Tony Stewart has a history with Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Stewart has competed and won at the Brickyard as a driver. He’s driven for legendary team owners and himself at the racetrack. And Stewart has also watched cars he owns down the long front straightaway.
But none of that matters to Stewart, not even as Sunday marks the last time he will be a NASCAR car owner at the speedway. While the two-time Brickyard 400 winner is excited for Chase Briscoe to race the No. 14 Ford Mustang around the oval, each year when the trek to Indianapolis comes around, Stewart doesn’t think about his connection to the track.
“I think about the history and the big picture of (the track),” Stewart said to RACER. “It turns me into a fan again.”
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As an Indiana native, Stewart holds an affection for the oval at Indianapolis. Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of the inaugural Brickyard 400, and NASCAR is back on the oval after three seasons on the road course. Stewart is among the many who believe NASCAR should be on the oval.
“The history that I have in my head is not Formula 1 races, it’s not road course races at Indianapolis, it’s the oval,” Stewart said. “It’s all the Indianapolis 500s. It’s the first Brickyard 400. It’s all those moments. When people say you’re racing at Indianapolis that’s what I think of, and that’s what I’m passionate about.”
There were multiple factors as to why NASCAR chose to move to the road course, but Stewart doesn’t believe any of them were the fault of the race teams. NASCAR decided to try a different racing style instead of focusing on the problem when intermediate competition was heavily criticized for its lack of entertainment.
And the timing was right for NASCAR to add another road course to the schedule. The lefts and rights were becoming increasingly popular, and their presence was increasing on the schedule every year. So, with declining competition and attendance at Indianapolis, a crown jewel race disappeared.
“Instead of fixing what was wrong with the cars,” said Stewart, “and why they couldn’t race around each other, they took the easy way out and put it on the road course and broke tradition.”
Sunday’s race will be a test of execution and strategy. NASCAR stock cars aren’t built for Indianapolis, but the racing isn’t the main attraction at the famed speedway.
Stewart’s résumé includes starts at Indianapolis in open-wheel and stock car competition. The first thing he would describe is how the track does not drive as symmetrical as it looks when laying a map on top of it or pulling up the Google Earth view. All four corners are unique, and after going down the long front straightaway, it’s easy to be intimidated by what looks like a tight 90-degree left turn.
Indianapolis has one of the most recognizable – and perhaps one-of-a-kind – front straightaways in motorsports. There are full sets of grandstands on both sides of the racetrack that produce an echo of sound and give drivers one of the greatest views when coming off the final corner.
“When you come off Turn 4, and you’re leading the race coming to the checkered flag, it feels like it’s a five-mile drive to get to the start/finish line,” said Stewart. “But you can see the crowd reaction, and that’s one of the things that makes Indianapolis so special — the atmosphere. And that’s created by the layout of where the grandstands and the perspective the fans get to see the race. It makes that frontstretch very, unique and unforgettable.”
Stewart is one of 15 drivers who has won a Brickyard 400. Three drivers are in Sunday’s field: Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson. Whether one of those three gets another date with the bricks or someone new kissing his way into the history books, Stewart hopes they will have a post-race experience that only Indianapolis can provide.
“It’s a feeling that you truly won at a place and event that’s unique and special,” Stewart said. “The road course was just another race win; it just happened to be at Indianapolis. But it wasn’t winning at the Brickyard, and it wasn’t the same as what it would feel like this weekend. So, for a driver that hasn’t won there that perspective will be drastically different from if they had won on the road course.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, I think all drivers appreciate tradition and history and they know what it means. They know what it means to win at the big races on the big stage, and Indianapolis, no matter whether the race is good or bad, if you win there, you won on sacred ground. It’s not just about the quality of the race. For the drivers, it’s that you won at Indianapolis. You won at the Brickyard.
“That’s something I hope — whoever it is — they appreciate because that’s truly what it’s about.”