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7/11/19, 12:40 PM   #17
Re: Let's have some fun - Indianapolis Motor Speedway trivia
hoosier race fan
hoosier race fan is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ISF View Post
The early years of NASCAR at Indy were huge. The crowds were noticeably bigger than for the 500. After the NASCAR bloom went off the rose it's become painfully obvious that NASCAR should never been allowed to race at The Speedway. The Brickyard has become an embarrassment to all involved.
Your description of your attendance among the 20,000 or so who showed up for the tire test, the first race, and the quote above lead me to think that you fit this quote from Bob Jenkins:

“There were a lot of traditionalists who just didn’t want it to happen,” said Bob Jenkins, a former television and radio announcer for ESPN, ABC and NBC, who did the television broadcast for the first Brickyard 400. “The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was for the Indy 500. It was just an intrusion into the tradition for the Speedway to have these cars. On the other hand, they probably bought tickets for it.”

The Brickyard 400 has certainly lost the luster it originally had. However, without it, the IndyCar series probably wouldn’t exist. Profits from the Brickyard race have been used throughout its history to offset the millions in losses of the IRL/IndyCar series. That’s not a criticism of the IndyCar series, just a reality of their finances.