Super Weekend at the Brickyard

The NASCAR Brickyard 400 is the highlight of Super Weekend.

Kroger Super Weekend at the Brickyard is a series of auto races held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late July, surrounding the annual Brickyard 400. The weekend of events includes the following races:

The naming rights are owned by grocery chain Kroger.

History

Brickyard 400

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series debuted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994. At the time, no official support races were part of the schedule. The Busch Series, however, did hold the Kroger 200 at Indianapolis Raceway Park in nearby Clermont, Indiana the same weekend. From 1995–2011, the Truck Series also held a race at IRP.

"Super Weekend"

On September 3, 2009, Grand-Am tested IMS as a potential future venue. A total of nine cars, representing both the Daytona Prototype and GT classes, participated. Laps were run in a clockwise direction (like Formula 1 at this track, and unlike MotoGP). For most of the test, the southwest turn of the oval was used (as it had been with Formula 1). A brief period in the middle of the day (approximately 20 minutes) was spent turning laps that included the southwest MotoGP road course section.[1]

On July 6, 2011, at a press conference held at the start-finish line, officials with the speedway, NASCAR, and the Grand American Road Racing Association announced the new Super Weekend at the Brickyard taking place July 26–29, 2012. The NASCAR Nationwide Series moved from Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis to the Brickyard to run a Saturday race while both the Rolex Sports Car Series and the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge now run races on Friday. Further, the Rolex race is the conclusion of the new North American Endurance Challenge, a triple crown event along with the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. 2012 was the first time in speedway history that races took place on the 2.5-mile oval and 2.534-mile Grand Prix road course during the same weekend. The move has been done to counter declining attendance during the Brickyard 400. Many Sprint Cup drivers will make an appearance in the Rolex Sports Car Series race to refine their road racing skills in preparation for the Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen two weeks later.[2] The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Lucas Oil Raceway was also discontinued.

The move of the Nationwide race from Lucas Oil Raceway to the Brickyard has come with much criticism. Lucas Oil Raceway sold out every race in the 28 years it held a Nationwide race while offering exciting short track racing on the track, while many fans consider racing at the Brickyard "boring."[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Rolex Series to Hold Special Test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Grand-am.com. 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  2. ↑ "Indianapolis Motor Speedway Added To 2012 GRAND-AM Schedule". July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  3. ↑ "NASCAR Making Mistake By Moving Nationwide Race To Indianapolis Motor Speedway". July 5, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.

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