Observations from the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

By Mike Smith (contact)

Sunday, July 27, 2008 | 9:53 p.m.

There was some shocking news from the sport of stock car racing this weekend. Kyle Busch didn’t win a Sprint Cup race. What will all those conspiracy-minded fans, convinced that NASCAR overlooks some unexplained advantage in the No. 18 car, say about Kyle’s 15th-place finish?

That wasn’t Gatorade the crew chiefs were drinking from their water bottles during the race. It was Maalox. The stresses of being the decision maker for a team are great, but racing on tires with less stamina than a slab of butter in a hot skillet surely made the stress level much more intense. Pit crews could have used some of that famous Goodyear runflat technology at the Brickyard.

It was a shame that the second-most prestigious race on the Sprint Cup schedule became a series of heat races. I’m sure that many fans, especially the ones who paid good money to sit in the grandstands, wondered if this fiasco could have been avoided if someone had anticipated that the tire wear would have been so rapid. Tire testing in April at the track indicated that tire wear was an issue. But history has shown that, as a race progresses, a track will build up a layer of rubber, which decreases tire wear. As a result, I’m not sure NASCAR or Goodyear could have anticipated how severe the tire deterioration would be. I image we will see a mandatory test session between now and the next Sprint Cup race at the Brickyard.

Tony Stewart, in his comments from the car at the beginning of the race, had the best explanation for the cause of the excessive tire wear. He stated that the high center of gravity on the Car of Tomorrow resulted in more weight sifting to the right side of the car when compared to the old car. The obvious result being that the added weight was harder on the tires.

NASCAR was left with the only one option in this embarrassing situation. It had to make the race as safe as it could for the drivers.

Carl Edwards’ post-race interview, in which he praised the commitment of the fans, was a classy move.

I thought ESPN produced a good broadcast that was free of animated rodents, silly male banter and Bill Weber saying, “You don’t have to look it up because we already did.” I especially liked the interview with Richard Childress in the pre-race show, which revisited the personal and professional struggles Richard has grappled with since the death of Dale Earnhardt. But I did miss the humor and technical insight Kyle Petty brought to the broadcasts on TNT.

For anyone who may have missed it, below is video of the race finish.