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The Brickyard 400 made its triumphant return this past weekend. For the first time since 2020, the stars of the sport battled it out for a chance to kiss the bricks at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. Fans clambered for the return of one of NASCAR’s crown jewels, pointing to its prestige and the many great moments that the race provided the sport with for decades. The IMS Oval is one of many tracks that fans have begged for its return for years, and NASCAR delivered on their request. But with the speedway’s recent history as a sub-par racing product, is this just a case of nostalgia fever? If so, what other tracks or races could fall under this bill? Let’s take a look.
The Racing Capital of the World, home to the Brickyard 400. NASCAR’s youngest crown jewel and arguably its most controversial. Nowadays, fans look fondly on the Brickyard 400, resulting in its return after a three-year hiatus. But it wasn’t long ago that if you asked a NASCAR fan where they’d rank the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on their favorite tracks list, most would put it at the bottom.
One of the best ways to track fans opinions on a race is through Jeff Gluck’s “Was It A Good Race” Poll. With five Brickyard 400’s on the pole (2016-2020), the race averaged a 57.36% over five years. However, 2016 was the only running that scored below 60%. Take out that year, the average jumps to an average of 67.45% The numbers say that fans enjoyed the Brickyard 400. So where is the controversy?
It’s well known that the Brickyard 400 was not the most popular race on the schedule for fans. Typically, the racing product involved strung-out racing with very little passing and minimal action that NASCAR fans expect when watching a race. To save the event, NASCAR would change the race’s place on the schedule to marquee dates, such as the regular-season finale (2018–2019) and the 4th of July weekend in 2020.
Attendance has been an issue since the mid-2010s. Despite the crowds expected for a NASCAR race, the track’s 250,000+ seats make a solid 50,000-attended race look like a ghost town. That doesn’t mean fans didn’t watch, as the race earned over four million viewers in its last run, compared to under three million for the road course race. The 2024 edition looks to be a successful return. Still, with the race’s troubled history and recent comments about a possible oval/road course rotation, the Brickyard 400 homecoming could be short-lived.
From 1966 to 2004, Rockingham Speedway was a staple of the NASCAR schedule. “The Rock,” as it’s known, had many iconic moments, such as Steve Park’s win in 2001 and Matt Kenseth vs. Kasey Kahne in 2004. The track was one of three that received millions of dollars from the North Carolina government in 2021 to renovate the track. The Rock have made their intentions known that they want NASCAR back, and with fellow N.C. track North Wilkesboro Speedway making its successful return, the same could happen with Rockingham Speedway.
A return to The Rock sounds promising for fans of the track, but there is something to ask: Would the track spread fans too thin? NASCAR already has three race dates in North Carolina: the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the Charlotte Roval. That’s not including tracks like Richmond, Bristol, Martinsville, and Darlington, all within a five-hour drive of each other. That’s way too many races for such a small area, which could cause problems with attendance. It’s not necessarily the track’s fault, or even the fans, but there are too many mouths to feed in the Carolinas. It’s a lot to ask fans to go to nine races in the same area.
The Bristol Spring Race has seen many changes since the start of the decade. Following a three-year stint covered in dirt, Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) ditched the dirt race and brought back the Food City 500 on the traditional concrete surface. More racing on the fan-favorite Bristol concrete surface? Sounds like a recipe for success? So why did they change it in the first place?
The spring race had two things going against it: TV ratings and attendance. The TV ratings problem looked to be resolved, with this year’s race up 10% from last year’s dirt race. Is that a sign of things to come? Or the first-year fever before a drop-off? As for attendance, the race has been plagued with attendance woes since the mid-2010s. People did not show up to the spring race, knowing they could attend the more iconic night race in the fall.
One factor that has hindered the race’s attendance over the years is the persistent weather issues it encounters. Perhaps rain delay after rain delay pushed fans from attending the race, while the night race almost never runs into weather issues. Fans love Bristol, no doubt. But despite overwhelming support to bring the concrete back for the spring, the results from previous years leave into question how long it will last.
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