The Brickyard 400 -- WHY THE HATE?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ต.ค. 2024
- A younger NASCAR fan might not even understand why the Brickyard 400 is such an important race in the history of American auto racing and quite literally changed both NASCAR and IndyCar racing FOREVER. This video will discuss the history of the Brickyard 400, NASCAR at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the CART/IRL split, the fan backlash to the Brickyard, why the stands are empty and the decline of NASCAR at Indianapolis.
#Brickyard400 #NASCAR #IndyCar
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1992: 50,000 show up for a tire test.
...now you’re lucky if 50,000 show up for the race.
Now Indycar drivers are friendly and sociable and the NASCAR drivers are the closed-off ones (except for Dibenedetto, Chastain, Lajoie, and a few others)
And a few others are friendly and sociable when not enraged.
@Keegan Lowe And Clint Bowyer when not enraged is very pleasant. But the guy is a poor man's Cale Yarborough in the waning stages of his career as he is 40 and probably has 3-8 years left of mid pack driving.
Gabe Marques That’s the one takeaway that I took from this video. IndyCar doing things right.
There are a lot more your leaving out. Some yes but a lot being left out. A lot of nascar drivers are very personable
Was going to comment this exact thing. Crazy how this works, though I think nascar is slowly getting back to how it use to be with accessibility.
In a way I get it, because itd be hours on end in a line to see Kyle Busch, Chase, Harvick, and a few others.
As a nascar fan who grew up at the Dover International Speedway, I witnessed the changes to driver accessibility over the years. Mid 90s to the late 00s.
I hope this is a good race even though the crowd may not be strong. Crowd counters really will be harping about Indy and likely be a fool as they don't realize how massive the seating is here.
The 2008 Brickyard 400....the race that killed it. Me as a NASCAR fan since late 90s as a child, I hope Brickyard doesn't go anywhere. But if it ends up being removed from the schedule in the future, I wont be surprised.
To be fair nascar as a whole has been on the decline in quality and attendance. When you can’t even fill the Bristol night race you have a bigger problem. Brickyard is a symptom not a cause of nascar’s decline
Darlington was a full house. Bristol is a bad example because they changed the track drastically. NASCAR has hit rock bottom and is starting to rebound.
@@danielsummey4144 Darlington is also in South Carolina, which is probably one of the most NASCAR fan-infested places in the country.
I saw part of that race this year after having not watched NASCAR for many years. What's absolutely pathetic is that NASCAR doesn't have to be declining, there are so many ways they can fix the sport and make it more profitable again. For one, get rid of the FUCKING SEGMENTED RACING. 2, get rid of the bullshit "clock cautions" every 20 minutes or whatever. 3, make the "playoffs" less convoluted, and 4, quit trying to add useless gimmicks in an attempt to target different demo-graphs. NASCAR tried to fix what wasn't broke, now it IS broke.
Lizard King the bristol night race is always packed every year dude. they just don’t sell out anymore like they used to.
Frank the NOOB is that so cause all metrics point to nascar having attendance and viewership numbers going up, rock bottom was 2014-2018 it’s on the up now
@@CosbyTheCaterpillar The caution clock has already been axed.
really like these mini-docu type videos, hope you can do a few of these now that indy offseason is upon us
still got one more race!!
Agreed, I REALLY enjoyed this mini-docu.
Might I suggest two relating to the history of open wheel racing in America. The first on the beginning of USAC thru CART. The second from the seeds of IndyCar (which you covered somewhat in this brickyard vid), thru the years of the two series (hopefully cover in-depth the Paul Tracy Indy 500 controversy), the reunification, and where the series is now.
No doubt these mini-docu could be adequate for other top professional race series, such as the TransAm, IMSA, etc. ( maybe a mini-docu on some of the "other" major races such as the Daytona 500, 24hrs of Daytona, Sebring, etc.)
@@Marine450x I want to say he's done that before. It could be someone else and he was just a guest. But David Land is top notch. I really enjoyed this and really never put the Indy merger and the tire debacle together. I've always been a casual open wheel fan and die hard Nascar.
**done the Indy split documentary before**
I think it's important to note that the more reliant on aerodynamics NASCAR cars have become, the harder it's been to have good racing and passing under green. If you go back and watch the 1995 Brickyard 400, Earnhardt started 13th while Wallace and Jarrett started in the 20s. That race only had one caution flag yet all three of those guys were able to drive to the front. Of course, with stages something like that can't happen now but even with stage breaks it's hard to pass and a driver as to screw up in the corners or get held up by a slower car for a driver behind him to get a decent run.
In one way or another, you can always trace something back to the CoT.
To Brian France and Steve and Steve
I agree. The economy didn't help either.
I never realized how significant the timing was of the inaugural 400! Excellent video!!
And id rather have the cot back than the garbage they cant pass in now although alot of the overhyped young drivers cant even keep a 550 horse car going the right way yet we constantly hear how good they are every week. Example? William byron and others.
Tony Stewart said on iRacing that it was the worst car he has ever driven in his career
The only thing they really ever got right with that car was the safety features. Of course, Goodyear dropped the ball just as bad, IMO.
At least in 2008 the entire field didn’t retire in protest before the start
The us Grand Prix the cars started but with Drew to get points
I would hardly call taking part in the formation lap and going to the pits rather thanthe grid starting the race.
Michael Schumacher’s only win in 2005, and he didn’t even have to try that hard…
@@TotoDG and Tiago only podium
@@jamesbraun9842 That was a major debacle that year. 16 cars parked in the garage.
Even though I don't like this track, I will admit that Last Year's Brickyard 400 had a good Finish. So will this year be a good one? Maybe.
Yea, package will help big time. I bet it will look like last years indy Xfinity race which was fun with that 4 wide stage finish
I say definitely. With the direction this 2019 package is going right now, we might see an all-around good race.
The finish was good, but the rest of the race was trash.
@@weinerdisc8099 Easy to just catch the 'highlights' and do something fun instead of watching the 'race'.
Gavin Noyes this comment aged well
Racing is not always about constant passing, nonstop action, and a photo finish every time. The fans have some blame in the idiotic changes NASCAR, and other series, have been making to try and make each race an instant classic.
yeah, I disagree, if you just wanna watch cars drive fast around a track, go watch the highway
Kevin T Amen!! They’re trying to make it like a video game instead of a sport.
its better than watching Lewis Hamilton or Valteri Bottas run away with the Podium every fucking week. I watch F1 but I only watch the battles towards the middle and back of the field, since Lewis Hamilton will win every week.
@@RingoYote And before Hamilton, Schumacher or Hakkinen won every week, and before them Senna or Prost won every week, and before them...
F1 has ALWAYS been about dominate drivers and cars, that's what the history of the sport is. It's a development sport and always evolving. Sometimes the on-track action suffers but already this year there have been several classic races.
Kevin T Absolutely correct, the nascar fans have been brainwashed by the gimmicks.
EDIT: reading these live comments, you really don’t know a damn thing about indycar. wtf😂
You hit your stride David when you do these documentaries!! This includes your self documented opportunity to race carts at Indy. You definitely have a talent for telling stories. I'm all in everytime you do one of these, which in my humble opinion, isn't nearly enough. Well done!!!! Again!!!!
Didn't even know they still held the Brickyard 400 - which shows how much interest I have in it. And running the race the opening week-end of the new NFL season is the mark of genius...........
Who watches the "taking a knee" SJW tainted and overpaid crybabies in the NFL any more??? Nobody I know and hang with. NASCAR never looked so good comparatively speaking!!
@@chuxtuff Wanna bet who has higher ratings...........
@@lotus95t and who gives a damn
chuxtuff oh please STFU that comment let’s me know you haven’t seen the nfl these past couple years
Mark Pelenytschka ahem Sponsors do, fans do, two things which nascar has been on the decline for the better part of the 2010s
Really enjoyed the video, David. I remember my first race of any kind at IMS was the 2000 Brickyard 400 during the rise of NASCAR. I still enjoy the race, but it is sad that this race has lost its luster. I remember attending the 2009 race and it not being hard to leave our lot afterwards. Hope you do a video in depth on the timeline of the Indycar/CART split.
That was some great storytelling David, you did a good job painting a picture for a fan of both sports to understand. Well done
Such a shame to see a once-previously revered event decay to the state it's in now. I loved the Brickyard 400 in its prime, I love everything about the Indy 500. Overall, excellent video David! Very well done!
Sterling Siemens to bad everything about the Indy 500 was almost gone with Tony George.
the pre-1993 Indy would have been more suitable to NASCAR stock cars.
I honestly didn’t even know they changed the track in 93. I was only 1 year old at the time, but I’ve been following racing for long enough that I’m really surprised this is the first I’ve heard of it.
@@psychlops924 same, actually this was the first time I seen any video of the cars on track for the test, think JC may be right on that
I did not think about his until now, but had the Brickyard not sealed the apron from not being used, Indy may have produced more competitive NASCAR races!
I bet at that test the drivers were lifting and half throttling to make it look better than it actually was
PLEASE do a video on the 96 US 500
I was as t that race. Was looking forward to s great race and then........ the big crash coming to the green to start the race. Kind of set the tone for the day. Man there was alot of hate for Tony Grorge that day and rightfully so. To bad IndyCar was messed up for the next 12 years of so. I'm a huge IndyCar fan and Nascar has no business being at Indy.
Allan R the 25/8 rule never should have happened !
@@allanr6132 Why was there hate for Tony Grorge? Did he do something?
@@Epicburst Because he was the cause of the split in open wheel racing and created the IRL. It was the downfall of open wheel racing in America that lasted for 16 or so years. Just killed the sport and it still hasn't fully recovered even though they merged years ago. He was just a greedy asshole.
@@robminmonaca So right. It was just selfish what he did not only creating an inferior product in the IRL but reserving the first 25 spots in the Indy 500 for "his" drivers. The man just killed the greatest racing series in the world at that time with his greed and arrogance.
I'd like to see a video on the Indy car split from you
I like these mini-documentary videos, especially with good release timing like this one.
Minor quibble: Jeff Gordon didn't ignore CART for NASCAR. Ed Hinton's article "Honor, Blood and a Brewing Battle" has Gordon's stepfather John Bickford on record as saying, "We went on our knees to the CART teams," and Gordon himself confirming, "They basically said, 'Show us the money and we’ll show you the seat.'" Jeff didn't sidestep CART, he was locked out. Still loving this kind of content though, keep it up.
Dane Sorensen however Tony George didn’t need to nuke a whole huge racing series and open wheel racing around the Indy 500 with the 25/8 rule based on a new racing series based on The Indianapolis motor speedway with racing dr.jack miller and slick racin Gardner.
This gave me a different take & perspective on the motorsports landscape from the last 25 years. I didn't think that the Brickyard 400 was the catalyst for the open-wheel split, and the following unification be similar for the NASCAR decline
Oz Kittyboi imagine if Tony George just let things stay and didn’t try to touch Indycar/CART and didn’t create the 25/8 rule in the mid 90s. He let NASCAR take a bigger stage at Indy than the Indy 500 which had always been a bigger stage even before NASCAR. I get CART had problems with owners but Tony George didn’t need to IRL and should have started his own CART racing team.
@@robminmonaca he did that in the league, ironically
well put together, man. It's like this should be broadcast on TV!
Continue with these historical videos. The more history you know, the more you are invested in seeing the race every year. Fantastic job David. Maybe do a video on motor sports tragedies and safety improvements made. Knowing the loss of life invested into this sport also makes me feel how monumental each race is. Motorsport is constantly pushing the human race forward and is the epitome of what we are. Risk, reward, loss, heartbreak. I love it.
Keep cup at the Brickyard, send xfinity and trucks to IRP.
Why? To entertain the 30-40 fans in attendance at Indianapolis? They should scrap the Brickyard event entirely and move the cup cars to Iowa or IRP.
Take Cup to IRP with Xfinity lmao
IRP was a good place for the Lower Nascar Divisions
I want to see cup stay at Indy I think the 500 and Brickyard 400 should be the only races there and the others should go to IRP on that date because Indy has always (or was always and should be again) someplace you had to ear the right to race at and by being in the top series and making it in on time.
Not sure moving it next year to 4th of July weekend is a good idea. I know I dont like it.
Great video, I really hope some people actually learned something from this
I love indy. I could watch a lawn mower race there. it is sacred ground no matter what is going around the track; however, the tire fiasco's there have been with nascar, i understand why people got turned off. But, overall, i dont find the brickyard 400 to be boring.
Tiregate was not just Goodyear's fault. IMS diamond ground the track and Goodyear didn't know. Some good Info about the 08 Brickyard 400
NASCAR teams also had a tendancy to go completely against Goodyear's recommendations for setups in the pursuit of speed. Indy and Talladega were two prime examples of this in 2008.
I forget who said this but someone pointed out ratings and literally they were right for the NFL vs. NASCAR or differences. The biggest thing was I attended the Indy 500 this year. It seems two things are prevalent. 1. Indy doesn't know how to market the Brickyard anymore. If I put my finger to it is that neither the older nor younger fans see Indy as a NASCAR bucket list track and the younger generation just tunes out NASCAR altogether. People were talking about Darlington "only having 47k seats" yet Indy only had 50-60 thousand for the race. We can say all we want but the metro Indy area has what, 2 million people compared to anywhere around Darlington? 2. As much as NASCAR wants to preach this, Indy really is on the schedule for the history of the track. That marketing thing? Yeah each time I went to the Indy 500, there was no mention from fans about the Brickyard 400. It is evident that despite Indy maybe wanting a change, NASCAR is stuck in itself with Indy where nothing will change other than the date. Watch for next years race and see if attendance is even worse.
Thanks for the video! I've been a casual NASCAR fan for a couple of years now and had no idea of the history behind them racing at Indy. I learned a lot from this video.
This was a very interesting video. Thank you for teaching me quite a lot today.
At 13:34 you can see a yellow shirt covering a fan with his body in case any debris flew into the stands.
Two yellow shirts doing the same thing in tandem actually
I will say this I never noticed the timing of the indycar drama and nascar hype around IMS thank you for giving me more of an understanding my dude 🙏
CruzJr81 this video proves that the Brickyard 400 was the big IRL fundraiser for Tony George.
I think that the 400 doesn't really fit in with NASCAR.
It's an Indycar track.
IRP would be a better fit in my opinion.
IRP is too small.
What In Carnation? Nah, run the road course @ indy
IRP doesn't have the infrastructure to support even an xfinity series race, that's why they left 5 years ago, plus the NHRA owns the track and they have bad blood with NASCAR for some reason
Straightail, doesn’t Lucas Oil have some ownership?
NASCAR: *runs races at Indianapolis for 25 years*
Carnation: "It's an Indycar track"
Thanks David as a new post quarantine fan here I love nascar and now I know the brickyards rise and fall!!!
The Brickyard 400 made a huge mistake when they decided to sell the sponsorship name rigts to the race. They completely destroyed the name brand equity it had. It started with the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, then every year the name of the race changing. They've even named the race after some random people. Marketing 101, don't mess with brand equity. Put the Brickyard 400 name back. You wouldn't change the name of the Daytona 500 or Indy 500.
Great vid David, probably your best. But as a "local" I attended just one 400 (always was, always remained an Indy car guy over NASCAR) and the year was 08 or 09, Juan Montoya was set to win, no one could come close to him, then they got him speeding in the pits, assigned a penalty and the only pass of the race occurred while he was in the pit for the penalty. No passing, just boring and oh yes, the year of the tire fiasco started the decline but lack of competitiveness ever since has been the 400's demise. Instead of Indy car dropping Pocono I wish Nascar would just keep its interest out at IRP instead of the "hallowed" ground of 16h and Crawfordsville Road. Again though, excellent vid, content and writing. Keep it up!
Good research! I didn't know this was so controversial. I guess I am too simple. I just look forward to getting 40 guys out there on the track and see who can win.
I never realized that the track did not always have the grass area! Great video.
Epic piece David changes to the cars and the chase led to the demise of NASCAR and though they'll never admit it their obsession with beating the NFL was the root cause.Auto racing has always been about HIGH POINT CHAMPION placing emphasis on running consistent through the entire season.The fact that it was tweaked every year shows it wasn't working.Then the playoffs came and that was it.You want playoffs and regular season and overtime watch football and if you are going to stay with the playoffs at least score the drivers in the playoffs in the order they finish amongst them ie highest finishing driver gets 1st place points and so on throughout the field again great piece.🏁
Steve Birchall they still think like this and it’s just gets worse for them.
@@robminmonaca amen bro
That race also has lost local appeal with Tony Stewart, Danica Patrick, and Jeff Gordon now retired and no drivers with ties to Indiana or IndyCar in Cup.
Newman. He's won there before but if you mean with a ligit chance off winning couse he had the best car and not lucking into the win then ya you are right.
@@ericbelgum9300Forgot about him, but his win totals pretty much evaporated after leaving Penske
Unfortunately for him he's pretty forgetful these days lol.
Two Indiana drivers in the NXS field, too; Chase Briscoe and Justin Haley.
Being a former NASCAR fan who is older than NASCAR here's my opinion on the problem. In the beginning they raced STOCK CARS totally stock. Until they started to play with body designs and templates making every car look the same, and allowing custom make chassis it was interesting to watch. There is not a cup car that could be called stock for the past 20 plus years. In a sport that used to favor backyard mechanics working to improve grandma's grocery getter into a speed machine, we now have teams of engineering specialists running the car preparation. As for the drivers they don't work their way to the top anymore. Their daddies with deep pockets buy them a ride. Most modern cup drivers that are legends in their own minds that ignore the fans. You kids should go to the Richard Petty school of building a fan base. First or last he always had a smile on his face when signing every autograph for everyone no matter how late it got to be. Young guys take care of the fans the pay your way.
If there was one fan left at 3:00 in the morning Richard still signed an autograph for them.
You could not have said it any better, Dean.
The cars haven't been stock for well over 40 years and the zenith of the sport was with not stock cars so I disagree with that notion, I see it as myth that keep getting brought up. I will agree that the drivers have become too vanilla in recent years. There is an over saturation, too many races, they are racing almost 40 weekends out of 52 each year and the decline of the middle class in this country along with increased cost of attending races and huge time commitment to be a fan in an age when there is so much entertainment available at your finger tips have been a huge key in the recent decline.
I'd be willing to move the race to IRP. I think that Indianapolis is still a good market and people are asking for short tracks, and would get rid of the terrible look of empty seats everywhere.
There's a corner of motorsport Hell exclusively saved for Tony George. Right next to several generations of the France's.
They make Bernie Ecclestone look like a soft touch genius.
Chuck Farley atleast Bernie didn’t put in a 25/8 rule for the Monaco Grand Prix to start a new international racing series based around the Monaco Grand Prix.
I couldn't agree with you more, Chuck. Tony George Damn near killed open wheel racing in this country. It's taken over 20 years, but I really enjoy IndyCar again. The current crop of drivers is impressive...now we need a few more engine and chassis manufacturers involved.
Harry Novick Here are the both of them being interviewed before the 2000 USGP. th-cam.com/video/CEqsT0-q6Kk/w-d-xo.html
Being from Indianapolis I was proud of Tony George to do what he did, trying to the best of his ability to make the "Track" and " Indianapolis " and "racing" better for every one.
In August of 1994 NASCAR did not race at Kansas, Chicagoland and Kentucky and maybe even more. The possibility that these midwest tracks have taken away from The Brickyard from many midwest fans that would travel to Indy for the BY4 to possibly see their only NASCAR race. Its too bad that the crowds are way down and the only solution is to put the BY4 in the playoff. That would bring many fans back to the IMS.
Kyle says he's a traditionalist and that Indycars don't go to Daytona, but they did once upon a time. Scared the you know what outta AJ Foyt too
MrMusicfan678 you are right but he was probably to young or not born yet to remember
@@bat-man502 yeah, he wasn't alive for that one. lol
@@bat-man502 The Indy Daytona race happened in 1959 and nascarman has a GREAT documentary on this disastrous shit show.
Kyle was racing occasionally in the 70s so I'm assuming he was probably born around time of that Indy Daytona Race probably before
This has been your best work yet David! Keep it up!
NASCAR in my view opened the floodgates in terms of other series coming to the Brickyard as F1 and MotoGP both held US GP's there over the next 25 years with mixed success. The 2005 debacle with the tires really killed the F1 US GP at Indy while MotoGP at Indy never really attracted that many fans as more went to the other US MotoGP event at Laguna Seca. After 3 years, MotoGP decided to have only one race in the US and after 2007 F1 disappeared from the US eventually returning in 2011 at COTA in Austin Texas.
Fantastic video David, very informative and easy to watch. Thanks
the real reason for the Brickyard 400 can be summed up in three words.... Indy Racing League. Tony George had thought of an all oval series LONG before NASCAR did a tire test in 1992. He didn't like CART and didn;t like the road and street racing and the lack of American drivers. He wanted an all oval series and the only source for ovals was Nascar.. he approached the France family and struck a deal... If indycars can run on Nascar ovals Nascar can run at Indy... its that simple.
ILSRWY4 considering that in 1994 from the ticket sales he the got the gravy train to fund the IRL.
I was at that ‘08 race. Second row back turn 4. Loved the race before then, dreaded going back after. Only been back once since in 2015 at what was supposed to be Jeff Gordon’s last race at Indy. Love the 500 and wouldn’t miss it for anything, but just no interest in going back to the 400.
Great video, very well done. Would love to see more in this style.
I would say the 2005 USGP and 2008 BY400 comparison is a very, very long reach. Having attended F1 at Indy as well as NASCAR races at Bristol, very little crossover between the two fan bases.
Good vid. btw, you were the one to get me into IndyCar. Thanks
Enjoyed that very much. I don't mind watching the Brickyard 400 even if its a snoozer. Hope they never leave.
Pfft you're so deluded. This track is equivalent to Pocono in NASCAR.
NASCAR’s product is so boring at Indy. Use the road course. That’s the one thing Nascar is good at now a days. Also why can’t IMSA come to Indy to be a double header with Indycar on Indy GP weekend?
they tried that in 2013 and it was a single file shitshow, plus IndyCar wanted the road course in 2014 which...was a joke and has been a joke until this year.
Straightail I thought the IMSA guys put on a better show in 2013 than nascar did to be honest. I was at the IMSA race that Friday. I enjoyed it.
Indycar did it this year and it was a fun race
Going to Indy used to be cool and it was an honor to go there and race and NASCAR would eventually go there and it was great and it worked, however when the COT and the Gen 6 cars and NASCAR tried to cater to other demographics and the Gen 6 cars just aren't in the track as much the old Gen and 4 and 5 cars were it makes the race a bit boring and the tire fiasco in 2008 wasn't a good look for the sport either. Last year had a good finish. But in the end, like a lot of things the old COT and just lack of interest of fans gave this track a bad rap. In the end, I much prefer then Gen 4 and 5 cars here over the Gen 6.
I would like to hear more about this US 500
Racing On a Weekly Basis well two more years it will be 25 years for that.
hope you got a snickers for that story!
Outstanding Job David.
The fact that they reprofiled the track and 93 is partially to why the racing is not that good there
Duke The Rebel is hasn’t affected the indycar’s that much but nascar was ruined.
@@robminmonaca exactly. it was needed for indycar to slow the cars down but it ruined how the stock cars could race that course.
The racing looked so much better in the test
Was at the inaugural.
Wont ever go back today
Stage racing and asinine ticket pricing inc. Track pass packages.
NASCAR is digging it's own grave
Bingo. My thoughts exactly. Stage racing is horrible.
My suggestion:
1 -drop the second date at Michigan and go to Berlin Speedway
2 - 86 Indy altogether and race at Mid-Ohio
Loved Kyle Petty's quote in the video. Tony George is trash btw, I miss CART.
Intersting history lesson. Thanks for the work and video.
Very good, well produced video!
A couple of things that are missing here, the proposed IROC race in May was actually suppose to be a one off race using IROC cars for Indy Car Legends. Second Tony got the idea to bring Nascar there when he took some laps in AJ Foyt's stock car around the speedway, when AJ came to the Speedway to film a commercial for Sears Craftsman on September 23, 1991.
2:49 Very, very tragic that Davey Allison never actually got to race competitively at the Brickyard.
28
Tragic for Allison Kulwicki and Richmond.
Kyle Patty has always made smart remarks but he was always right...
Exactly some things you just don't change
Very well put together. 👏🏽
And now, due to how poorly the Indy500 was handled this year, the Brickyard400 got more television viewership. Times change but some things stay the same.
Winston Cup, giving away my age, Series should try running the road course at Indy, if that also sucks go back to IRP, or whatever they are calling it now.
LORP. Lucas Oil Raceway Park
I've heard several rumors that the Xfinity (Busch) Series will be running the Indy Road course, most likely the same weekend as the IndyCar GP race, the week before the Indy 500
As far as the debate of keeping it on the schedule goes, I say keep it. Sure, you may get lackluster races there (even Daytona and Talladega are boring sometimes - it just happens,) but a good race still also happens every now and then too. Plus, it's something different from yet another 1.5 mile oval.
Great look at this. Good deep dive.
I went to the first three Brickyards. The track makes the cars look slow when comparing to an IndyCar. There is nothing like watching an IndyCar hit Turn One at 230 plus. Most people have their one sport that reminds them of their childhood. Mine will always be the 500 in May. I do feel sorry for the NASCAR fans that love the sport. I know how they feel. Breaks my heart seeing empty seats in May and throughout the IRL season. Hope both series are successful.
Just looking at the testing footage, I think the racing would've been better with the paved apron as there would've been the option of the main racing surface and the apron, instead of just the main racing surface which really enhanced the aero push. I hope they can find a middle ground someday with IMS because I'd love to see NASCAR race at Indy with the apron someday... if we ever get there.
But still expecting about 50,000 which is more than the sell out crowd at darlington last week
Ended up with over 60,000.
Stock cars dont fit at indy. That is also why they dont fit at Pocono either. If they want to spice up the event make it a road course race. It keeps its prestige with better racing.
Honestly the road course at Indy is very underrated,
They could've use the GP route
So you don't think of 'history' being good racing?
IRL - 1996-2002 was the best thing in racing. Since that went away, I'm 100% NASCAR fan. Yet the last Gateway race was the best oval IndyCar race in very long time.
there isn't anything really wrong with the Brickyard 400. I think it's become like CotA, it isn't bad but it isn't great so its just become "cool" to hate on it.
Honestly, I feel the same way. Neither F1 @ COTA or NASCAR @ Indy are even close to the worst races of either calendar.
The track surface is what killed the Brickyard 400. It was once a must watch race, but now it's become an afterthought.
watching those practice videos , made me even more in favor of repaving the apron through the turns
It'll never happen as the Indy cars go flat out through the corners. Don't need them going into the wall at 225mph.
NASCAR attendance is down, at every track. I don't blame it on Indy's bad races, because the racing there is good. NASCAR has broken it's own back, by the changing of its point system, the chase, and now the stage racing, and playoffs. They can't stick with one format, because they don't work like the old system. They cannot work. Same thing happened to Indy racing, they tried fixing something that wasn't broken. I was a huge Nascar fan, but I lost interest when they went to the chase format, as I'm sure was the case for many of us fans. But they're too proud to admit they failed, and restore it to its original glory. JMO
Moon Hitsearth nascar was trying to be the nfl and WWE on wheels it just cringe fest anymore and they still do it.
I can't remember what year between '08-'13, Bobby Labonte was signing autographs at a walmart in Lawrence and we had a ticket w/ the goodyear tire testers on it and Bobby was talking to my dad reminiscing about that year.
How much is one ticket for the brickyard ?
There was more fans at the original Goodyear tire test than at the race today in 2019.
So much has changed.
Great work, I really hope the Brickyard gets back on her sea legs soon. Way too much history to scrap the event
Good documentary style video, well done.
It seems so funny remembering when NASCAR fans were bragging about how it was only a matter of time before the BY400 would muscle its way into the Memorial Day weekend slot to replace the weakening 500! My how things have changed.
I remember an interview that Richard Petty did back around 2005-2006 saying that if they were to move the Coca-Cola 600 to another date and move the Brickyard 400 onto the day of the Indy 500 and up the distance of the BY400 to the full 500 miles as well as do away with the Indy 500 altogether that people wouldn't even notice the change. Like you said, how times have changed.
I watched the very first Brickyard flag to flag with my dad when I was 9. I just watched the race this past weekend. I am now 34, and almost shedding a tear. Practice sessions from the 90's had more people attend then this race. Quite sad.
Did you see the amount of fans disguised as empty seats today? I'm aware of the decline but my Lord I couldn't believe how empty the stands were! Yikes!
Chris Snyder no bad weather as well.
I really like these mini documentary videos
Because the racing had been "boring" recently and that's what the vocal fans complain about most, thus they say the track should be taken off the schedule. Sounds logical to me, it's not like any track can get better or anything...
The Black Hole Guy well luckily the package NASCAR has this year has brought on some amazing racing this year! Hopefully the cars will be changed for the better in the near future to keep the streak of the great racing we’ve been seeing this year alive!
I'm really looking forward to seeing what this 2019 package will do.
Nice history and take on all this.good stuff.
What NASCAR should do is have a Saturday night race at Indy. This would clearly distinguish it from the Indy 500 and it would (more importantly for the fans) avoid the hot weather.
I thought this year's Brickyard was the best in a long time, there was lots of two, three wide racing further back in the field, just not for the lead, nobody had anything for Harvick, he was definitely the class of the field. At times, Larson, Logano, and Blaney could keep up with him, but he definitely deserved the win. One thing that you'll notice in the video from that 1992 tire test is that they were running on the aprons at the apex of all four turns; I believe if they were put back in, like IMS offered to do but NASCAR told them not to, that that alone would improve the racing dramatically by giving them two grooves to run in. Also, the Gen 7 car is coming out in 2021 and hopefully that will make these cars less aero dependent and improve the racing. The 2019 rules package has helped but the leader is still able to get the clean air and drive away more times than not.
Who's worse?
Tony George or Brian France?
George
Well Brian France didn't literally divide NASCAR into two championships. He has that going for him.
George due to almost killing the greatest spectacle in racing and the sport of Indycar racing for what he thought and his own agenda. The 25/8 rule still affects that race and sport. Brian France wanted to create a stock car version of the NFL and other stick and ball sports along with gimmicks meant to boost ratings which only makes them worse and if any recovery happened it still won’t match the early to mid 2000s numbers.
The 1st generation builds the business, the 2nd generation maintains the business, the 3rd generation destroys the business.
AMC401 Nash well Tony George went way too far with his IRL and 25/8 rule and it finally took them 12 years to realize the damage he did to put Indycar on its death bed.
It hurts that so many people hate the race, it’s my home track and if I wanted to see a race somewhere else I gotta drive 4-5 hours
I'm sorry to hear that. I like NASCAR at Indianapolis. Half the people that want to leave Indy are the same people who say nascar should return too riverside which they dont realize got turned into an apartment complex and also want to go back to north wilkesboro which is overrun by weeds and is in disarray. These same fans also want to stop racing at new Hampshire as well which is my local track and would also make it at least a 5 hour commute to nearest track
Watched the race yesterday , looked like 30,000 people in the stands . Its a dead race , they should add another road race or short track in it's place .
I hate the idea of nascar taking away any tracks from the schedule, even if the race sucks I just think about all the people who don’t get a chance to see nascar in person with their nearby track getting cut, I think this can be fixed if nascar goes to IRP (which i always loved the trucks and xfinity racing there and always thought they should’ve stayed there)
"Partially due in part" My favorite bit of the vid
Can't sugarcoat it. Now they will try to get fans on the 4th of July next year replacing the traditional Independence Day weekend at Daytona.
One mistake to point out and one reason why a lot of Nascar fans don't like IMS. The mistake was when you were talking about the 2008 tire screw up. It was every 20 laps for a caution not 10.
Now, the reason why a lot of Nascar fans don't like IMS is because when sitting in the stands, you can not see all the way around the track. IF you go to any other track that host a Nascar race, for the most part, you can see 90 percent of the track. At IMS you can see at best, 60 percent of the track depending on where you are sitting. As an example, the seats that I had until around 2010 was in stand A, row AA. From those seats we were able to see the last half of pit road and the cars at the very end of the front stretch going into turn 1. We could still see them through about half of the short chute and then again at the end of turn 2 and going into the back stretch. After that, maybe here and there in between the trees going into turn 3 and then again coming out of turn 4 and the start of the front stretch. And that was it.
Using this last weekends race, Darlington, I have attended races there with the track in it's as built configuration and after it was flip flopped. In original configuration, you could see the cars as they went into turn 1 through turn 2 and down the back stretch only losing them behind a building or two for a second. Then into turn 3 around though turn 4 and finally loosing the cars about a quarter way down the front stretch due to the fact of the cars being right up on the wall. After the flip flop, pretty much the same thing.
But if the on-track product is good enough, not being able to see most of the track would be a non-issue. Indycar is the case in point, Indycar had such track as MIS, Pocono, Fontana, and still has track like Iowa, Gateway (and add Richmond)… and yet IMS is still the premiere venue. Yes, good site-lines are nice, but it isn't the end all and be all. NASCAR fans packed IMS for years before their numbers started to decline.