The Brickyard 400 was an undisputed hit for NASCAR, but now the Brickyard 400 is at a tipping point. After the 2008 Brickyard 400, NASCAR is desperate to return to the Brickyard with a good show, or else they will be in real trouble. When the Brickyard 400 first brought NASCAR to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it became one of the biggest highlights of the NASCAR season. Now in 2009, all anyone can talk about when it comes to the Brickyard 400 is last year’s disaster of a race, and whether NASCAR can turn it around this year.
The Brickyard 400 – or rather, the AllState 400 at the Brickyard – holds its 16’th annual race tomorrow afternoon at Indianapolis. Stock car racing had been a rousing success at the Brickyard for the first 14 years, but last year’s 15’th anniversary was the low point of the 2008 NASCAR season.
Horrific tires resulted in caution flags being flown for almost one/third of the race. Thousands of spectators were outraged at the constant crashes, and constant pit stops due to the poor condition of the tires. As such, NASCAR has spent the last year making sure the tires for this year’s Brickyard 400 hold up better.
Even if they do, the news is still not good at the Brickyard. Even the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not immune to the poor economy, and the difficulty of selling out auto races nowadays. Most NASCAR races have had a fair share of empty seats this year, and the Brickyard 400 may be no different.
If even the Indianapolis Motor Speedway can’t sell out a race right away, then things are really bad for racing. Now, NASCAR’s second biggest race after the Daytona 500 has a lot of question marks around the 2009 version.
For now, few of those questions center around who will win, and how it will affect the race towards the Chase for the Cup. The actual Brickyard 400 has Indianapolis veteran Tony Stewart looking to increase his points lead, while drivers like Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch fight to stay in the top 12.
But on top of all other things at the Brickyard, rain is interfering with qualifying today. The qualifying start has already been delayed, and NASCAR may have to determine the starting order by points.
The Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 have already been shortened due to rain this year. If the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is the next prestigious NASCAR race to get affected by the weather this year, it will be another depressing turn for this NASCAR season. But last year’s Brickyard 400 taught the sport that there are worse things.
Sources
Yahoo Sports- “Legendary Indy stuck in the past” sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news;_ylt=AsE_xLvxakY5GSmIau_Eobo5nYcB
Philadelphia Daily News- “Allstate 400 at the Brickyard won’t be same old tired race” www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20090723_Bill_Fleischman__Allstate_400_at_the_Brickyard_won_t_be_same_old_tired_race.html
The Indianapolis Star- “Take cover, Brickyard fans” www.indystar.com/article/20090725/SPORTS0109/90725003/1052/SPORTS01/Take+cover++Brickyard+fans
