1. Sunday suited Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s hallowed grounds just fine
NASCAR’s top series was back where it belonged on Sunday (July 21) — on the oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Yes, the racing produced by the former generation of racecar necessitated a change to the facility’s road course. That’s no longer the case, the Sunday’s race showed as much.
Was it an “instant classic’”? No, and that’s ok. Every race does not need to be a photo-finish with another car sliding across the start-finish line upside down and on fire (sorry for the PTSD, Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin fans).
Sunday was not an all-time event, but it was not bad, either.
The NASCAR Cup Series was at one of the most hallowed venues in all of racing, and the fact that the event had its brand of excitement with an apparent 70,000 tickets sold was proof of concept for the decision that it was time for the race to be back on the oval in Speedway, Indiana.
2. The NASCAR Xfinity Series’ present and future are at the big track
If you’re a purist, you may have begun Saturday’s Xfinity Series race with arms crossed and lips pouted.
Since the earliest days of the Xfinity Series, the series raced at nearby Clermont, Ind., home of Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. That was the case since 1982, and the track’s layout and tight quarters made for vintage short-track racing.
That changed in 2012 with the event moved across town to the “big track” at Indianapolis. Not surprisingly, drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series dominated, winning three of the first four Xfinity races at the Brickyard. Drivers dropping down to beat up on those in a lower series is a lot of things, but it’s nothing prestigious to watch at such hallowed grounds.
In a NASCAR time window of nothing being off the table, there may have been hopes among fans that a less-than-thrilling Xfinity show on Saturday would result in considering a move to IRP. Those hopes are finished for now, as after one of the more thrilling races of the season in the NXS, it’d be hard to move the race away from the big track at Indy.
Past races from this series at IRP appear to be remaining just that. In the past.
3. Few drivers are trending stronger than Bubba Wallace heading into the break
The uniqueness of this year’s NASCAR schedule gives teams a few weeks off due to the Olympics.
That brings with it a few elements. One of them is rare time off amid a grueling…
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