NASCAR turns the Brickyard into a road course, throwing some drivers for a loop
By Bob Pockrass
FOX Sports NASCAR Writer
Welcome to the 28th annual Brickyard 400. Whoops, Brickyard 200.
Is it even right to call it the Brickyard when the NASCAR Cup Series competes for the 28th time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway but the first time on the road course, which encompasses parts of the famed oval as well as a meandering asphalt path that was part of a course initially designed for Formula 1?
For the record, the official name for the Cup race Sunday is the Verizon 200 at the Brickyard. For those who remember the pageantry of the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 and the first 15 races for which NASCAR packed the enormous IMS grandstands, it’s difficult to know whether any part of the race this weekend has ties to the previous 27.
"I might throw up when I go in the tunnel," former Brickyard 400 winner Kevin Harvick said. "I can’t imagine driving into Indianapolis and racing a Cup Series race on the road course."
Harvick won’t have to imagine. He’ll get to do it in practice Saturday, qualifying Sunday morning and for the 82-lap race Sunday afternoon. The race is 200 miles, half the distance of the 400, because of the time it takes to get through the 2.439-mile, 14-turn course compared to the 2.5-mile oval.
"I remember the excitement and enthusiasm I had my whole life to go there and race on the oval, and now we are going to go backward down the front straightaway and race on the road course?" Harvick said.
"I am sure that there will be a lot of people that will enjoy it, but I won’t be one of them."
That’s the key: getting people to enjoy watching stock cars race at Indianapolis. The racing there has had its spectacular moments but never consistently incredible racing — the flat, relatively narrow racing groove isn’t designed for heavy stock cars. The races often came down to fuel mileage and restarts with limited passing as cars got strung out quickly.
The Brickyard was an event, a spectacle, until 2008, when NASCAR had to throw the caution about every 10-to-12 laps because of excessive tire wear. Coupled with the recession and general NASCAR headwinds, crowds dwindled at a track where if people were going to attend one event a year, it would be the Indianapolis 500, not the Brickyard.
Last year, NASCAR put the Xfinity cars on the road course in an entertaining event. The Cup race, too, was entertaining but not enough to keep track officials from opting to see if making this a road-course race would attract a bigger crowd.
For traditional drivers such as Harvick, it’s obvious why they bristle. The whole point of racing at Indianapolis in the mid-1990s was so that when drivers were asked if they raced at Indianapolis, they could say they did on the same oval as the Indianapolis 500.
An answer that includes "but on the road course" can be deflating.
"I’m sad that it’s not going to be on the oval, but at the same time, I understand that because of the technology that we have now, it seems like every year it got tougher and tougher for everybody to pass on the oval," said Cup team co-owner and former Brickyard winner Tony Stewart, one of the most famous Indiana-born athletes.
"Ultimately, at the end of the day, you have a world-class facility that has such deep history that you want to give them the best product that you can. Having a race on the road course might be something that fills that gap."
When NASCAR first raced at Indianapolis, several IndyCar die-hards were livid that stock cars would be put on equal footing. It turned out to be a great business decision.
Roger Penske, who owns IndyCar and NASCAR teams, bought the speedway prior to the 2020 season. Stewart, like most in the Cup garage, has the ultimate respect for Penske, and if he wants to put the NASCAR on the road course, Stewart said it is a good decision to try.
"Somebody said that ... the only thing that is going to race on that oval again is the Indy 500 each year," Stewart said. "If that’s the case, that’s where I was in 1993 or 1994 when they were talking about bringing NASCAR."
The weekend will feature both IndyCar and Xfinity Series races Saturday, with the Cup race Sunday. The weekend has the potential to become a celebration of the two biggest racing series based in the United States.
It just might not be a crown jewel for those in NASCAR who considered it one.
"We lose a crown jewel when we don’t go to the oval there," Austin Dillon said. "This history of it. I don’t think the road course will ever be what the oval history has.
"So I’m kind of disappointed that we don’t get to race on the oval. Now, in saying that, I’ve had a lot of fun on the simulator running the road course at Indy. It seems like a cool track, and I wouldn’t mind going twice and doing it two different ways."
It might take a while to excite people about the road course. Even seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who will compete in the IndyCar race Saturday, likely won’t stay in town for the Cup event.
"I've been working too much as it is," he said. "I'm supposed to be retired at this point, so I'll get out of there Saturday night and get home and enjoy Sunday at home."
As far as Dillon’s hopes, NASCAR theoretically could run back-to-back days on different courses if it really wanted to create a spectacular weekend. But giving IMS a second race would be nearly opposite of the wondering whether IMS should have even one race if the oval can’t generate interest in an area known to have a healthy racing fan base.
Ever since last year, when talk of putting Cup on the road course got louder, the issue has polarized those in NASCAR.
"We're trying to do what's right for the sport, what's best for the sport and the event," IMS President Doug Boles said at the announcement last year. "We want to make it entertaining for our fans. We want to encourage more fans to experience NASCAR, more fans to come experience NASCAR at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and we think this gives us a great opportunity to do that.
"The good news for those drivers is yes, they'll be going the opposite direction, but they will start and finish on those yard of bricks, and they're racing across the same front stretch that we've raced here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1909."
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What to watch for
The big difference in the Indianapolis road course compared to the others teams have run this year is that the Indy course is flat, with no elevation change.
Some of the corners at Road America are similar to those of Indianapolis, where they are running the 2.439-mile, 14-turn course, as both have long straightaways and hard braking zones.
Austin Dillon noted in an interview this week that the asphalt at Indy is so different, with the way the grooves are cut, that it makes comparing what works at one road course maybe not applicable.
But who are we fooling? It hasn’t mattered on the road courses this year, as pretty much the best drivers have been Chase Elliott (two wins and two runner-up finishes) and Kyle Larson (two wins, one second), with Christopher Bell (one win, one second), Martin Truex Jr. (two thirds), Kyle Busch (three top-5s) and Denny Hamlin (three top-5s) the biggest threats.
Austin Cindric, the defending Xfinity Series champion and current points leader, is running the Cup race and led laps at Road America. Don’t rule the Team Penske driver out. And certainly expect the Team Penske cars to be much better than they were last week at Watkins Glen — with Roger Penske owning the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, they have a huge incentive to get things right.
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Thinking out loud
Christopher Bell hates to lose. Maybe even as much as Kyle Busch. Although he might not have the brash tongue of Busch, Bell seethes when he loses and does his best to keep his composure while giving short answers to questions.
As such, it isn't really a surprise that he didn't talk with Kyle Larson in the couple of days following Watkins Glen. Larson had spoiled Bell’s day. No matter whose fault it was, Bell knows he would've had a chance to win if the contact with Larson hadn't happened.
Bell and Larson have battled each other in midgets for several years. They have a respectful rivalry. But Bell and Larson don’t hang out together as much as Larson does with other drivers. They certainly aren’t best buddies. And that’s a good thing because hopefully they'll battle for wins for decades to come.
Drivers being angry when they lose? Love to see it. If Bell doesn’t want to take a call from Larson in the days following their heated battle, he shouldn’t feel he has to take that call.
No one is saying that this rivalry will reach Kyle Busch-Brad Keselowski status (though few would complain if it did), but Bell shouldn’t be expected to go out of his way to be nice to Larson.
Next up: Next Gen
Teams are getting ready for a Goodyear tire test at Daytona in September (there are some other tests scheduled, but the Daytona test is one where more than three cars are expected). The number of teams that will have cars ready for the test is still to be determined, but it will be multiple cars.
That testing schedule has a crew chief such as Randall Burnett wondering how the building process is going but also knowing that he needs to concentrate on getting his driver, Tyler Reddick, into the 2021 playoffs.
"We’re all working on it. We’ve got parts and pieces coming in, and we’ve got a car going together that we’re going to test at Daytona with Austin," Burnett said. "That’s going to be a big learning curve for everybody.
"So I’m trying to get as much knowledge as we possibly can but also focused on getting into this [playoffs]. ... [I’ll] learn from the things that they’re learning from putting one together and probably get more involved with it as we go."
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They said it
"I’m in a pretty good calm situation as far as my mental state. I’ve been working out and am ready to go race and see what it brings us." – Austin Dillon on being outside the playoff bubble with three races remaining
Bob Pockrass has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s. He joined FOX Sports in 2019 following stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @bobpockrass. Looking for more NASCAR content? Sign up for the FOX Sports NASCAR Newsletter with Bob Pockrass!