The Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval returned to NASCAR after a short, three-year break. Even though it’s a Crown Jewel race, NASCAR decided to move away from it in 2021, but eventually backtracked on that decision.
Kevin Harvick, who won the race in 2019 and 2020, lifted the lid on why the Brickyard 400 went on hiatus during his podcast.
Kevin Harvick Explains Why NASCAR Ditched Indy Oval for Three Years
The NASCAR Cup Series made a bold move in 2021 by switching to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. So, the Indianapolis oval race, which had been a Cup Series staple from 1994 to 2020, was put on hold.
The move was seen as an effort to breathe new life into a race that, despite its crown jewel status, had struggled with dwindling crowds and lacklustre on-track action.
Harvick has a special place in his heart for the Brickyard 400, as he has won it three times in his career. As the 2025 edition of the race is just around the corner, he discussed it on the latest episode of his podcast and explained why the event stayed off the oval for three years.
“It was always one of the better ones, and the racetrack is unique….the reason that we stopped going there is they had some disagreements on track promoter and things that were happening. So, we stopped going there for a while.
“It used to have temporary grandstands. I mean, there’d be thousands and thousands of people that would come over from the big track. So, always one of the better races.”
But the move away failed to win over much of the garage. Drivers preferred the historic oval over the road course that lacked legacy and prestige.
“I don’t view this track as Indianapolis, no,” Kyle Busch told Autoweek. “Indianapolis is the oval. That’s where the allure of Indianapolis comes from, and being around since 1900. It’s been there forever, and there’s a lot of history there.”
Fans weren’t entirely convinced either — attendance over the three road course races remained essentially flat compared to the final pre-pandemic race on the oval.
The road course experiment at Indianapolis lasted three years, but with driver frustration mounting, NASCAR returned to the hallowed oval in 2024.
“While it’s been exciting to watch the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series drivers tackle the IMS road course over the last three years, being back on the oval for the 30th anniversary is a much-anticipated homecoming for drivers and fans alike,” IMS president J. Douglas Boles said at that time. “Whether you’ve been with us all 30 years or are a new fan, the celebration as we ‘come back around’ will be can’t-miss and truly unforgettable.”
NASCAR’s return to the Indianapolis oval was a success. It was reported that the attendance at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 2024 Brickyard 400 was over 70,000, the highest NASCAR attendance at the venue since 2017.
