I supposed it’s only fitting that the first Nationwide Series race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway would be a controversy of epic proportions. It’s even more fitting that Brad Keselowski won the race, making him a good candidate to double-up on kissing the bricks tomorrow in the 19th Annual Brickyard 400.
The Race You Wanted, But Not the Race You Deserved; Brad Keselowski wins first Indiana 250 at The Brickyard
But more on that later...
The inaugural Indiana 250 was quite the spectacle. It was glitzy, glamorous, and star-studded; by far the most prestigious Nationwide Series race of all-time. One thing the race wasn’t was an entertaining affair, by far one of the worst on-track races of the season, equal to any intermediate track event over the preceding six weeks.
Mercilessly it’s over and has me wishing for more racing at the more reliable half-mile just seven miles down the road.
I must sound like a broken record at this point, and I promise this will be the last you hear of this for quite a while, but wouldn’t this race have been better served at Raceway Park?
If the idea is to strengthen the Nationwide Series (and it’s not), then it makes a lot more sense to give the Series its own identity and signature races at tracks like Mexico City and Montreal. If the powers that be insists on them racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, then allow them to race on the road course alongside or instead of GRAND-AM, anything to provide a better race and give the Nationwide Series its own identity.
Sadly, the decision had nothing to do with the Nationwide Series. It was drug over to IMS merely to act as a Band-Aid for their lack of foresight and preparation with the Brickyard.
And just like the Nationwide Series has no business even racing at the Speedway, its winners have even less business kissing the bricks. Winning a minor league race should never result in such a high honor. Indy Lights (the IndyCar equivalent of the Nationwide Series) doesn’t partake and neither should have Brad Keselowski.
It’s just another example of how diminished the Brickyard 400 weekend has become. We’ve already seen a NASCAR driver kiss the bricks this weekend, so surely we’re done now, right?
Wrong.
Some lucky (and likely supremely talented) driver will win the Brickyard 400 on Sunday. I just don’t think it will matter as much after the inaugural Indiana 250. But like anything else that’s new, this feeling will pass -- I just wish I didn’t have to feel it in the first place.
The Nationwide Series will resume its season on Aug. 4 at the Iowa Speedway. The defending race winner is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and the race will be televised on ESPN. The green flag is scheduled to drop at approximately 7:30 p.m. and Marty Reid will have the play-by-play.
Analysis of the final restart and a complete race results listing can be found after the jump.
This whole restart debacle started with 22 laps to go when Kyle Busch spun off Sam Hornish Jr.’s quarter panel. This set up a second consecutive restart where it appeared that Brad Keselowski spun his tires and was beat to the start-finish line by Elliott Sadler.
Here’s my take:
This isn’t the first time Keselowski has attempted to snooker his opponents on a restart. We’ve seen it countless times to where it’s become a trusted part of his playbook.
Brad clearly spun his tires as the green flag dropped, as evidenced by Sam Hornish Jr. literally shoving his teammate all the way down the frontstretch. Beyond that, Austin Dillon was all over the back of his teammate’s bumper as well. It’s the inaugural Nationwide Series race at the World’s Greatest Speedway and everyone was going for it.
This isn’t debatable, and you can see it for yourself below.
There are blatant attempts to cheat on a restart, and then there’s this less egregious move from Sadler. The move didn’t warrant NASCAR intervening.
Ultimately, I’ll take this as a sign from above that the Nationwide Series doesn’t belong under the pagoda. The racings gods are trying to tell us, you’ll hear it upon paying attention.
Audiovisual
Final Laps: Sadler gets black-flagged, Keselowski wins (via TheOfficialNASCAR)
Victory Lane: Keselowski celebrates first Indy victory (via TheOfficialNASCAR)
Race Results
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Inaugural Indiana 250
Provided by NASCAR Statistics Saturday, 7/28/2012 @ 7:31 PM Eastern
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Inaugural Indiana 250
Provided by NASCAR Statistics Saturday, 7/28/2012 @ 7:31 PM Eastern
| Fin | Str | Car | Driver | Team | Lap | Pts | BPts | Status | TLd | LLd | |
| 1 | 8 | 22 | Brad Keselowski(i) | Discount Tire Dodge | 100 | 0 | Running | 2 | 33 | ||
| 2 | 13 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Alliance Truck Parts Dodge | 100 | 43 | 1 | Running | 1 | 7 | |
| 3 | 3 | 51 | Ty Dillon(i) | Wesco Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | ||||
| 4 | 4 | 18 | Denny Hamlin(i) | SportClips Toyota | 100 | 0 | Running | 1 | 4 | ||
| 5 | 7 | 3 | Austin Dillon # | Advocare Chevrolet | 100 | 39 | Running | ||||
| 6 | 21 | 43 | Michael Annett | Pilot/Flying J/M&M's Snack Mix Ford | 100 | 38 | Running | ||||
| 7 | 6 | 20 | Joey Logano(i) | GameStop/Damage Inc. Toyota | 100 | 0 | Running | ||||
| 8 | 9 | 33 | Paul Menard(i) | Menards/Rheem Chevrolet | 100 | 0 | Running | ||||
| 9 | 10 | 6 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Sam's Club/Cargill Ford | 100 | 35 | Running | ||||
| 10 | 16 | 4 | Jeremy Clements | TradeBank Chevrolet | 100 | 34 | Running | ||||
| 11 | 12 | 44 | Mike Bliss | Bandit Chippers Toyota | 100 | 33 | Running | ||||
| 12 | 14 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Brandt/PT&E Chevrolet | 100 | 32 | Running | ||||
| 13 | 19 | 99 | Travis Pastrana | Boost Mobile Toyota | 100 | 31 | Running | ||||
| 14 | 15 | 11 | Brian Scott | Dollar General Toyota | 100 | 30 | Running | ||||
| 15 | 5 | 2 | Elliott Sadler | OneMain Financial Chevrolet | 100 | 29 | Running | ||||
| 16 | 24 | 81 | Jason Bowles # | American Majority Toyota | 100 | 28 | Running | ||||
| 17 | 40 | 88 | Cole Whitt # | TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet | 100 | 27 | Running | ||||
| 18 | 28 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | AM/FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves Toyota | 100 | 26 | Running | ||||
| 19 | 26 | 24 | Kenny Wallace | Family Farmers Toyota | 100 | 25 | Running | ||||
| 20 | 23 | 01 | Mike Wallace | G&K Services Chevrolet | 100 | 24 | Running | ||||
| 21 | 39 | 39 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | FastWax.com Chevrolet | 100 | 23 | Running | ||||
| 22 | 2 | 54 | Kyle Busch(i) | Monster Energy Toyota | 100 | 0 | Running | 3 | 51 | ||
| 23 | 37 | 41 | Timmy Hill | RWR Ford | 100 | 21 | Running | ||||
| 24 | 34 | 14 | Eric McClure | Hefty/Reynolds Wrap Toyota | 100 | 20 | Running | ||||
| 25 | 1 | 38 | Kasey Kahne(i) | Great Clips Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Running | 1 | 4 | ||
| 26 | 25 | 30 | James Buescher(i) | ABF Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | Running | ||||
| 27 | 11 | 36 | Ryan Blaney | SealWrap Chevrolet | 99 | 17 | Running | ||||
| 28 | 41 | 52 | Tim Schendel | Better Business Bureau Chevrolet | 99 | 16 | Running | ||||
| 29 | 22 | 19 | Tayler Malsam | G-Oil/Noah's Light Foundation Toyota | 99 | 15 | Running | ||||
| 30 | 17 | 70 | Johanna Long # | KeenParts.com/Riley Chevrolet | 90 | 14 | Running | ||||
| 31 | 42 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr. | North Texas Pipe Chevrolet | 79 | 13 | Running | ||||
| 32 | 29 | 08 | Kyle Fowler | Randy Hill Racing Ford | 72 | 12 | Engine | ||||
| 33 | 27 | 98 | Reed Sorenson | Shelby Engine Co. Ford | 49 | 11 | Accident | ||||
| 34 | 18 | 1 | Kurt Busch(i) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 41 | 0 | Electrical | ||||
| 35 | 20 | 7 | Danica Patrick | GoDaddy.com Chevrolet | 38 | 9 | Accident | ||||
| 36 | 35 | 10 | Jeff Green | TriStar Motorsports Toyota | 23 | 9 | 1 | Vibration | 1 | 1 | |
| 37 | 38 | 15 | Scott Riggs(i) | RWR Ford | 18 | 0 | Rear Gear | ||||
| 38 | 33 | 40 | Erik Darnell | Key Motorsports Chevrolet | 17 | 6 | Engine | ||||
| 39 | 43 | 50 | TJ Bell | Beaver Bail Bonds Chevrolet | 10 | 5 | Overheating | ||||
| 40 | 36 | 86 | Kevin Lepage | Deware Racing Group Ford | 8 | 4 | Drive Shaft | ||||
| 41 | 30 | 46 | Chase Miller | The Motorsports Group Chevrolet | 6 | 3 | Vibration | ||||
| 42 | 31 | 42 | Josh Wise(i) | Key Motorsports Chevrolet | 4 | 0 | Electrical | ||||
| 43 | 32 | 47 | Stephen Leicht(i) | Key Motorsports Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | Engine | ||||
# = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led. (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Average Speed: 126.050 MPH Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 59 Mins, 00 Secs. Margin of Victory: 3.304 Seconds
Lead Changes: 9 among 6 drivers Cautions: 5 for 24 laps Attendance: 40,000
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