Bristol Herald Courier from Bristol, Tennessee • 17

THURSDAY APRIL 26 2012 BRISTOLBERALD COURIER TnCitiescom Bl BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY Inside ormer Richlands standout 'i Bradley Strong goes for 5 with a triple in his return to the region B7 BHCSports ACEBOOK BHCSports Sports Jrm Sacco sports editor jsaccobristolnewscom (276)645 2572 1 Bristol ANS SPOKE WE LISTOtfD i DAVIDCRIGGERBRISTOLHERALDCOURIER Bruton Smith (from left) Chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Marcus Smith President and General Manager Charlotte Motor Speedway and Jerry Caldwell President and General Manager Bristol Motor Speedway talk about the track modifications to Bristol Motor Speedway during a Wednesday morning news conference Change is on the way Motor Speedway 7 tl LL 1 JNiU rr 7 c' 0 Mi El EM Nil vsA 4L RJgaer 1 'ZXStss Latest configuration expects to be simpler than 2007 resurface project BY NATE HUBBARD BRISTOL HERALD COURIER i BRISTOL Tenn The proj ect announced Wednesday morning by track owner Bruton Smith to remove the progres sive banking and eliminate the high groove at Bristol Motor Speedway will undoubtedly be a significant undertaking But compared to 2007 when the progressive banking was initially installed during a complete resurfacing of the track the latest revamp is a minor adjustment we had to tear up every bit of concrete remove it and then put a half mile of concrete back at an said BMS general manager Jerry Caldwell INSIDE Allen Gregory writes that 'doing away with progressive banking was essentially a compromise between drivers and fans B4 4 about the previous venture inal financial figures were never released for the 2007 re surfacing and after announcement BMS officials gave only as the total for thepast work Prior to the start of the 2007 job a $7 8 million price tag was tossed out but even that amount far exceeds the pre liminary estimates for the latest change to the track Although speedway officials also declined to give a specific number Wednesday for the up coming grinding work Smith had previously cited $1 million as the amount of money he planned to pour into the track when he first announced be making changes in March know what the final number will end up Caldwell said kind of like a road project you know what going to run into I think you can easily say going to be hundreds of thou sands of dollars" Despite the significant dif ferences between the 2007 and 2012 projects there were a number of eerie similarities See BMS Page B4 Smith makes it a kind of kinda day Bristol Tenn it started as a two week wait and finally ended Wednesday as a month long marathon and what we found out is Bruton announcement on what exactly the changes at Bristol Motor Speedway are going to be is kind of well a kind of kind of getting your old Bristol back kind of not kind of going to get some of the bumping and grinding that turns race fans into Jim puppy sali SaCCO vatingatthe Upon urther mere mention Review of someone slamming into the wall after slapping each See SACCO Page B4 Textbook bunt sends Patriots past Vikings Successful squeeze play boosts Sullivan East past rivals BY NATE HUBBARD BRISTOL HERALD COURIER v' A I BLU CITY Term In a' rivalry you squeeze out a win any way you can SULLIVAN EAST 3 TENNESSEE HIGH 2 That was certainly the case quite lit 'Prep softball erally for Sullivan East on Wednesday Key stat: With win against its fiercest foe earned a split of the season series Inside: Abingdon upends Washington See PATRIOTS Page B6 County rival John Battle in baseball B6 Tsr'St ww aKMfiiWTOlSiiKaivlSPO Jv I 1 vw i tykK fl'V A 1 ir MMRh A aVi St 'S r5y EARL NIKIPKBRISTOL HERALD COURIER Sullivan Karisa White slides safely into second base as Tennessee High's Kaitlin Bledsoe (left) and Madison Mitchell both go for the ball Wednesday A Wf TiB.