For NASCAR, the prestige of competing at IMS is no longer enough to make up for one simple fact: The racing is awful.

Denny Hamlin first offered a deadpan answer about the number of road courses on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule.“More road courses, for sure,” Hamlin said.Then he gave a tight smile. When the follow-up question came about whether that was sarcastic, he laughed and said, “I don’t know, is it?”. Then...