Brickyard Triple-Header Dicussion

[Indydriver]

Anyone going? I'm interested to know if the new format has caught your attention and if you will attend or watch on TV. The first year NASCAR came to town, the Speedway had to hold a lottery for tickets. They literally could have sold one million-no exaggeration. I had a block of 16 and took customers every year. It is admittedly not the greatest track for stock cars but if you're a race fan, you go, drink some beer and enjoy yourself. I dropped out after the Goodyear debacle a few years ago and haven't been back. As a loyal customer who bought 16 tickets, box lunches, ++, I felt like they owed me something to get me to come back. They didn't, so they lost my business. This year, they've stolen the Nationwide race from IRP (or whatever they call it these days) and I think it's going to be a huge disappointment. These cars are great on the little 5/8 mile progressive banking track with constant passin', beatin' and bangin'. I predict they will be awful on the big track which will look empty with only 50,000 fans in attendance. I hope they surprise me but this is the conventional wisdom around here. What intrigues me most and really temps me to go out there is the Grand Am race this afternoon. They've dusted off the old F1 circuit and I believe these cars and drivers will put on a great show. It may turn out to be the highlight of the weekend. Your thoughts and experience?

 

[tommygunn]

I agree the IRP track is awesome and I really didn't appreciate the racing until last year when I knew that was the last one. It is easier to get sponsors for the Indy track, but the racing just isn't as good. More people would watch the Nationwide series if it differentiated itself from the cup series.

 

[azjake]

I agree the short track racing is the best to watch. Bristol is one of my favorite races. I also think NASCAR should have some races on dirt. Speed Channel occasionally shows the Lucas Oil or World of Outlaws Late Models on dirt and they're really fun to watch.

 

[Indydriver]

Ditto on the dirt. Tony Stewart is trying to convince Brian France with his "Prelude to the Dream" event at Eldora. Sells out plus gets a PPV audience on a Wednesday night.

 

[Indydriver]

Well, so far, I thought both the Grand Am and Nationwide races were pretty entertaining. The wet/dry/wet/dry conditions for the road racers certainly created some interesting circumstances and then of course there's the kamikaze drive of JPM to add a little controversy. There was a lot of aggressive driving and harry passes. I'm not a big fan of Sebastien Bourdais but he drove well and deserved the win. Nationwide....I ask again, when will the producers of race coverage learn? The one hour pre-game show was 75% Danika-mania. It may take a year or two but eventually the door-slammer set will realize she is a below average race car driver. She qualified 20th on a track she knew better than anyone in the field except Hornish. Then, she inexplicably runs over a car in the middle of the groove halfway through turn one and of course, blames it on theother driver. She is simply brain dead. Don't these sleds have brakes? At least the announcers didn't whitewash it. Oh, one more thing, Disney, ABC or ESPN, whoever is in charge of your on air talent (?), please, please, put Marty Reid out to pasture. He is worthless on IndyCar broadcasts and even worse when you throw him into a series he doesn't follow. He even forgot the names of his fellow broadcasters during the intro to the broadcast! Terrible, just terrible. Finally, NASCAR really screwed Sadler. If they truly believed he jumped the start (very debatable), then give him a penalty commensurate with the offense--make him give back the spot. Don't black flag him for a drive through and take away his chance to 1) win the race, 2) collect the $100,000 bonus and 3) severely damage his season title ambitions. If I was him, I would have parked the car on the yard of bricks, given the officials the finger and walked away. Very poor officiating. One more thing: as I forecast, the crowd was embarrassing. Probably less than the 50,000 that was estimated. All those empty seats really make you winder how the Speedway can afford to put these races on.

 

[morepwr]

As a casual Nascar fan I think they are making big mistakes too. I no longer will watch many of the races as they have become more of a "follow the leader" type of event. Running at Indy was a novelty and was interesting for a few years but obviously lost its luster over time and with the tire mess from Goodyear. Its a huge track but with only one good line to run so there just isnt much oppurtunity to make passes even if your car is better than those ahead of you. Attendance has really dropped of at several of the tracks. I dont think this is just based on the economy either. I think that the rules of making all the cars too much alike and no tire choices have made everyone so equal that the interest has faded.

 

[mcshooter]

the stupid nascar rulings is what is ruining the racing. they surely screwed stadler.. whats with the leader having to be the leader on a restart at a line, just let them go when the flag is dropped just like local racing.

 

[A_Harman]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver

The one hour pre-game show was 75% Danika-mania. It may take a year or two but eventually the door-slammer set will realize she is a below average race car driver. She qualified 20th on a track she knew better than anyone in the field except Hornish. Then, she inexplicably runs over a car in the middle of the groove halfway through turn one and of course, blames it on theother driver.

Agreed. I saw the replay twice, and when the car started to spin in front of her, she should have gone to the inside, not the outside. Basic race-driving instruction says that a car that has lost grip will go to the outside of a turn. She could have avoided the crash.

 

[BR549]

Originally Posted By: Indydriver

Ditto on the dirt. Tony Stewart is trying to convince Brian France with his "Prelude to the Dream" event at Eldora. Sells out plus gets a PPV audience on a Wednesday night.

does ARCA still race on dirt?? DuQuion or Springfield Mile???

 

[Indydriver]

Originally Posted By: morepwr

I no longer will watch many of the races as they have become more of a "follow the leader" type of event. Running at Indy was a novelty and was interesting for a few years but obviously lost its luster over time and with the tire mess from Goodyear. Its a huge track but with only one good line to run so there just isnt much oppurtunity to make passes even if your car is better than those ahead of you.

Good points all. As I said in my OP, I dropped out with 16 tickets++ after the Goodyear debacle. I wrote a letter to the president of the Speedway a couple of months later. He was kind enough to reply with a personal letter but made no offer to entice me to return. The problem was Goodyear's and NASCAR's, not the track's. Unfortuntely the Speedway is the one to suffer any backlash from the fans. One thing that really struck me...The Nationwide cars put on a MUCH better show than the Cup cars. the racing was a lot closer and there was more passing. One more thing: Jimmy Johnson and press people.... NEVER, NEVER, NEVER put four BY400 wins on the same plane as four Indy 500 wins. They are not and never will be in the same league. I was glad to see Jeff Gordon understood this fact. After this lousy show and dropping attendance, one has to wonder if this race has much of a life here.

 

[KB2008X]

This is 6 weeks late, but in response to BR549's query as to whether ARCA is still running on dirt, the answer is yes. I've been to several of those races, although it's been 10-12 years since my last one. At that time ARCA was still running 3 or 4 year-old Winston Cup cars on the ARCA tracks, including the dirt tracks at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, IL and at the Fairgrounds track at DuQuoin, IL. This year the Springfield race was Aug. 19 and the DuQuoin race is upcoming on Oct.14, 2012. I first went to Springfield to get a sense of what it was like to see full-size stock cars running wide open on a flat dirt track like Nascar used to do it. I got to say it was awesome. The racing was so good I went to DuQuoin later that same year. If you haven't seen that kind of racing I strongly suggest that you get out and see it while you can. As far as I know those are the only two tracks in the country that have full-size stock cars on dirt. Keith

 

[dailydriver]

^^^Are they using those 'cross-hatch cut' tread pattern Hoosiers on these at those dirt tracks?

 

[KB2008X]

I'm not sure what tire they are using now, and I wasn't sure what they were using then. I would assume it is a one-off tire because there isn't anything else with the weight of an ARCA car running on a flat dirt track. Slicks won't cut it and sprints or WoO tires wouldn't handle the weight. As far as a brand goes, it makes sense that Hoosier would make the dirt track tires for ARCA and may even be the spec tire for the whole series. Keith