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IndyCar
MILLER: Brickyard Blues Pt. 2
If the Speedway only gets a body in half of its 250,000 permanent seats, it looks empty.
The Nationwide series didn't pull in the crowd IMS was hoping to see on Saturday. (Photo: LAT)
MILLER: Brickyard Blues Pt. 1
BRICKYARD BLUES
Unlike Bristol, a high-banked speed bowl of a half-mile that features lots of close contact and a great vantage point from any seat, Indianapolis is not fan friendly – at least in NASCAR terms.
“The average NASCAR fan likes to buy a seat where he or she can see the whole track,’’ said Mike Peduto, owner of Circle City Tickets and a 20-year-veteran of local ticket brokering. “You can buy a Brickyard ticket high up and only see a little more than half of the track.
“Compared to an Indy car here, stock cars seem like they’re crawling and let’s be honest, Indianapolis wasn’t built for stock cars.’’
Since IMS is relatively flat and narrow compared to most NASCAR tracks, it doesn’t breed door-slamming excitement either.
“People like to see racing, as long as it’s good racing, and the Brickyard has never been very good,’’ said A.J. Foyt, the first four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 who also qualified for the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994.
“All in all, NASCAR doesn’t have good racing any more. You watch the last 10 laps. That’s about it.’’
Stewart concedes it’s probably more entertaining for the drivers than paying customers.
“It’s a driver’s track and it’s very demanding because you’ve got four, long corners and it’s so important to hit your marks. That’s probably tough for the fans to see but it’s a lot of fun for us.’’
Other than Gordon’s late-race duel with Ernie Irvan in the first Brickyard, Earnhardt battling Rusty Wallace to the finish in ‘95 and Stewart holding off Harvick in 2007, fans have never seen a slam-bang finish or even the green-white-checker that NASCAR loves to promote.
Of course Indianapolis was unlucky enough to host one of the worst stock car races in recent memory. In 2008, Goodyear (the lone tire supplier for NASCAR) missed on the compound and suddenly cars could only run a handful of laps before the cords of the tires would show. This created a dangerous situation and the 160-lap race turned out to be a glorified pit stop contest as a yellow flag was displayed every 10 laps so drivers could pit for new tires.
That left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and big gaps in the grandstands began to show in 2009.
Add to this the fact that the Brickyard 400 hadn’t been blacked out on television in Indianapolis since 2001 and there was one more reason to stay home.
And tracks have been built in Chicago and Kentucky that host NASCAR races which are much more exciting than Indy’s.
BANG FOR THE BRICKYARD BUCK
In an effort to re-kindle the NASCAR fire, IMS officials are experimenting like never before this month.
The GRAND-AM series, owned and operated by Jim France, debuted on the Speedway road course with a three-hour enduro on Friday.
This sports car series usually plays in front a few thousand spectators and the hope was that maybe Danica Patrick and Stewart would compete to raise interest.
“It’s going to be a cool weekend but I’m still just going to run in one series so far,’’ responded Stewart when asked if he was competing in a Rolex Series car. “I’m looking forward to watching the sports cars on the road course.’’
Patrick doesn’t plan on it either but the only woman to ever win an Indy car race and lead the Indy 500 will be back at her favorite track for Saturday’s Nationwide race in Experiment No 2.
After 30 years at Indianapolis Raceway Park (now Lucas Oil Raceway) in Clermont, Ind. running NASCAR’s feeder series in front of packed houses, one of the most successful short track races in all of stock car racing has been moved to the main stage at IMS.
It looks like insanity, especially considering the Clermont crowds averaged between 25,000-35,000 and there may not have been 5,000 in the grandstands last weekend for Danica & Co. at Chicagoland.
The shuffle gutted what had been a three-night winner for Lucas Oil Raceway, with USAC, Craftsman Trucks and Nationwide running Thursday-Friday-Saturday in a build-up to the Brickyard.
Without the marquee event, Lucas Oil Raceway GM Wes Collier wanted no part of a stand-alone truck show so the Clermont card is now USAC midgets and Silver Crown on Thursday evening and ARCA stockers on Friday night.
BRICKYARD BLUES
Unlike Bristol, a high-banked speed bowl of a half-mile that features lots of close contact and a great vantage point from any seat, Indianapolis is not fan friendly – at least in NASCAR terms.
“The average NASCAR fan likes to buy a seat where he or she can see the whole track,’’ said Mike Peduto, owner of Circle City Tickets and a 20-year-veteran of local ticket brokering. “You can buy a Brickyard ticket high up and only see a little more than half of the track.
“Compared to an Indy car here, stock cars seem like they’re crawling and let’s be honest, Indianapolis wasn’t built for stock cars.’’
Since IMS is relatively flat and narrow compared to most NASCAR tracks, it doesn’t breed door-slamming excitement either.
“People like to see racing, as long as it’s good racing, and the Brickyard has never been very good,’’ said A.J. Foyt, the first four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 who also qualified for the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994.
“All in all, NASCAR doesn’t have good racing any more. You watch the last 10 laps. That’s about it.’’
Stewart concedes it’s probably more entertaining for the drivers than paying customers.
“It’s a driver’s track and it’s very demanding because you’ve got four, long corners and it’s so important to hit your marks. That’s probably tough for the fans to see but it’s a lot of fun for us.’’
Other than Gordon’s late-race duel with Ernie Irvan in the first Brickyard, Earnhardt battling Rusty Wallace to the finish in ‘95 and Stewart holding off Harvick in 2007, fans have never seen a slam-bang finish or even the green-white-checker that NASCAR loves to promote.
Of course Indianapolis was unlucky enough to host one of the worst stock car races in recent memory. In 2008, Goodyear (the lone tire supplier for NASCAR) missed on the compound and suddenly cars could only run a handful of laps before the cords of the tires would show. This created a dangerous situation and the 160-lap race turned out to be a glorified pit stop contest as a yellow flag was displayed every 10 laps so drivers could pit for new tires.
That left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and big gaps in the grandstands began to show in 2009.
Add to this the fact that the Brickyard 400 hadn’t been blacked out on television in Indianapolis since 2001 and there was one more reason to stay home.
And tracks have been built in Chicago and Kentucky that host NASCAR races which are much more exciting than Indy’s.
BANG FOR THE BRICKYARD BUCK
In an effort to re-kindle the NASCAR fire, IMS officials are experimenting like never before this month.
The GRAND-AM series, owned and operated by Jim France, debuted on the Speedway road course with a three-hour enduro on Friday.
This sports car series usually plays in front a few thousand spectators and the hope was that maybe Danica Patrick and Stewart would compete to raise interest.
“It’s going to be a cool weekend but I’m still just going to run in one series so far,’’ responded Stewart when asked if he was competing in a Rolex Series car. “I’m looking forward to watching the sports cars on the road course.’’
Patrick doesn’t plan on it either but the only woman to ever win an Indy car race and lead the Indy 500 will be back at her favorite track for Saturday’s Nationwide race in Experiment No 2.
After 30 years at Indianapolis Raceway Park (now Lucas Oil Raceway) in Clermont, Ind. running NASCAR’s feeder series in front of packed houses, one of the most successful short track races in all of stock car racing has been moved to the main stage at IMS.
It looks like insanity, especially considering the Clermont crowds averaged between 25,000-35,000 and there may not have been 5,000 in the grandstands last weekend for Danica & Co. at Chicagoland.
The shuffle gutted what had been a three-night winner for Lucas Oil Raceway, with USAC, Craftsman Trucks and Nationwide running Thursday-Friday-Saturday in a build-up to the Brickyard.
Without the marquee event, Lucas Oil Raceway GM Wes Collier wanted no part of a stand-alone truck show so the Clermont card is now USAC midgets and Silver Crown on Thursday evening and ARCA stockers on Friday night.
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