I remember it like yesterday.
A good friend called me early in the morning to wake me and provide the official proclamation for what I’d predicted some months ago.
NASCAR was coming to race at the hallowed grounds of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and in the process became the first cars other than the open wheel rockets that we had both grown up watching together as kids.
How could this be, we both asked, and could the popular series full of household names sustain momentum and secure a permanent date on the IMS schedule and as a result, carve out their own identity at the historic venue?
I will admit being territorial about what l considered to be the unofficial Eleventh Commandment which clearly stated “Thou shall not race anything but open wheel cars at IMS” but the demand for the popular series that had expanded from its Southern roots to become a major television cash cow was now flexing their muscles, and competing at 16th and Georgetown was inevitable.
How did this happen, asked the diehard Indianapolis 500 fans like me, and what led to the decision that would ultimately lead to break the sacred stranglehold that open wheel racing held on what l considered to be the Cathedral of Motorsports?
Well one didn’t have to be Einstein to recognize the tremendously huge financial opportunity for the parties involved, so when NASCAR President Bill France Jr. and IMS President Tony George saw the opportunity to print more money than the Federal Reserve, it became a reality that saddened purists like yours truly, who felt the annual tradition of only one race a year was truly sacred.
All it really took was a tire testing session in 1992, where better than 10,000 fans showed up to observe a limited number of stock cars thunder around the coveted oval, and the plan was put into place with a construction project to raise the height of the walls of the track to a level that would insure safety for the larger cars and it would become the new dawning that many IndyCar fans like me had to swallow quickly despite the foul taste in our mouth.
In 1994 and much to my chagrin, the moment that many said would never occur transpired, and the NASCAR series staged a wildly popular and sold out 160 lap race, which would be forever known as the Brickyard 400.
While telling myself and anyone who would listen to me I would not attend this event, my curiosity and access to a superb vantage point superseded my loyalty to IndyCar and convinced me to attend and watch the tremendous number of ultra talented drivers competing in the inaugural event at IMS.
When I looked around and saw the completely sold-out grandstands, I was both torn and impressed with the business acumen that both George and France were demonstrating for every racing fan in the country to witness, and when Jeff Gordon thundered across the finish line to capture his first of five Brickyard 400 wins, I began to recognize more than just the huge financial ramifications involved.
Now some 30 plus years later l most definitely have softened up and appreciate the fact that multiple racing disciplines can compete on my favorite track. IMS has clearly done a superb job in expanding their role as the racing capital of the world and as a result, I’ve now also experienced Formula One and even my coveted Rolling Stones perform live there.
Who says you can’t convince a curmudgeon to expand his mind and welcome change?
Notes: You can watch the Brickyard 400 in person this Sunday from the seating mounds with a general admission ticket of just forty dollars. A multi-location grandstand viewing ticket will allow one to watch the race from various viewing points for sixty-five dollars.
If you can’t attend, the live television broadcast can be found on TNT Sports at 2pm.
Danny Bridges, who took too long to give NASCAR racing a chance at IMS, can be reached at (317) 370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com.
Danny Bridges is an award-winning journalist and a longtime sports columnist for the Indianapolis Recorder. He covers college, professional sports and especially all things IndyCar racing. He can be reached at 317-370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com.
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