Todd Bodine was itching to get his NASCAR Craftsman Truck on the track at Bristol Motor Speedway so as soon as Monday's' test session began, he made certain he was the first on the new concrete surface.

At exactly 11 a.m., the time the test officially began, Bodine took to the track and turned six laps before returning to pit road. His reaction to the new surface was enthusiastic, to say the least.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "This is the way a track should be built. I will not be surprised at all to see three-wide racing here."

Bodine, a former winner in the NASCAR Busch Series at Bristol Motor Speedway, says there's absolutely no comparison to the old surface.

‘You can't compare it at all," he said. "The old Bristol was classic and everybody either loved it or hated it. Now, I can't see how everybody can't love it. It's going to be so much fun to run on and you're definitely going to be able to pass.

"Cars and trucks will be able to run every groove and I think you're definitely going to have three grooves."

Bodine, one of 31 drivers at BMS on Monday, says the track is extremely smooth and that it will be much faster.

"It's going to be a lot quicker," he said. "There will be track records, without a doubt, in August. Of course, a lot depends on the tire they bring here but I could see it being at least four or five-tenths quicker."

Bodine also proclaimed the surface the best he'd seen among tracks that had been resurfaced.

"This is by far the best revamping of a track ever," he said. "No doubt about it. The people here knew how they wanted to make this place with the re-do and they went out and did it. This is the way it should be done.

"I am so excited about this upcoming race. I can't wait to race but I'm also excited about actually being able to watch a race here. The fans are gonna love this. They are going to love it."

Speeds weren't quite up to the pace Bodine is predicting for the August race as Mike Skinner was consistently the quickest on the track all day. Skinner posted early laps of 16.228 seconds at 118.240 mph while Danny O'Quinn was second at 16.238 seconds and 118.167 mph.

Like Bodine, David Starr was excited about the new surface.

"Any time I get to come to Bristol, I'm excited," he said. "I could hardly sleep last night. They did a tremendous job with the concrete and as time goes on the race track will get better and better. Right now it's green and a lot of competitors have worn out a lot of tires because there's no rubber on it but when we get some rubber on it, it's going to be something else.

"The racing here has always been spectacular and this is maybe a bold statement to make but I think you're going to see a lot of side-by-side racing and it's going to be even more exciting.

"It's just incredible. It's a 12 (on a scale of 1 to 10) -- It's not even on that scale. When I walked in the gate over turn 3 it definitely had that "Wow" effect to it. When I heard they were digging it up, I'm like ‘What? How can you make it better?' I was surprised when they said they were digging it up but like everything Bruton Smith does it's first class and it's spectacular."

Additional quotes concerning the new surface at Bristol:

"I was always a big fan of black top and concrete wasn't very popular (with me) a number of years ago but they've learned a lot about the process and I think the new concrete job here will be the industry standard. It drives like the old Bristol but the new (transitional) banking gives us some more options. I think it's really cool.

"They stepped up and decided to fix it and I applaud them for doing that. It's the same situation right now as with any new track -- right now Goodyear has such a hard tire, its tough to lay rubber down."
---
Johnny Benson:

"It's cool. It's definitely smoother and they've done a tremendous job. The transitions are better both going into the corners and coming out of the corners. It's just going to take a little bit to get some rubber on it to get it seasoned. The place is going to be pretty awesome once that happens.

"It definitely gives you a better opportunity than ever to pass. We're all so used to running the bottom groove it's awful hard to make yourself go up there. But that outside groove is going to be good once they get rubber on the track.

"We're not seeing a tremendous amount of tire wear and that says a lot about what a good job they've done here with the track. It's definitely been well prepared. We're already a second faster than we were when we unloaded."
---
Brendan Gaughan:

"It's such a hard tire but it's tough not to say you love the new track. I think you'll see a couple of outside passes next year -- not this year. Well, depending on how much rubber they get laid -- the biggest thing is going to be getting a softer tire.

"This place is just neat. Todd Bodine, Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday were the first ones out there and all three of them went to the top to see if they could run up there. It was definitely interesting to see guys two grooves off the bottom."
---
Mike Skinner

"I love Bristol, always have. This place is phenomenal. If you're a racer it's the seventh or eighth wonder of the world. When we were told they were going to redo this place, we were very, very concerned but it's an A-plus man. It really isn't any different. It's Bristol. There is the potential to see more side-by-side racing. I think the race track had gotten to the point if you had to go outside somebody couldn't and now there's probably a one-tenth difference in the top and bottom.

"I'm sure you'll have some whiny babies complaining about something but I love concrete. I like it; I like the feel of it. I absolutely love this place. It's going to be hard to ever get me to say anything bad about Bristol."
---
Rick Crawford

"They did a great job with the track and they left some of the characteristics of Bristol. It's really fun to drive.

I don't really think it's going to take a year (for the upper groove to come in). I think if we're out there racing and we get bottle-necked up we'll find a new groove (in August). The surface is great. You won't have to force anybody to go to the high side -- if they need to pass they'll be there.

"You don't always like to go test but I tell you, I would come to Bristol just to burn tires up. It's a great, exciting place to run at".

Monday's test session is for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series while the Busch Series will test at BMS on Tuesday. The O'Reilly 200 Truck Series event kicks off August race week on Aug. 22, followed by the Food City 250 on Aug. 24 and the sold-out Sharpie 500 on Aug. 25.