July 29, 2009
By Chuck Abrams
First of all, let’s give a well-deserved shout out to Goodyear for bringing in a better tire product to the track. There were never any tire issues and we got to see a typical Brickyard parade on Sunday afternoon.
The conversation about the shine going off the Brickyard, online and on-air, were sparked by low ticket sales and shenanigans going on inside the family that owns Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I contend that drivers may have a love/hate relationship with the track (love the history and hate the track layout) but Indy is not the best venue to watch a NASCAR race. Unlike many other tracks, you can not see across the track from the majority of the seats. And quite often, the races at Indy wind up being a parade with little visible passing and limited chances to pass, unless there are a lot of cautions.
Nielsen overnight ratings gave the Brickyard a 4.1, down nearly 20% from last year’s 5.1 rating. And if you saw the stands during ESPN's broadcast, there were vast areas of open seating in all 4 corners of the track as well as the main grandstand on the frontstretch. I have not seen final attendance numbers, but it looked like they were missing about 30% of their usual attendance. Those are some telling numbers for the state of NASCAR in this economy.
On top of all that, Allstate announced they were not renewing their sponsorship of the Brickyard 400.
So with all that as background, the race started and Juan Pablo Montoya jumped out to a lead and stayed in the lead. In fact, he built a five second lead over Mark Martin, the fan favorite -- for a win at the hallowed speedway.
With only three cautions, there were few opportunities to pass unless someone made a mistake. And what passing there was, was not seen much on the broadcast. ESPN seemed to be in love with the top five drivers and many times, you saw Montoya’s Target Chevy as if it was on a qualifying lap and the only car on the track.
Montoya had the race wrapped up and only a mistake could cost him his first oval NASCAR win. And you knew that Montoya wanted to win at Indy in a stock car. It would have been just perfect and made up for a lot of questions about the state of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Truex leaving.
But a pit road speeding penalty sent Montoya on a ride down pit road under green and it cost him the victory.
And this is where it finally got interesting.
Jimmie Johnson had made some radical changes to his 48 car on that same last pit stop and the next thing you know, he passes Mark Martin for the lead and never gave it up again. Martin got close a couple of times and reminded me a little bit of the battle between Rusty Wallace and Bobby Labonte at the end of Labonte’s winning laps in 2000. Rusty had a bit more than Martin showed on Sunday. But Mark was also chasing a teammate and was not going to cost Hendrick a 1-2 finish since he is such a good soldier. And that fact alone may cost Martin a title in 2009.
Stewart’s good run (he never really challenged for the lead) kept him ahead of Johnson in the standings, who replaced Gordon in the second spot.
Kyle Busch’s disagreement with the wall has dropped him from the Chase for the first time this year. But with six races remaining before the Chase is set, he has plenty of time to make up the ground.
Kenseth has the 12th position, but he seems to be struggling to get a decent finish each race and Busch is far more explosive. He could rattle off two or three wins where Kenseth may rattle off two or three top fifteen finishes.
Watch Reutimann, Biffle, Kenseth and Montoya the next six races – these guys could decide whether or not Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers make the Chase or not. No one else has a shot.
Now on to Pocono, another drag strip with some corners thrown in for good measure.
Well, that’s all for now. Let me know your thoughts.
Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.
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