The sight of Richard Petty wasn't enough to make up for what had to be the most disappointing running of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Problems with the Goodyear tires and numerous scheduled cautions took the excitement out of the race, making it look more like a Formula One race than a NASCAR race. Attendance was also noticeably down, reflecting the big economic downturn the country is experiencing. Pole sitter Jimmie Johnson held off Carl Edwards to win the race. The race saw no more than 12 laps of continuous green light racing at any point in the race with about a third of the race being run under the caution lap.
It's not the economic downturn, attendance was down because people don't feel safe in Indianapolis due to the massive crime wave we are experiencing.
ReplyDeleteWhat goes around comes around.....
This years Brickyard 400 gives new meaning to the term "Sprint Cup". Although I must hand it to the teams, NASCAR unlike the FIA attempted to make lemonade from lemons. The FIA - and its President Max "I am not a Nazi I just hire prostitutes to dress like them" Moseley ruled from their ivory tower in London that Michelin could not bring replacement tires to the track, and IMS could not change the track by putting in a chicane before Turn 13 to slow the field. Those actions combined with the then one set of tires per race rule from the FIA doomed the 2005 USGP.
ReplyDeleteIn defense of NASCAR at least they didn't cancel or suggest teams boycott the race. They allowed Goodyear to attempt to remedy the situation bringing in tires from next week's race at Pocono. Goodyear screwed the pooch.
I heard last night on the Speed TV programs from people claiming NASCAR should have let them race and let the teams decide when to change tires. That'd been a disaster waiting to happen as someone would try to push the envelope and we'd have twice the laps under caution to clean up debris from exploding tires or the resulting cars being taken out by spinning cars caused by flat tires.
No, it's probably the economic downturn. People just don't have money sitting around anymore to do things like travel to a race track and buy a ticket. This has been an issue at other race tracks, too. I believe TV ratings are up. This is not an Indianapolis only problem.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you AI. NASCAR fans in Indianapolis better be concerned because there's no probability that this can be solved given the "COT" issue. The Cow of Tomorrow...er Car of Tomorrow puts enourmous strain on the right side front and rear tires here at Indy. Goodyear will have to work hard to solve this problem.
I have to commend NASCAR on the race they called. They did it in the name of safety for the drivers and the spectators. Even though it wasn't a great race, the folks still saw a little racing.
Let's hope they get this solved because the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a great partner to the city that asks for and gets almost nothing other than police overtime to help put on their events.