Joe Gibbs Racing Has an Engine Problem

1. Was the return of the Brickyard 400 a success?

When moving to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course did not revive any interest or fanfare in NASCAR coming to Indy, the decision was made to bring the oval and the Brickyard 400 back.

In terms of the actual racing on track last Sunday (July 21), it wasn’t great, but there were no expectations of it being great given the Next Gen car’s struggles on flat tracks and the struggles that stock cars have faced at Indy in general. Even then, the frantic, fuel-mileage finish between Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson (until it went into overtime) provided some of the late-race excitement that had been lacking most of the day.

But even if the racing was subpar, the return of the Brickyard 400 passed with flying colors in all other areas. IMS saw its largest crowd for a NASCAR race since the 2017 Brickyard 400, and the TV ratings also came back strong, as NBC’s broadcast averaged 3.6 million viewers — the highest total since 2020 and higher than any Cup race run on the road course layout.

Those numbers include the broadcast getting yanked to USA Network on two occasions due to NBC’s coverage regarding President Joe Biden’s decision to not pursue a second term. With all things considered, those numbers were a massive success for NASCAR, NBC and IMS.

Combine those ratings with the prestige of winning on the Indy oval, and you’ve got a once-maligned crown jewel that has a path for success going forward.

And while there seemed to be some openness in alternating between the oval and road course layouts at Indy down the road, those plans look to be on hold for now. Hours before Sunday’s race, it was announced that PPG had signed a five-year agreement to be the presenting sponsor of the Brickyard 400, which will keep the race on the oval until at least 2029.