Opinion: Running Nationwide Series at Brickyard is wrong

When Jeff Gluck asked his tweetup crowd at Kentucky Speedway about the impending move of the NASCAR Nationwide Series to the big track in Indianapolis next year, he got a lot of negative answers.

One man even said, “I can take a nap at home.”

Every year around this time the excitement builds for me. I’m a huge fan of the Brickyard 400. It holds a very special place in my heart. Unfortunately, that special place has now been tainted with the news that the Nationwide (nee Busch) Series will now run a race at Indy.

David Newton, of ESPN.com, wrote the same thing in an article last week (Read it here: http://espn.go.com/racing/blog/_/name/newton_david/id/6743367).

“I get that it'll be cool for Nationwide drivers that don't double in Cup to compete at IMS,” wrote Newton. “But it should be a privilege, earned by working their way into the top series. Now among the list of Hall of Fame IMS winners -- Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson -- we could see Reed Sorenson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

“Nothing personal against those drivers, but do they deserve to cross the same yard of bricks that A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Al and Bobby Unser and Mario Andretti did after winning the Indianapolis 500?”

In my opinion: No.

I get that the fine folks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are just trying to help race fans get, “more bang for their buck,” as Newton said, but I really enjoy only seeing one thing at Indy: NASCAR’s top level.

Plus, even though I’ve never been to IRP (and I was told by an RCR media rep that I need to go because it’s fun) a lot of fans and media members are very unhappy about losing a short track.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., driver in the Nationwide Series, told media last week at IMS that fans shouldn’t be discouraged that IRP is losing the race to IMS.

“I think it's going to be a huge weekend,” Stenhouse Jr. said. “I think the fans, the ones that are disappointed that we're not going back to Lucas Oil on this weekend, I think they're going to get to the racetrack and be surprised how much on-track activity, how many things both of these series are going to have to offer them, especially the on-track activity.”

Newton, who has been around NASCAR since the 1980s, disagreed with Stenhouse’s opinon.

“Ultimately, the fans will pay the price because the Nationwide show at Indy will pale in comparison to what they got on the .686-mile LOR oval on which finishes were tight and tempers flared,” wrote Newton.

Kevin Harvick, 2003 Brickyard 400 champ, disagreed with Newton. He thinks Indy is not hallowed ground.

“I see our biggest facility as Daytona and all our series run there so what makes Indianapolis any more special than Daytona? That’s the way I look at it,” he said at Kentucky Speedway last week. “If our cars are good enough to run on the Daytona International Speedway, they’re plenty good enough to run at the Brickyard.”

Harvick is NASCAR’s ultimate bad guy though. This year he’s finished first in two races that Dale Jr. has almost won, and Harvick also nudged sentimental favorite Mark Martin to the line in the 2007 Daytona 500.

 

Sure, Daytona will always be special, but Indy won’t ever be the same after this year.

“The Brickyard just became like every other NASCAR track. Yeah, it's still special, but it's not as special as it was before this announcement,” Newton wrote.

It used to be fun getting ready for the second most prestigious race of the year. It was the biggest weekend of the year on my calendar, and it won’t be the same with the Busch Series running the same weekend at Indy next year.

It won’t be as special, it won’t be as prestigious and it certainly won’t be better. No matter who tells me it will.