By Staff
This weekend's Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor speedway is arguably the second biggest race of the season for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series.
With 50 cars entered for the race, to date this is the largest field to attempt a race next to the Daytona 500 and the purse for the Brickyard, also is second behind Daytona. Now I admit that the Daytona 500 is and always will be NASCAR's biggest race and it should be. But I am beginning to think that The Brickyard 400 is becoming the biggest race to be held at the Indianapolis Motor speedway.
I have very fond memories of watching the 500 on TV or listening to it on the radio for as long as I can remember. It seemed that everyone was aware of what was going on regardless of whether they were a race fan or not. But the split between CART and the IRL has taken the Indy 500 and turned it into an event featuring different cars and many new faces behind the wheel. Granted the racing action and fanfare, recently with Danica Patrick as an example, is still as good as ever but the race has lost some of its luster while the Brickyard 400 seems to grow a little more each year.
The crowds for the Brickyard are overflowing each and every year and the NASCAR drivers talk about kissing the yard of bricks with the excitement of small children on Christmas Eve.
Tony Stewart mentioned from victory lane last year, that winning the 400 was the biggest win of his career. Drivers all look at Indy as a crown jewel and to NASCAR's elite drivers, they don't care if they have to drive 400 or 500 miles, a win there is precious.
Take a look at the field for the Indy 500 held this past May. Tony George, President of the Indianapolis Motor speedway and founder of the Indy Racing League had to urge Michael Andretti and Al Unser Jr. from retirement just to come close to filling the entire 33-car field. It has been rumored that he even financed a few teams to get them to the track. There was no fanfare on bump day because there were only 33 cars there.
It is this fan's opinion that the Brickyard 400 has become the premiere event held at the Indianapolis Motor speedway.
I am sure that this makes a few of the open wheel fanatics cringe and become defensive but face the facts race fans, no matter how much we complain about the TV coverage or the politically correctness that has invaded our favorite sport, NASCAR is king.