Bristol TN, Research Paper Example

Bristol is a city in the United States found in the State of Tennessee. It is located in the county of Sullivan.  Bristol city separates Tennessee State from Virginia.  The state line between these two states crosses through the city.  It is the principal city comprising of several metropolis that are combined in one statistical area that is generally known as the Tri-Cities region (US Bureau of Statistics, 16).

Data from the US Census bureau shows that the city covers a total area of 76 square kilometres (17).  “Over 95% of the city is covered by land while the remaining small percentage is water. The 2008 population demographics show that the city has 25, 825 residents with a population density of 846.7 people per square mile” (18).  95% percent of the city’s residents are whites while 2.96% is made up of African Americans.  The rest of the percentage is taken up by Native Americans, Hispanics, pacific Islanders and other races. In terms of the population spread, about 18% of the residents are over 65 years and the median age is forty years. For every hundred female residents, there are eighty seven males. Therefore, females make up 52% of the population while males are 48%.

Country music has been considered to have originated from Bristol. The United States Congress passed a resolution in 1998 that was meant to recognize Bristol for the role it played in contributing to the spread and influence of country music. The first recordings of country music were done in 1927 (Thompson, 56). The recordings were done by Victor records whose aim was to integrate the traditional folk music of the region into contemporary country music. A movement called Birthplace of Country Music Alliance has been promoting Bristol since the 1990’s as the place where people can get more enlightened with regards to country music and also have been highlighting Bristol’s role in creating a whole music genre (57).

There are several professional sports including NASCAR and baseball.  It is also home to the world’s largest amphitheater.  The Bristol Motor Speedway is home of NASCAR races (Chapin, 62).  The motorway was constructed in 1960 and held its first race in 1961.   “The Bristol motorway might be small in size, but it is one of the most popular NASCAR tracks. it derives its popularity from its distinct features like astonishingly steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads and an amphitheater-like seating arrangement” (64).  However, the motorway is short compared to other NASCAR tracks and hence the speeds are not as higher as the other tracks. Nonetheless, it is fast when compared to other short tracks because of the high banking.

Races on the Bristol Motorway witness the highest number of yellow-flag caution lapses in the NASCAR season (McGee, 112). One key reason for this is because of the large number of cars in a small space hence contact is almost inevitable.  Other types of races are very popular in Bristol with the nationwide series race witnessing attendance of over hundred thousand spectators. This has made Bristol to be one of the well attended nationwide locations prompting leading television networks like Fox and ABC to televise nationally races from 2004 to 2008 (114). The track set a Guinness world record in 2008 when the largest crowd wave in history was done by a sell-out crowd.

Works Cited

Chapin, Kim, Fast as lightening: the story of stock car racing. New York: Dial press, 1992

McGee, David, Bristol motor speedway: Chicago:  Arcadia Publishing, 2006

Thompson, Neal, Driving with the devil: southern moonshine, Detroit wheels and the birth of NASCAR, New York, Three rivers press, 2008

United States Bureau of Statistics, Bristol, Tennessee, 2008