers; while both have done well at Thunder Valley, you cannot ignore Stewart’s past results at Bristol. Keep in mind that as a driver of different types of cars, this would qualify as an unfair advantage for Tony. This isn’t a track for the weak-hearted, especially if your name is Boris Said (not that he would qualify for this race).

If anything else, expect lots of caution flags and some cars hitting their respective garages early. After all, it is the Bristol way.