AP: Brickyard 400 ticket sales are low

When Jin Nabors picks up the microphone in two weeks and sings “Back Home Again In Indiana,” the racing world will stop and pay attention. It always does. The Indy 500 might be the most revered racing event in America, and definitely the race with the most history.

A look from turn 4 down the front stretch at Indianapolis during last year's Briuckyard 400

However, NASCAR has made its own mark at the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. When Indiana native Jeff Gordon took the checkers in the inaugural Brickyard 400, the stage was set for a long run of great races at the 2.5-mile track located in Speedway, Ind.

But after the 2008 Brickyard 400, where NASCAR had to throw competition cautions every 10 to 12 laps because of shredding tires, attendance at the Brickyard 400 has been low.

This was a common scene in 2008. This tire came off the No. 17 of Matt Kenseth

And it’s not just the tire issues that Goodyear and NASCAR stared down in 2008. Fans often complain that NASCAR racing at the track built for open-wheel cars is very boring. “There’s not enough passing,” fans complain.

I disagree, but that’s just me.

I love the Brickyard 400, and have attended 10 of them since 1996, including every 400 since 2003. However, track officials now see that there’s just too much competition in the area.

“I’m in the camp that there’s oversaturation, too,” IMS president and CEO Jeff Belskus told the Associated Press. “It’s truck events, it’s Nationwide events, and it’s Sprint Cup events. When we started this (race) in 1996, we didn’t have a Sprint Cup event 120 miles away in Kentucky or 150 miles away in Chicago.”

Kentucky Speedway's Sprint Cup race has added pressure on Indianapolis' ticket sales this year

I’ve often said that NASCAR fans in Cincinnati have it made. It’s easy to drive to a number of race tracks near Cincinnati (and now that we have Kentucky, it’s a lot easier) and Indy was the closest before Kentucky secured a Cup date.

But even though it looks like Indianapolis is struggling, I’m willing to bet that nearly 100,000-plus fans show up on the final day of July to watch what some consider to be NASCAR’s second most prestigious race.

A view from Pit Road at IMS before practice for last year's Brickyard 400

The thought in the AP article that the race would be wiped off the schedule is absurd. And Belskus agrees. “Oh yeah, it’s going to be on the schedule,” he said.

I’ll be in Speedway, Ind., for the Brickyard 400 on July 31st, and hope that you’ll join me for the countdown as we move closer to one of my favorite times of the year.