The Sprint Cup Series Has Lost Its Luster at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

            The NASCAR Sprint Cup race on Sunday was one of the most boring races so far this year.  The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is supposed to be the biggest race of the year every year for the Sprint Cup Series.  The excitement and the magic at the track is not what it used to be for NASCAR anymore.  The only reason I watched the whole race was because of my favorite driver Jeff Gordon substituting for Dale Earnhardt Jr.  And plus it was Tony Stewart last race at IMS, I guess.

            So Kyle Busch won the race, but it really was not a dominant win.  I would not call that dominating the race.  Honestly, if any driver started from the pole was going to win the race anyway.  The lower downforce for the IMS track did not work at all whatsoever.  The only time there was side-by-side racing was during the restarts in the back of the pack.  Nobody could get to the leader.  Once the leader is in clean air, you could kiss them goodbye.  Kyle did not win the race because he had the best car.  He won the race because he had clean air.

            Thank goodness for Jeff Gordon racing in the race on Sunday.  It was so good watching my favorite driver race again.  And he did a good job.  It may not have been a top-5 or a top-10, but it was good enough.  A 13^th place finish was really good for a driver who had been out of the car for months.  I give credit to Greg Ives for making a good call by pitting early to help Gordon to gain track positions.  And Gordon helped do the rest.  Gordon was wheeling it.  I’m so glad that I got to watch his last race at IMS, I guess.

            It was also nice to see Tony Stewart race at IMS one last time, I guess.  The reason I continue to say “I guess” is because I thought last year was Gordon last race until something came up for him to be a substitute driver for Dale Earnhardt Jr.  You never know what could put a former or retired driver into a car.  Stewart had an 11^th place finish, but after all he been through this year, it is good enough for him. 

            The best thing that had happened after the race though was very special. Under one of the cautions, Stewart’s spotter sent Gordon’s spotter a message to ask Gordon.  Stewart asked Gordon would he join him for one last lap around the track together.  And of course Gordon accepted it.  I was so emotional.  I was happy and sad because that will be the last time that the 2 biggest stars of NASCAR will be on IMS track together.  In my opinion, the races will never be the same without them.  The races already did not feel right without Gordon during this season so far.  It is going to be even worse next year when the sport will be without the two biggest stars on the track. 

            I’m going to be honest.  I had said this over and over again.  I started watching NASCAR since 2004 because of Jeff Gordon.  He was the reason why I watched.  Even though I do like other drivers, it isn’t the same without my favorite driver.  I can’t get into it anymore.  I can see there are fans who watched NASCAR because they have no favorite driver and just love the sport.  That isn’t the case for me.  I did not start watching NASCAR because of NASCAR.  I started watching because of Gordon.  And sadly I am not going to continue to watch it because my heart is not in it anymore.

            The second half of this season so far has not been fun to watch.  And I tried my best to continue to watch NASCAR.  The only time I will watch NASCAR is maybe some of the Chase races.  And these boring races are making it so easy for me to quit watching the rest of the season.  NASCAR has a lot of fixing to do with these cars.  This lower downforce is not working at some of these tracks.  I’m going to say this.  I’m going to name the best years of racing in this series.  2004-2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2014 were the best years of racing since I started watching in late 2004. 

            Every time NASCAR tries to go forward, there is always something making them go a few steps backward.  And it isn’t that NASCAR isn’t trying because they are trying to make the racing better.  It is just nothing isn’t working for every track.  The package worked so well for the first half of the season, but something changed at the beginning of the second half of the season.  My opinion is that NASCAR should work on having the teams use a different aero package at certain tracks or let them pick their own aero package at each track.  I always felt that the same aero package doesn’t work for all different tracks.

            All I know is that if NASCAR doesn’t fix the problem, they are going to continue to lose the fans that they have now.  Some fans do not watch anymore because of drivers leaving the sport, but most of them are leaving the sport because of the racing.