There’s no way to sugar coat it. Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was painful to watch.
That was because tire issues on Sunday caused drivers to tip toe around the storied 2.5 mile track, and caused NASCAR to throw several competition caution flags to allow teams to change the quickly worn out tires for new.
The problem was that, for some reason, there was never enough initial rubber laid on the track surface to prevent the abrasive asphalt from ripping the tires to shreds. Usually, this is a problem that fixes itself as the race weekend wears on.
But not this time.
The result was a race where drivers had to resist the urge to go fast, crew chiefs had to fight the urge to throttle tire company officials, and fans had to fight the urge to fall asleep.
Now in all honesty, it was a situation that, by race day, little could be done about. All indications had been that by the time the race was hitting its stride, the problem would have fixed itself.
But it didn’t, and NASCAR had to do the best they could in the situation. They did this with the use of competition cautions, choosing to put safety ahead of ticket sales. For that, they should be commended.
So too should the drivers and crews, many of whom decided to run very conservatively. That meant many potential winners never really flexed their muscles, but in doing so, they not only made sure they stayed safe, but also made sure that they did not put their fellow competitors in harm’s way unnecessarily.
The whole situation was, as that great philosopher Yogi Berra once said, “Déjà vu all over again” with a similar moment in time back in 1969.
The inaugural Talladega 500 was held at the Alabama International Motor Speedway (now called Talladega Superspeedway) in September of that year.
Bill France Sr. built the towering Alabama track as a sister facility to the 2.5 mile track in Daytona Beach, using the same basic shape.
But Talladega was a little wider. It was banked a little steeper. It was a little longer at 2.66 miles.
The purpose was simple. It was intended to be the fastest closed course racetrack in the world.
The proof was there. Piloting the newly engineered Dodge Daytona Charger, Charlie Glotzbach turned a lap in practice at 199.466 mph. By contrast, fellow Dodge driver Buddy Baker had won the pole at Daytona in February at 188.901 mph.
But there was a problem. When the drivers took to the track, the high-powered engines spat out so much horsepower that the tires were wearing out in just a few laps.
The drivers, in the guise of a newly formed Professional Drivers Association, voiced their concerns angrily to France. They asked that he postpone the event to allow Firestone to fix the problem with the tires.
Big Bill disagreed. He felt that the gas pedal went both ways, and that if the drivers would simply slow down, they could race safely. He even took to the track himself in a Tiny Lund prepared Ford to try to back it up.
The drivers were incensed by this notion. They had come to race, not to be a pretty parade for the Alabama fans.
When an agreement couldn’t be reached, members of the PDA loaded up their racecars and went home. France scrambled, and filled the field with drivers from the previous day’s support event, and ran the race. Richard Brickhouse piloted a new Dodge Daytona Charger to victory.
While the record books show 7 cautions in the event, none are recorded to be due to an accident.
After Sunday’s event at Indy, it’s clear today, just as it was back in 1969, that the technology of the new car has outrun the technology of the current racing tire.
This is something NASCAR and Goodyear must address. This is more than just an issue about having a good race.
The bottom line is that if the two pieces of technology can’t work in unison, the safety of 43 drivers becomes a risk.
That’s a risk nobody wants to take.
Brandon Reed is a reporter for MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Contact him at brandon@mainstreetnews.com.
