The Brickyard 400 has been considered a “Crown Jewel” on the NASCAR schedule since its inception 25 years ago. After a rapid decline in popularity and attendance, many have asked if IMS should remain on the NASCAR schedule.

A mere 7.7 miles from the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway sits Lucas Oil Raceway Park. A .5 mile oval with 12 degrees of banking and the ability to put on the races NASCAR fans have been clamoring for. It’s essentially the exact opposite of the monstrous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A tight, confined oval on the outskirts of town. A track where aerodynamics don’t matter and the leader won’t have a 7-second lead because of clean air. It’s not a dream, it’s just IRP.

NASCAR hasn’t raced at IRP since the 2011 season when both the Xfinity and Truck Series held events there. NASCAR decided to move the Xfinity race to IMS in 2012 and the trucks to Eldora. Moving Xfinity to IMS will go down on the long list of bad ideas NASCAR has had. Instead of running a competitive race in front of a reported 36,000 people they opted to run a follow the leader race in front of hundreds of people at IMS to appease sponsors and their hospitality guests.

Things Could Change Though

A person I’ve spoken to within NASCAR indicated the sanctioning body is looking at IRP for future events. It fits the direction NASCAR fans desperately want the series to move towards and it keeps the series in motorsports hotbed Indianapolis. Not to mention IRP just announced $10M in improvements to the grounds. That doesn’t mean NASCAR is coming by any means but it also doesn’t mean they aren’t prepping for the future.

NASCAR however though may not want to lose a “crown jewel” and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While the racing there is generally more boring than The Walking Dead spending 4 seasons in a god damn prison it is still the mystique of the speedway. So why not alternate dates?

One season fans can be treated to great short track racing. And the next they can be treated to the most famous race track in the world. Except they’ll be sitting in $95 turn one seats clamoring for a return to IRP.

The allure of IMS has worn off on fans. The racing is bad, the visuals of 200k empty seats are bad and most of all no one seems to care anymore. Unless you’re going to have a 2008 debacle or a calamity-filled race like 2017 there is nothing entertaining about the Brickyard 400 anymore. The Indy 500 will forever be the best race in the world, the Brickyard 400 should yield way and NASCAR should head back to the short track.

The idea of running IRP has spread within NASCAR as well.  When asked how intense Indy will be this weekend Joey Logano’s spotter TJ Majors said on “I think it will be intense 3 years from now when they go to IRP. HAHA Just Kidding.” No, you weren’t TJ. You can check out what he said on Door Bumper Clear. 

More short tracks.

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NASCAR’s product on the oval at IMS has been downright atrocious the past decade at the speedway. On the flip side, the product NASCAR puts on with road course races has been nothing short of phenomenal. Conveniently Indianapolis has a road course in the infield so the two sides got their brain trusts together and agreed to put on a road course race July 4, 2020, a day before the Brickyard 400 on the oval.

Matt DiBenedetto will test at the speedway on January 22nd to help determine runoff areas and what layout will work best for NASCAR. Indianapolis has three possible layouts, so which one will work the best.

Formula 1 Layout

The F1 layout is far above the rest as the best possible layout for NASCAR. Noah Gragson ran this layout on iRacing Wednesday night and overall it looked great. A great braking zone into road course turn 1. A tight twisty section from turn 2 to turn 7 like a Mid-Ohio minus the elevation changes. Another great braking zone at the end of the Hulman Straight (is it still called that?) into turn 8 and then flat out from the exit of turn 11 to the turn 1 braking zone.

Indianapolis Grand Prix Layout

The Indy GP layout is perfect for Indycar. The chicane out of turn 4 is a quick left right that leads into the braking zone at the end of the Hulman Straight. In an effort to keep the speeds down at the end of the front stretch a chicane complex was added. It works well for IndyCar but would be excruciatingly slow for NASCAR. It’s the same reason corners were cut out of the Roval, sometimes sections are just too slow.

MotoGP Layout

The Moto GP layout is the only layout that incorporates every section of the road course. The old F1 corners are used along with the oval turn 1 complex. The difference with Moto GP than the other two is the counterclockwise direction. NASCAR will almost definitely run the circuit clockwise like IndyCar. Incorporating the full layout is also something NASCAR will almost certainly not do. The lap time would be too slow and passing opportunities would be less.

Hopefully on the 22nd Matt D runs the F1 layout, loves it and NASCAR gives it the stamp of approval. It also requires the least amount of setup work. Clearing the cones, and run off area in NASCAR turn 4, as well as securing the wall in NASCAR turn 2 along with swapping out pit exit for the oval are the major items that need to be done.

We’ll know more on the 22nd after the Matt D. test.

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