On the plus side, this year’s NASCAR race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway almost certainly won’t be as bad as last year’s. On the other hand, the Brickyard isn’t exactly a great place for stock car racing anyway, so be prepared to spend a lot of time snoozing on Sunday.
When the circuit decided to put the world’s most famous track on the schedule, it was assumed that Indy would quickly join Daytona as a crown jewel of the sport. The thought of 400,000 fans packing in to see stock cars run on hallowed racing ground had NASCAR officials thinking they had created one of the greatest spectacles imaginable.
It’s been a spectacle all right — especially last season.
For the record, Jimmie Johnson won the 2008 Allstate 400 at The Brickyard. He did so in a race that saw 52 of its 160 laps contested under caution, including nine competition cautions that allowed teams to come into the pits and change tires.
The hard, old surface at Indy — combined with the failure of the Goodyear Tire Company to do its homework — resulted in tires going bald after running as few as three laps.
The Car of Tomorrow has less downforce than previous models used in Cup competition, so the tires the teams were supplied with never pushed down hard enough to leave rubber down.
The result was a race that never went longer than 12 laps without the yellow waving, and a public relations disaster for the sport.
“I think certainly a lot of damage was done,” said Jeff Gordon, who knows many fans are eyeing this weekend’s event with skepticism. “It might not take one race (to earn back fans). It might take more than one race. I hope it happens and we get a chance for that to happen because the fans are supporting the event and I know it could take more than one race to repair that, but I believe it can happen.”
To Goodyear’s credit, it has tested more than 20 different tire combinations to ensure this weekend’s event isn’t simply a start-stop parade lap. In the past year seven tire tests have been conducted at Indy and Goodyear also did an in-house test in its Akron facility — a track that replicates the rough Brickyard surface.
“You’re going to see a whole different type of race,” Gordon said. “And the issues with the tires are not going to be from wearing them down to cords in eight or 10 laps like last year. I’m very confident in the tires. I did the last test there and was very pleased.”
Unfortunately even with good tires the races at Indy are ho-hum. It’s a perfect place for Indy Cars and Formula One rides, but when a NASCAR machine is on a big track it needs some banking and there is a nominal amount at IMS.
It reminds me of a road course race, and stock cars on road courses spell naptime in my book.
Maybe this Sunday’s event will prove me wrong. Perhaps it’ll be a competitive event and one that’s almost fun to watch.
For me, however, all the Brickyard brings to NASCAR is tradition and prestige.
Those are great things to have, but without great racing they really don’t matter all that much.
Scott Adamson writes for the Anderson Independent-Mail in Anderson, S.C.
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