“Excited About It”: Joey Logano Hypes up NASCAR’s Brickyard Return

NASCAR enthusiasts have considered the Brickyard 400 a crown jewel race since it joined the Cup Series schedule in 1994. Unfortunately, as the 2020 season wrapped up, the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was taken off of NASCAR’s roster. Although NASCAR has hosted races at the IMS, all of them were on its road course and not the oval. But that was the story until this year.

This year, NASCAR is bringing back the IMS oval course in its schedule after a three-year hiatus. Several drivers, including the 2020 pole-winner of the Brickyard 400, Joey Logano said, “I’m excited about it. I like the oval there at Indy. It’s been a few years since I got to rip it down that front straightaway into turn 1 and remember that feeling. So I’m excited about that.”

“You know, the Brickyard 400 is built on the oval, obviously, and the history comes along with that. I always say winning anything at Indy is awesome whether it’s a road course or an oval, stock car, Indy car, tricycle…I don’t care. Indy is huge,” Joey Logano added. But why is the Brickyard 400 such a big deal?

Racing at the Indianapolis Motor Oval has its challenges; a throwback to 2008

It has been over a decade and still, people regard the 2008 Brickyard 400 as the unforgettable ‘tire debacle.’ The tires manufactured by Goodyear disintegrated so rapidly that NASCAR was forced to wave the yellow flag every 10 laps in the 160-lap race. According to reports, the longest dash was a 12-lap-long run, with the final one till the checkered flag being merely seven.

Moreover, the drivers were afraid that they would lose a tire while driving. No wonder none of them drove to their fullest capabilities. Even race winner Jimmie Johnson said, “It was so hard to develop a comfortable rhythm for the race… a restart every 10-15 laps, wondering if your tire is going to blow, there’s a lot added stress and uncertainty to the way the race developed throughout the day.”

But considering how careful NASCAR is with its testing and pre-race procedures, why did such a disaster even occur? One might wonder.

In April, Goodyear and NASCAR chose Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to run tests on the track. But that year was the maiden year of NASCAR running the Car of Tomorrow, which had an additional front splitter and a rear wing, which in turn, increased the downforce significantly. Hence, just a few laps of testing weren’t enough for Goodyear to determine how the tires would work during the main event.