Embarrassing, a debacle of epic proportions, fiasco, farce, a joke. All are synonyms for the 2008 Brickyard 400.
The 2008 Brickyard 400 was awful, plain and simple. In case you don’t remember the debacle that was, I’ll refresh your memory with one term: competition caution(s).
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the place that holds so much tradition and history became the sight of one of the worst racing failures in the history of auto racing last season when Goodyear tires kept grinding down to the cords after ten to twelve laps, forcing the sanctioning body to throw competition cautions to keep drivers and fans safe.
Every single caution of the 2008 Brickyard 400 came about because of tires. Whether NASCAR threw a competition caution or a wreck resulted from a tire failure, every time the yellow flew, it had to do with tires.
Attendance at Indy has been lacking the past few years, and last year’s tire issues will probably force many to not even attend this year’s Brickyard. NASCAR sent a letter to the fans that attended last year’s event and had yet to purchase tickets for this year’s 400 miler. “Signed” by Mike Helton and Goodyear abuser Tony Stewart, the letter states,
“We write this letter to you—a valued customer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NASCAR fan—that NASCAR, its skilled teams and talented drivers are committed to working with Goodyear and IMS to present the best Allstate 400 at the Brickyard race possible Sunday, July 26, 2009.”
The faulty tire issue wasn’t exactly figured out by NASCAR and Goodyear at Indy until Saturday’s practice sessions. “At Indy, we didn’t see it coming until Saturday,” NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said. My brother noticed it too.
“What’s that black stuff under the wing,” he noted. My 17-year old brother, although not necessarily a huge NASCAR fanatic like his elder brother, noticed that there was a black powdery residue sticking to the backs of the cars. “It’s just gas spillover,” I first responded.
“No it’s not. Look at that,” he asserted. I looked again. It certainly wasn’t gas spillover as I had first though. Little did I know what it would do to my raceday.
Funny thing is, I have written on many occasions that the COT was awful and racing at Indy shouldn’t be messed up by the box shaped vehicles. Let’s take a few trips down memory lane…
In February of 2007, while writing for the student published newspaper at Elder High School, The Purple Quill (of which I was the Editor-In-Chief), I wrote this about the COT in general. “Announced last year, the new fangled Car of Tomorrow is supposed to cut costs, make drivers safer, and bring competitive balance to the sport. That sounds familiar. Kinda like IROC right?”
But I wasn’t done. “The COT is straight up silly,” I wrote. “Who knows, maybe the COT will grow on me, but at its current rate, NASCAR is becoming more and more like IROC. And that is extremely unfortunate. Hopefully the COT will never grace the Yard of Bricks in Indianapolis. That would be an unfortunate event in the Racing Capital of the World.”
Little did I know.
In a blog post from April of last year (http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2008/04/cot-at-indianapolis-should-i-panic.html), when the first Goodyear tire test was performed for the 2008 Brickyard 400, I noted this, “Nothing was more frustrating than watching tires shred at Indianapolis in 2004, especially the one that shred on the last lap that was connected to the 6 car of my hero Mark Martin! Goodyear must be safe, but they can't be too safe because rants like Stewart's (the infamous Atlanta post race rant) will abound again.”
And again, I continued to run my mouth via my keyboard, “Well, hopefully the COT platform races as well as the old car, if not better. If it doesn't, then I'm going to be quite angry. Not only does NASCAR lose credibility for not giving its fans at the track and watching on TV a good race, it runs the risk of losing fans and the millions of dollars that fans dole out in merchandise and ticket sales.”
So now NASCAR gets to walk the walk with Goodyear by their side. The letter closes with, “Please plan on seeing history by purchasing your tickets today for the 2009 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.” And although now we have four tickets (my dad won two more yesterday through another Cincinnati radio station—we’re unbelievably lucky when it comes to winning tickets and that’s it) none of them were paid for by us.
Even though Jimmie Johnson bested Carl Edwards in a ten lap dash for the win, all anyone remembers from the 2008 Brickyard 400 was that it was painfully slow, painfully boring, and almost dangerous. I even got up to hit the restroom during one competition caution. When I got back my dad looked at me with concern and said, “What’s wrong with you? You never get up during the race.”
I looked back and him and dejectedly said, “Competition caution.” It’s a phrase that brings my blood to a boil, and reminds everyone in attendance one year ago that sometimes you can’t have a great race all the time. This time it better be better.
Or else. “I think the fans that come out this year will see a whole different type of race,” four time Brickyard 400 champ Jeff Gordon said. “I was very pleased at the test. We're not going to have issues with the tires wearing down cords every 10 laps.”
If not, Bruton Smith might snatch a date away from Indy. Is Kentucky Speedway open on Sunday?
--------------------------------------------
We’ve got just four days until the green drops at Indy. Tomorrow I’ll let you in on one good reason to attend any NASCAR event, and one good reason why I love attending the Brickyard every year. As one former teacher of mine told me last year, “Come on up and get some free s**t.” Stories to come tomorrow.
The 2008 Brickyard 400 was awful, plain and simple. In case you don’t remember the debacle that was, I’ll refresh your memory with one term: competition caution(s).
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the place that holds so much tradition and history became the sight of one of the worst racing failures in the history of auto racing last season when Goodyear tires kept grinding down to the cords after ten to twelve laps, forcing the sanctioning body to throw competition cautions to keep drivers and fans safe.
Every single caution of the 2008 Brickyard 400 came about because of tires. Whether NASCAR threw a competition caution or a wreck resulted from a tire failure, every time the yellow flew, it had to do with tires.
Matt Kenseth blew a tire early in the race and wasn't a contender after
Attendance at Indy has been lacking the past few years, and last year’s tire issues will probably force many to not even attend this year’s Brickyard. NASCAR sent a letter to the fans that attended last year’s event and had yet to purchase tickets for this year’s 400 miler. “Signed” by Mike Helton and Goodyear abuser Tony Stewart, the letter states,
“We write this letter to you—a valued customer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and NASCAR fan—that NASCAR, its skilled teams and talented drivers are committed to working with Goodyear and IMS to present the best Allstate 400 at the Brickyard race possible Sunday, July 26, 2009.”
The faulty tire issue wasn’t exactly figured out by NASCAR and Goodyear at Indy until Saturday’s practice sessions. “At Indy, we didn’t see it coming until Saturday,” NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said. My brother noticed it too.
“What’s that black stuff under the wing,” he noted. My 17-year old brother, although not necessarily a huge NASCAR fanatic like his elder brother, noticed that there was a black powdery residue sticking to the backs of the cars. “It’s just gas spillover,” I first responded.
The black residue under the rear wing was probably from tires, not an overflow of gas
“No it’s not. Look at that,” he asserted. I looked again. It certainly wasn’t gas spillover as I had first though. Little did I know what it would do to my raceday.
The black residue showed up well on the #78 car last year
Funny thing is, I have written on many occasions that the COT was awful and racing at Indy shouldn’t be messed up by the box shaped vehicles. Let’s take a few trips down memory lane…
In February of 2007, while writing for the student published newspaper at Elder High School, The Purple Quill (of which I was the Editor-In-Chief), I wrote this about the COT in general. “Announced last year, the new fangled Car of Tomorrow is supposed to cut costs, make drivers safer, and bring competitive balance to the sport. That sounds familiar. Kinda like IROC right?”
But I wasn’t done. “The COT is straight up silly,” I wrote. “Who knows, maybe the COT will grow on me, but at its current rate, NASCAR is becoming more and more like IROC. And that is extremely unfortunate. Hopefully the COT will never grace the Yard of Bricks in Indianapolis. That would be an unfortunate event in the Racing Capital of the World.”
Little did I know.
In a blog post from April of last year (http://adamniemeyer.blogspot.com/2008/04/cot-at-indianapolis-should-i-panic.html), when the first Goodyear tire test was performed for the 2008 Brickyard 400, I noted this, “Nothing was more frustrating than watching tires shred at Indianapolis in 2004, especially the one that shred on the last lap that was connected to the 6 car of my hero Mark Martin! Goodyear must be safe, but they can't be too safe because rants like Stewart's (the infamous Atlanta post race rant) will abound again.”
And again, I continued to run my mouth via my keyboard, “Well, hopefully the COT platform races as well as the old car, if not better. If it doesn't, then I'm going to be quite angry. Not only does NASCAR lose credibility for not giving its fans at the track and watching on TV a good race, it runs the risk of losing fans and the millions of dollars that fans dole out in merchandise and ticket sales.”
The yellow flag was an all too common sight for fans and drivers at last year's Brickyard 400
So now NASCAR gets to walk the walk with Goodyear by their side. The letter closes with, “Please plan on seeing history by purchasing your tickets today for the 2009 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.” And although now we have four tickets (my dad won two more yesterday through another Cincinnati radio station—we’re unbelievably lucky when it comes to winning tickets and that’s it) none of them were paid for by us.
Even though Jimmie Johnson bested Carl Edwards in a ten lap dash for the win, all anyone remembers from the 2008 Brickyard 400 was that it was painfully slow, painfully boring, and almost dangerous. I even got up to hit the restroom during one competition caution. When I got back my dad looked at me with concern and said, “What’s wrong with you? You never get up during the race.”
I looked back and him and dejectedly said, “Competition caution.” It’s a phrase that brings my blood to a boil, and reminds everyone in attendance one year ago that sometimes you can’t have a great race all the time. This time it better be better.
Or else. “I think the fans that come out this year will see a whole different type of race,” four time Brickyard 400 champ Jeff Gordon said. “I was very pleased at the test. We're not going to have issues with the tires wearing down cords every 10 laps.”
If not, Bruton Smith might snatch a date away from Indy. Is Kentucky Speedway open on Sunday?
--------------------------------------------
We’ve got just four days until the green drops at Indy. Tomorrow I’ll let you in on one good reason to attend any NASCAR event, and one good reason why I love attending the Brickyard every year. As one former teacher of mine told me last year, “Come on up and get some free s**t.” Stories to come tomorrow.
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