General

So, That Brickyard 400 Went Well

Jul 28, 2008, 3:15 PM UTC

I’m not gonna pretend to care enough about NASCAR to get all up-in-arms over yesterday’s debacle in Indianapolis, but when an event is that much of a disaster, no matter the sport, it shall be mocked here. And make no mistake: The Brickyard 400, NASCAR’s second most prestigious race of the season, was an epic failure.â†µâ†µThe problems arouse from tire concerns. Apparently, the racing surface at Indy doesn’t agree well with rubber, which as you can imagine, is not a good thing when driving automobiles at 200 MPH. To counteract the possibility of tires exploding and cars crashing, NASCAR implemented nine “competition cautions,” a term I had previously never heard. In short, this means that every 10 laps or so, the caution came out so teams could swap tires before the Goodyears went kaput. The most laps run without a caution was 12. The result: a series of short sprints, instead of a typically grueling, yet competitive 400 mile race. The reaction: Worst. Race. Ever. â†µ

â†µâ†µFrom the Marbles was pleased:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥When talking about the worst races in the last 50 years of NASCAR … you’re going to have to put the 2008 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in the conversation. â†µâ†µ

As was Y!’s Jerry Bonkowski:â†µâ†µâ‡¥While NASCAR and Goodyear point fingers of blame at each other over the debacle that was Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, many fans that left disappointed gave both of them just one finger – the middle one. â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥...â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥NASCAR’s second biggest event of the year devolved into sheer embarrassment, a “race” in name only. â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µSI’s Lars Anderson:â†µâ†µâ‡¥In the seven years I’ve been covering the sport, this was by far the most boring, least competitive, most sleep-inducing race I’ve attended. â†µâ†µESPN’s Terry Blount:â†µâ†µâ‡¥This was no race. It was a ridiculous sideshow of survival, certainly not deserving of the second biggest event in NASCAR.â†µâ†µAnd so on, and so forth. But hey, there was one positive created from all these pit stops: The race went on for 3 ½ hours, giving fans plenty of time to guzzle unhealthy amounts of Budweiser ... and promptly toss their cans at the track to show their displeasure:
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