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August 03, 2006
The Brickyard or The 500?
By Mark Young,
This weekend's race at the Indianapolis Motor-speedway is arguably the second biggest race of the season for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. With 50 cars entered for the race to date this is the largest field to attempt a race next to the Daytona 500 and the purse for the Brickyard also is second behind Daytona. Now I admit that the Daytona 500 is and always will be NASCAR's biggest race, and it should be, but I am beginning to think that The Brickyard 400 is becoming the biggest race to be held at the Indianapolis Motor-speedway.
Being a Midwesterner and living only two hours away from Indy I have very fond memories of watching the 500 on TV or listening to it on the radio for as long as I can remember. It seemed that everyone was aware of what was going on regardless of whether they were a race fan or not. But the split between CART and the IRL has taken the Indy 500 and turned it into an event featuring different cars and many new faces behind the wheel. Granted the racing action and fanfare is still as good as ever but the race has lost some of its luster while the Brickyard 400 seems to grow a little more each year.
The crowds for the Brickyard are overflowing each and every year and the NASCAR drivers talk about kissing the yard of bricks with the excitement of small children on Christmas Eve. Take a look at the field for the Indy 500 held this past May. Tony George, President of the Indianapolis Motor-speedway and founder of the Indy Racing League had to urge Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr. from retirement just to come close to filling the entire 33 car field. It has been rumored that he even financed a few teams to get them to the track. There was no fanfare on bump day because there was only 33 cars there.
It is this fan's opinion that the Brickyard 400 has become the premiere event held at the Indianapolis Motor-speedway. I am sure that this makes a few of the open wheel fanatics cringe and become defensive but face the facts race fans, no matter how much we complain about the TV coverage or the politically correctness that has invaded our favorite sport, NASCAR is king.
August 3, 2006 | Permalink
Comments
Mark, excellent topic. I have to agree 100%, and I am an open wheel fan.
I remember when ESPN covered every second of testing, qualifying, bump day - anything and everything that built up to the Indianapolis 500. When that first weekend of May came around, all of the racing world focused on one track - Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Since the split, it has been so sad to see what the American open wheel series have become. If it wasn't for F1, I don't know what I'd do. (Grand Am as well, but that's not considered "open wheel." But it's road racing at it's finest!)
When John Andretti decided to run both the 500 and the 600, the media started to focus on NASCAR as well. And then Robby and Tony did the double. So that didn't hurt either. Too bad that is no longer possible thanks to the later starting time of the 500.
There is no doubt the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (you need to make sure you get that sponsor in there) is the premier event at IMS.
I can't wait to see who kisses the bricks on Sunday. Wonder if Tony will be driving that custom hearse to the track!
Posted by: Shirley | Aug 3, 2006 9:28:53 AM
I only watched the Indy 500 when Robby and Tony were racing in both events. I think the racing at the Indy 500 was more exciting, but I think the Brickyard 400 is now the premier event at IMS.
Posted by: Michelle | Aug 3, 2006 10:31:41 AM
Oh the racing at Indy is far better for open wheel cars. The NASCAR boys tend to make it look like a really long conga line going 175+.
Posted by: Mark | Aug 3, 2006 10:35:07 AM
"....conga line going 175+." That's a pretty accurate description.
What if they raced on the road course like F1? That could be interesting. (I'm doing my best to get the 3rd road course in the schedule!)
Posted by: Shirley | Aug 3, 2006 11:54:01 AM
The only thing more boring than the conga line at 175mph, would be the conga line using the road course.
Posted by: Keith | Aug 3, 2006 12:10:35 PM
Keith I agree 100%.
Posted by: Mark | Aug 3, 2006 12:17:40 PM
If it ain't got fenders...It ain't racin'
IRL/Cart are glorified go karts! and The France Family Mafia is attempting to make NASCAR a glorified Legends car!
Posted by: Tbfka#5 | Aug 3, 2006 2:44:54 PM
As boring as I usually feel the Loudon, Pocono, Indy trifecta is, I have hope. Pocono actually was a decent show for once. I'll hold those hopes up for Indy. Now that the hype of racing at Indy is gone from all but the broadcasters minds, Indy belongs to INDY cars. Stockcars racing at Indy is not that great a show. It's like the Indy cars on a NASCAR short track...it doesn't really work (You could pull a muscle following a car at Richmond doing a lap!). Kissing bricks and splashing milk doesn't mean the racing is all that great.
Posted by: Keith | Aug 3, 2006 4:48:33 PM
The Indy 500 has been through so many ups and downs and so many iterations, I suspect it will endure this latest down cycle. Despite the obvious problems associated with the split in open-wheel racing, both the IRL and Champ Car are making progress. Champ Car reports 1 million paying spectators so far this season, and NASCAR fans are loath to mention that this year's Indy 500 had better TV ratings than the Coca-Cola 600.
Any event at a venue with as much history and tradition as Indianapolis is bound to be big-time. For my money, the Brickyard will always play second fiddle to both the Daytona 500 and the Indy 500.
But I think NASCAR puts on a great show at Indy. It seems that fans who dislike racing at Pocono, Indianapolis, road courses, or other specific venues have very narrow parameters by which they measure their entertainment. Charlotte is great, but I don't want a 38-race schedule at that one track, nor Talladega, nor Bristol, and so forth. Give me variety.
Keith's comments about Richmond being unsuitable for IndyCar racing are in contrast with yesterday's announcement that the IRL will compete at the new 7/8-mile Iowa Speedway next year. That's not much bigger than Richmond -- where, in my opinion, the IRL puts on a good show. Much different from NASCAR, but entertaining nonetheless.
Fans of sprint car racing are probably amused by Keith's problems with viewing races where the lap times are lower than 20 seconds or so. The sprinters run eyeblink quick on quarter-mile dirt ovals such as Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway. Bring your goggles and an open mind, Chief. You and #5 might be entertained in spite of yourselves.
Posted by: David Green | Aug 3, 2006 10:52:39 PM
The 500 is still a more historic event than the 400. Certainly the 500 has suffered over the years, but not because of the IRL/CART split. If anything, the formation of the IRL got some of the 500's prestige back by throwing out, albiet for only a few years, the money-guys who had ruined open wheel racing. The 500 was always better when owner-drivers like Eddie Cheever and self-made immortals like A.J. Foyt were the winners instead of the money-guys like Penske and Ganassi. The 2006 500 finish was sensational - if I remember correctly it was the very first time ANY race at IMS saw the lead change hands on the final lap - but how much better it would have been if it was one of Cheever or Foyt's cars instead of just another Penske car grabbing the win.
The Brickyard 400, in contrast, has lost the novelty effect it had in the mid-1990s. In its twelve runnings it has never produced an upset winner; it did have an owner-driver winner in Ricky Rudd, though. In its runnings only six teams to date have won - Hendrick, RCR, Yates, Rudd Performance (now disbanded), Joe Gibbs, and Ray Evernham. Non-Chevys have won only five times - 1996-7 (Fords), 1999 (Ford), 2000 (Pontiac), and 2002 (Dodge). Then there is the distance - just 400 miles on a 2.5-mile superspeedway? That is preposterous; the whole "shorter is a better race" argument has always been discredited by the comparative lack of competitive action in the 400.
Certainly none of this is the fault of the track's layout, a good challenging layout if ever there was one (it's no accident that Ontario's Indy-influenced layout usually had good racing during that track's foreshortened life), and Tony George's move to carve tiny little grooves into the surface in the corners for better grip is a very good idea. But overall the 400 lacks the sense of anticipation the 500s at Daytona and Indy still has.
Posted by: Mike Daly | Aug 4, 2006 12:12:40 AM
David,
IRL and Champ need to merge, remerge, whatever and then I'd like them on more road courses. The lack of full stands for IRL racing is partly attributable (IMO)to poor choices of venue. I have been to Richmond and the cars are exciting but the racing isn't. After the first 10 or so laps it becomes an endless drone going around in a circle.
I don't mix Sprint cars in with their thoroughbred, high octane cousins. Small dirt tracks are the perfect venue for their unique form of racing. We have one up the road a bit and I know enough to keep a hand over the top of the beer.
Mike Daly was right on with his interpretation that the BY400 has lost its novelty as an event. Only knowing it's at Indy gives it prestige. Otherwise it's just another track with a poor event.
Posted by: Keith | Aug 4, 2006 7:31:58 AM
Wow Keith !
Have only seen the Indy cars at Richmond on tv, but I love that race.
While I was thrilled to make the 95'Brickyard, The Indy 500 still rocks.
Posted by: Larry | Aug 4, 2006 12:03:45 PM
It's a very good debate! Goes to show you that Indy is a special place. But what upsets me is when they take a race like the Brickyard and change the name by putting a sponsor's name on the front. Allstate 400 at the Brickyard! What? Why not The Brickyard 400 presented by Allstate. Next thing you know it will be the Crown Royal 500 at Daytona. Crazy! Sorry for going off topic.
Posted by: MikeHarper | Aug 4, 2006 1:19:11 PM
Ok David I concede...Sprint Cars and Modifieds ROCK...But you'll NEVER....EVER...See an IRL/CART run on a dirt track all high wide and handsome!
Posted by: Tbfka#5 | Aug 4, 2006 1:19:49 PM
I must be dreaming - Keith and I agree on this one! The NASCAR race at IMS has been interesting, and I'm happy for the hype and press it brings to NASCAR, but it isn't one of the better races on the schedule.
The very first car race I ever saw, back in 1967, was the Indianapolis 500. I was in the Army at a little fort in Indianapolis, so bought a general admission ticket and saw a slice of turn 4.
I was also lucky to be at Fontana a couple of years back when IRL ran a 400 mile race WITH NO YELLOW FLAGS. Average speed for the race? An astonishing 207 MPH. A year before that, they had a 50-lap support race, and for all 50 laps, the first two cars ran so close that I swear the second place guy's nose was under the leader's rear wing. It was maybe the most astonishing thing I have ever seen in racing. I mean, they were NEVER separated by more than 3 feet. At 170-180 MPH. For 100 miles.
I love NASCAR, but if open wheel can get its act together, we should have another player on the stage.
Posted by: Doug | Aug 4, 2006 2:53:20 PM
Doug,
If we agreed then I'm changing my mind...I love Nascar at Indy...LOL Not!
Posted by: Keith | Aug 4, 2006 4:52:34 PM
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