Dale Earnhardt Jr. reacts to ‘physical’ NASCAR playoff race at Bristol: ‘Close as we’ve been in a long time’

Dale Earnhardt Jr. enjoyed what he saw from the NASCAR Cup Series drivers who competed at the Bristol race on Saturday night. On Dale Jr. Download, Earnhardt shared his reaction to the third playoff race of the season.

“We got quite the race this weekend,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. “…I was pretty happy to see the contact, how physical the race was.”

Earnhardt then mentioned that there’s been a conversation about Bristol, as some fans miss how races at the track were in previous years. “It seems like that this weekend we kind of got as close as we’ve been in a long time to the traditional idea of Bristol and the product Bristol had delivered with at its peak,” Earnhardt stated.

“That’s not a nostalgia quote. This isn’t about nostalgia. Basically, back in a certain time frame, the ticket for Bristol was by far the hottest ticket on the circuit. It was almost difficult to get an opportunity to get that ticket. There was a waiting list and all of that stuff. It’s changed quite a bit since then.”

Christopher Bell battled Brad Keselowski for the NASCAR Bristol win

Christopher Bell won the Bristol race to clinch a spot in the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The event featured Bell and Brad Keselowski battling for the top spot during the final lap. When the race was all said and done, Bell held off Keselowski, despite taking a bump from him.

“Just the story of our season, just a 50/50 shot on the restart, and I got the lane that couldn’t launch,” Keselowski said after the race. “Just frustrating. We had a great car, great strategy, put ourselves in position to, if not win, at least have a really, really solid day, and on that last restart and just rolled the dice and didn’t get anything good.”

Bristol Motor Speedway has hosted NASCAR Cup Series races since the track opened in 1961. Earlier this year, NASCAR went to Bristol for the Food City 500, and Kyle Larson won the race.