Why NASCAR needs to stop racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

It’s time to say the quiet part out loud, and it likely won’t be a popular realization: NASCAR might need to leave Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Or at least take a break. You know, play the field and date other people for a bit.

It has nothing to do with the open-wheel purists not wanting stock cars on their hallowed ground, although kudos to those people who have stood on that soapbox for more than 30 years. It has nothing to do with the fact that NASCAR no longer will come close to selling out a facility that has more than 250,000 seats.

The reason is far simpler: The racing product is not good. That’s it. It’s bad racing, and that means a bad show, and that translates into unhappy customers.

It should be acknowledged that there have been good and bad Brickyard 400 races throughout its tenure. Sunday was not the straw that broke the camel’s back. But the series feels as though it’s in a different place nowadays, and bad racing should result in an audit of the situation.

In an era where discussions take place every week on social media and satellite radio about whether we just watched a good or a bad race, Indianapolis is among the top five racetracks that do not produce a good race. Not with this race car. And there is no telling when that is going to change.

So why not consider going elsewhere? Why not take the series somewhere it will have good racing? To a market it is not serving, or a venue it has not visited?

Chicagoland is an example of a track that fell off the schedule, and then eventually found its way back on again. Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

This feels like an era where the NASCAR schedule has more destinations – or potential destinations – than open slots. But that would mean an existing race needs to be sacrificed. There are no shortage of fans or pundits that like to fantasy-book the schedule, and the ideas are numerous. NASCAR, to its credit, is also more open to new places or ideas than ever before when it comes to the schedule.

So, if it were Indianapolis that had to step aside, would it be the worst thing? It doesn’t have to be forever.

NASCAR has gone back to places that were once discarded, such as Chicagoland Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, Rockingham Speedway, and giving a second date back to Darlington Raceway. Granted, in hindsight, some of those were the result of what could be viewed as regrettable decision-making, but a reversal did occur.

Indianapolis can be brought back to the schedule if the right race car and aero package allow it. But after a handful of, let’s be honest, hard to watch, follow the leader, track-position parades, something needs to give. There shouldn’t be a guaranteed date on the calendar for Indianapolis just because it’s Indianapolis and quote-unquote tradition, or a crown jewel.

It is not NASCAR tradition, per se. It is not like saying that Daytona Beach, where the sport was born, needs to leave the schedule. Indianapolis is not the home of NASCAR. It has welcomed NASCAR with open arms and has been a great partner, and yes, it is looked at as one of the sport’s most prestigious races. But the racing product needs to matter.

The fact of the matter is the racing product at Indianapolis turns people off. It is not enough to stay tuned in – or hope people are tuned in – simply because it’s Indianapolis.

So, no, it is not likely a popular thing to say. It’s just one that must be said because the sport and all its stakeholders deserve better than the show that its race car puts on at the Racing Capital of the World.