Lots Of Hope And Future Success May Ride On Sunday’s Brickyard 400
INDIANAPOLIS – I can’t believe that this weekend marks the 16th running of the Brickyard 400 … err, excuse me, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
It’s been 16 years since Jeff Gordon, having turned 23 just two days earlier, won the first Brickyard contest at the fabled Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first of four 400’s he’s won there to date.
When the late Bill France Jr. made the decision after two so-called “tire tests” at IMS in 1992 and 1993 to bring the NASCAR Cup road show to Indy, he hoped it would eventually turn into a big event.
But I don’t think anyone could ever have imagined Indy becoming so popular, so quickly, and such an important race to Sprint Cup drivers. For most, it’s the second-biggest race in the season, behind only the Daytona 500.
A win at Indy not only carries a first-place check of over $500,000, a driver’s name is permanently cemented among the greatest names in motorsports, like Mears, Unser, Andretti and Foyt.
Sure, last year’s Brickyard was nothing short of a travesty, where teams were unable to run more than 12 or 13 laps in a row before their tires wore down to sheer dust – a situation that most knew would be bad going into the race, but likely didn’t expect it to be as bad as it turned out.
Is it any wonder that I picked last year’s “race” in name only as the worst race in NASCAR history for my upcoming book? I challenge anyone to find me a worst overall race (and I’m not including horrific races like Dale Earnhardt’s death in the 2001 Daytona 500) from a performance standpoint.
Let’s make that from a LACK of performance standpoint.
Goodyear promises us that we won’t have a repeat performance this Sunday, that this will be a very competitive race where the tires won’t literally fall off the cars.
I sure hope so, because NASCAR is at a very fragile point of the season. It’s the 20th race of 2009, meaning there are seven races left to make the Chase, including Sunday. Also, it’s the annual changeover to ESPN and ABC televising the final 17 races of the season. In my opinion, while I like the way Fox televises the first 13 races, no one does it better than ESPN/ABC.
But that’s not all that’s riding on Sunday’s race. TV ratings have been down virtually every race this season. Attendance is noticeably down at virtually every track. Fan interest, apathy and the economy have come together to put NASCAR in one of its most difficult times over the last 20 years.
As much of a pessimist as I am, I’m trying to be an optimist when it comes to the sport rebounding. We’re starting to see some gradual signs that the economy is slowly turning to the positive. If that continues, that’s also a positive sign that NASCAR’s slumping fortunes (and I’m not just talking about economic fortunes) will also start to slowly rebound.
In the whole scheme of things, the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard is just one race on a 36-race schedule. But this year, perhaps more so than any of the previous 15 editions of the 400, we could very well have the most important race there that NASCAR has ever had – and may have for many years to come.
Last year’s 400 was nothing short of a nightmare. But if all the stars align like they’re seemingly indicating heading into this weekend, we may come away from Sunday’s race with not only a great finish, but also even greater hope for a comeback for NASCAR, as well.
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