Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...
Spain is European champions. Álex Palou could not add to the Spanish triumphs, but Scott McLaughlin and Will Power had the Antipodean nations covered with a split of the Iowa doubleheader. There were cars at Goodwood, simultaneous sports car races in the Western Hemisphere, and a fuel mileage race that wasn't in Pocono. Of course, rain made an appearance. Firestone had a weekend. Ed Carpenter said some things. There is an event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and that is where our attention will be focused.
A Complicated Brick in the Wall
A summer tradition returns this weekend as the Brickyard 400 will take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NASCAR's date at 16th and Georgetown started 30 years ago, and the series is back for its final race before a two-week break for the Olympics. However, this year's race is back on the oval, a 160-lap race around the 2.5-mile circuit, after the last three years were run on the IMS road course.
This is a move that is largely celebrated as the Brickyard 400 is seen as one of NASCAR's "crown jewel" events alongside the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. It is an event every driver has wanted to win since year one, when 86 cars attempted to qualify for 1994 and saw Jeff Gordon take a pivotal victory in NASCAR history.
Since Gordon, all the major names of late-20th century NASCAR and early-21st century NASCAR have won the race. Dale Earnhardt, Dale Jarrett, Bill Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch. All past Cup champions, all Brickyard 400 winners.
Along with some of the all-time best, there have been feel-good stories in Jamie McMurray winning it the same year as he won the Daytona 500. Paul Menard scoring his only Cup Series victory at a track his father spent a lot of time and money in an effort to win the Indianapolis 500. South Bend, Indiana's Ryan Newman winning in 2013 and Kasey Kahne ending a winless streak in an extended Brickyard 400 in 2017.
For all the good, the Brickyard 400 has had some bad moments. Once a race that rivaled the Indianapolis 500 in crowd size, the event never recovered from the 2008 tire debacle where tire wear in practice led to cautions being called every ten to 12 laps. The crowd started to thin out, which coincided with the recession. The Brickyard 400 started to have more critics over the lack of passing and good racing. This hit an apex in 2016 after Kyle Busch led 149 of 170 laps.
From that point forward, a roar grew for the race to change, and moving the race to the IMS road course was the easy fix that many wanted just to see something different and hopefully more competitive. Though the race remained on the oval, those calls change only increased, and there was more visible aluminum in the grandstand with each passing year.
The wish came true in 2021, but even after getting what they wanted, the voices turned. There was a melancholy over the lost of the Brickyard 400, a landmark event in NASCAR's rise in the 1990s. When the new generation car was introduced in 2022, the road course race was not as lively as past road course races. More people wished for a Brickyard 400 return, especially with the new vehicle putting on better races at intermediate tracks where the previous generation of car struggled.
When the return of the Brickyard 400 was announced for 2024, it was met with overall approval and many saw it as a return of a crown jewel event. However, there is a complicated legacy that must be addressed before we get to this weekend.
It is hard to call it a crown jewel event when the Brickyard 400 was gone for three years.
Big events don't go away. The Masters isn't taking a three-year break. The Rose Bowl isn't going to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood for a change of scenery. Churchill Downs isn't changing up the Kentucky Derby and running it with greyhounds instead of thoroughbreds just for something different.
If the Brickyard 400 mattered and racing on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval was valued, the race would have never moved to the road course, even if the quality of racing was not outstanding.
When the NASCAR Cup Series first visited Indianapolis Motor Speedway, it was seen as a "we made it" moment for the series. It was on the biggest stage for motorsports in the United States, a place once kept to one race a year. If a driver wanted to compete on the hollowed grounds, they had to show up in May. With NASCAR's introduction, it brought drivers to the track who would never have otherwise had a shot to compete there. These weren't rum-dum drivers either. These were some of the best in the country who grew up in stock car racing and were never on the open-wheel path to the Indianapolis 500. A divide was bridged and it was celebrated. The Brickyard 400 became the hottest ticket in the series.
It was never a stellar race with side-by-side racing or slingshot drafting, but it was a special race because of the location. A winner had accomplished something remarkable. Every team gave that little bit extra even though it was worth the same amount of points as any other race on the schedule.
Somewhere that got lost along the way. A tire debacle can erase the illusion quickly, but NASCAR was also changing. Race craft was deemphasized in favor of drama. A winner had to be more than the best man and machine. Every race needed a memorable finish, a "game seven moment." It had to go to the wire and be thrilling with two, three, maybe even four-wide across the line all the time, at every race.
The Brickyard 400 never lent itself to that kind of race. Many were happy to see it gone. Then everyone wanted it back.
This is not as simple as picking up as business as usual. The Brickyard 400 went from being one of NASCAR's cornerstone races and then it was tossed to the curb for a carnival trick. It sacrificed every shred of history for a flash in the pan. It is back, but it cannot be ignored that it was disrespected because it didn't fit a mold it was always bigger than.
Anyone calling it a crown jewel without acknowledging the last three years is telling a lie. No one is allowed to wax on about the prestige and importance of Indianapolis Motor Speedway when this race was deemed worthy to be discarded for something that in no way could come close to matching what the race once was. Switching to the race course was an act of desperation and anyone with half a brain knew it wouldn't be a bump upward.
This might the 30th anniversary celebration of the Brickyard 400, and it might be back on the oval, but let's not act like this was a couple that spent three years separated and sleeping with other people. The celebration should be dialed back at least 30% because there is a three-year period where this race was cast aside that we can never ignore.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, but did you know...
Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup race from Pocono, his second victory of the season. Cole Custer won the Grand National Series race. Corey Heim won the Truck race, his fifth victory of the season.
The #8 Toyota of Sébastein Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryō Hirakawa won the 6 Hours of São Paulo. The #92 Manthey Pure Rxing Porsche of Klaus Bachler, Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm won in LMGT3.
The #52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca-Gibson of Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann won the IMSA race from Mosport. The #3 Corvette of Antonio García and Alexander Sims won in GTD Pro. The #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Roman De Angelis and Spencer Pumpelly won in GTD.
Toprak Razgatlioglu swept the World Superbike races from Donington Park. Adrián Huertas swept the World Supersport races.
Louis Foster won the Indy Lights race from Iowa, his fifth victory of the season.
Coming Up This Weekend
The aforementioned Brickyard 400.
IndyCar's final street race of the season from Toronto.
Formula One will be in Budapest.
Formula E concludes its season in London.
GT World Challenge America is at Virginia International Raceway.
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup is at Hockenheim.
World Superbike goes to Most for a back-to-back.
Supercars heads to Sydney Motorsports Park.
Super Formula has a round at Fuji.
Latvia hosts the World Rally Championship.
