“Biased” Jeff Gordon Offers Divisive Verdict of NASCAR’s Biggest Indianapolis Dilemma, Sighting Olympics Style Solution

Call it Indy, call it the Brickyard, call it whatever you want. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of the most special racetracks in American motorsport. But in 2020, when NASCAR decided to ditch the Indianapolis Oval for the road course, ever since, there have been a lot of speculations about whether NASCAR should return to the oval track or not. Jeff Gordon, Vice-Chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, has his own unique take on what NASCAR should do with the Brickyard event.

Talking to Mike Bagley at the NASCAR Live podcast following the Crayon 301, Jeff Gordon gave a surprising solution as to how NASCAR should approach the event. The race holds a special place in his heart as a 5-time winner at the Indianapolis Oval.

Jeff Gordon offers a unique Olympic Style Solution to NASCAR for the Brickyard event at IMS

There is no doubt that both the fans and the drivers want the Indianapolis Oval to return to the NASCAR calendar as the Brickyard 400 event. During their conversation on the NASCAR Live podcast, host Mike Bagley asked Jeff Gordon whether he would prefer the Oval or the road course if he were to race at IMS again. Here’s how the conversation went down.

Bagley said, “There’s a lot of talk in the garage, lot of scuttlebutt that maybe this is the last time we race on the road course at Indianapolis for a while. As a 5-time winner of races on the oval at Indianapolis. What is your preference? You’d rather go left and right at Indy, or would you rather all make left-hand turns at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?”

“Yeah, I am definitely biased on this,” said Gordon. “I am a die-hard Indianapolis Motor Speedway fan, grew up watching the Indy 500 as a kid and dreamed about racing there. Got the opportunity to do that when NASCAR went there, and I loved it, and still love it.”

“My wish is this, I think we should be on the oval, I don’t think we should be on the oval every year.” Jeff continued. “I said years ago, if you had the crystal ball, I think you’d go on the oval every 4 years, but I know that that’s not the business model, that’s not how things work. But I just think to keep it unique and special, and the fans really saying, hey we’re gonna get this 4 years from now, like an Olympics or something or maybe its every other year.”

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The drivers have a very strong opinion regarding the Brickyard too. Kyle Busch even went as far as saying that either NASCAR should race the oval or skip the event altogether. Among many others, Roger Penske seems to have the same idea as Gordon of alternating between the Oval and the road course.

NASCAR’s return to the Indianapolis Oval can become a reality sooner than you might think

Let’s face it, winning the Indianapolis road course and winning the Indianapolis Oval are two very different things. As per ESPN, Kevin Harvick captured this sentiment perfectly when he said, “It is not the same and it will never be the same, but I also don’t think anyone is going to not race any harder to win it.”

Speaking to SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NASCAR insider, Greg Stucker of Goodyear Racing said the following.

“We’re gonna go to Indy and run the oval. We just feel like there was enough discussion around, potentially going back to the Oval in the future. Let’s go ahead and take the opportunity to get on that racetrack in the Oval configuration with the next-gen car. The last time we took a new car to Indianapolis that didn’t fare too terribly well from a tire perspective. So we want to stay ahead of that.”

As per Jordan Bianchi’s tweet, Roger Penske hints at the discussions going around in the NASCAR community to return to the Oval. His tweet reads, “Roger Penske says NASCAR will remain on the IMS road course for 2023. But is evaluating whether to switch to the oval in 2024. He mentions alternating years between the road course and oval is one option under consideration.”

How soon do you think we’ll get NASCAR racing back on the Indy Oval? And also, do you think alternating between the Oval and the road course could really happen? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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