Is Brickyard luster fading?

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS

Any sports event that draws an estimated crowd of 180,000 has to be considered a smashing success.

Except when it drew 270,000 two years earlier.

There will be empty seats at today’s Brickyard 400, leading some to wonder whether one of NASCAR’s marquee events has lost a little bit of its luster.

“Has some of that worn off? I think a little bit,” Jeff Gordon said. “But I still think the sport brings in a heck of a crowd and this track and its history still makes it very, very prestigious. Certainly for the competitors it’s as prestigious as it’s ever been.”

Winning at the Brickyard is about as big as it gets for NASCAR drivers, even rivaling the Daytona 500 in terms of prestige. But it’s being seen by fewer fans in recent years.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway does not release official attendance figures, but crowds are declining according to NASCAR estimates: from 270,000 in 2007 to 240,000 in 2008 to 180,000 last year.

That’s still a remarkable number of people — dwarfing even the University of Michigan’s “Big House,” which recently increased its capacity to 109,901.

But the track is taking steps to boost attendance, letting kids 12 and under get in free with the purchase of an adult general admission ticket.

Jeff Belskus, president and CEO of the speedway, says he is expecting a crowd of “well over” 100,000 on Sunday but acknowledges that ticket sales have been somewhat sluggish.

“We’ve seen some softness,” Belskus said. “It’s not a lot different than last year, frankly. There are still going to be a lot of race fans here.”

The economy certainly plays a role in sagging attendance, both at the Brickyard and throughout NASCAR. But Belskus acknowledges that severe tire issues that turned the 2008 race into a tough-to-watch debacle might play a role, too.

“Mostly, yeah, [it’s] enduring this tough economy,” Belskus said. “We had some tire issues here a couple years ago with this event, and I actually think that probably accelerated some things a little bit for us. The tire issues are behind us, and we hope better economic days are ahead. We’re looking forward to coming out on the other side.”

“For a while I’ve been saying enough with trying to make adjustments in the garage area,” Jimmie Johnson said. “You know, new car, new rule, new this, new that, ’drivers have at it.’ We’re tapped out. We’ve been doing all we can and we’re putting on great races.”