A lot on the line as NASCAR returns to the Brickyard

PRINT EMAIL FACEBOOK DIGG TWITTER RSS SHARE

Fans expressed their displeasure as tire issues turned last year's AllState 400 into a series of short sprints. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

KOONTZ LAKE, Ind. -- There's a lot on the line at Sunday's AllState 400 at the Brickyard -- NASCAR's annual trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Simply put, there are three entities that cannot afford to fail -- NASCAR, Goodyear and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway itself.

At last year's race, Goodyear tires were so mismatched for the diamond-ground surface that they were exploding after six to eight laps, forcing officials to throw a competition yellow flag every 10-12 laps to prevent further mayhem. While that kept a bad situation from getting worse, the yellow flags left many race fans upset.

Loud boos rang throughout the massive Speedway when fans realized they were witnessing a series of short sprint races rather than a 400-mile contest. Jimmie Johnson was first across the finish line, but he was more of a survivor than a race winner.

NASCAR officials vowed such a fiasco would never occur again. At the time, it said a full-scale open test would be held to correct the problem. But when the economy crashed last fall, NASCAR was forced to make cutbacks, including the banning of on-track open testing at tracks that hosted NASCAR races.

To work around that ban, NASCAR and Goodyear conducted a series of tire tests at the 2-1/2-mile oval last season. An October session helped develop a tire that could last for more than 30 laps, but when Goodyear returned in the spring, another tire compound was starting to fail after six to eight laps. Meanwhile, IMS officials were seeing the fallout of last year's race reflected in ticket sales.

Keep in mind, when the Inaugural Brickyard 400 was held in 1994, tickets to the event were the most prized of the year. Sellout crowds came year after year to watch the all-American contingent of NASCAR drivers compete at the world's most famous race course. There were even some in NASCAR who wanted to perpetuate the notion that their race had become bigger than the Indianapolis 500.

But by 2002, there were empty seats at the Brickyard. The style of racing on a flat oval was less than spectacular, leading many fans to pick other races to attend. At the same time, NASCAR did little to help promote the race to the local fans.

This year, however, NASCAR sent an A-list group of drivers -- including Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Indiana's own Jeff Gordon -- to the Speedway to help promote the race. IMS officials are hoping ticket sales increase this week because the race is very important to the company's bottom line.

The race began the same year that then-president and CEO Tony George announced the creation of the Indy Racing League, which would begin competition in 1996. Profits from the NASCAR race helped George and IMS fund the IRL.

One media cynic -- that would be me -- even went so far as to rename the Brickyard 400 the "IRL's Annual Summer Bake Sale and Fundraiser" because it didn't take an MBA to figure out that the millions taken in at the gate made it possible to fund the IRL.

George is no longer in charge of either the Speedway or the IRL, ousted in a family coup by his three sisters after this year's Indy 500. He was replaced by long-time IMS executive Jeffrey Belskus, who began his role as IMS, Corp CEO on July 1.

If the crowd falls below expectations on Sunday, IMS may have to do what other businesses are forced to do in a bad economy -- make more budget cuts, including across the street at the IRL.

That's why Sunday's race may be the most important of the season, because of its impact on auto racing in two series. NASCAR needs to regain its status and luster at IMS while the IndyCar Series needs to benefit from the overall economic health of its parent company.

Meanwhile, Goodyear has to prove it is up to the task of developing racing tires that are safe and competitive. Many NASCAR drivers, including the outspoken Stewart, have blasted the tire company in recent years for tires that don't allow the drivers to race. Such criticism was unthinkable in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, when Goodyear had the power to determine who got the good tires and who didn't. Now, such criticism is bad pr.

With so much at stake, expect Sunday's race to be a dramatic improvement over last year. In times of adversity, both NASCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have been able to answer the challenge in the past. And if they are successful in at least making this year's race competitive and entertaining, this event can recapture some of the glory and prestige it once enjoyed.