Why NASCAR's return to the Brickyard 400 is a success, regardless of the racing product

NASCAR has always been a sport deeply rooted in tradition. Whether it be opening the season with the Daytona 500 or hosting a Labor Day classic at Darlington, the sanctioning body always holds its crown-jewel events close to its chest.

That's why, even with dwindling attendance and mediocre racing, it was so surprising to see NASCAR abandon the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval after 2020, putting both the Xfinity and Cup Series on the infield road course from 2021-23.

After a successful Xfinity Series race on the Indy road course in 2020, the track put on respectable races for the next several seasons. Over those years, however, the allure of racing at Indianapolis seemed diminished; the luster of the prestigious venue dimmed.

All of a sudden, the 2.5-mile track that every young driver in America aspires to race at sat largely silent when NASCAR came to town, with small portions of the oval configuration being used during NASCAR's visit to the facility.

This year, the Brickyard 400 makes a return to the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Even compared to NASCAR's most historic and valued venues — Daytona, Darlington, Charlotte and Talladega — Indianapolis far and away trumps other tracks in terms of history and tradition. Nearly 50 years before Bill France held the first Daytona 500, it was Ray Harroun who christened the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a crown jewel of American sports, winning the 1911 Indianapolis 500 in his famed 'Marmon Wasp.'

When NASCAR first visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994, it was billed as one of the biggest moments in the sport's history. Indiana native Jeff Gordon won the first Brickyard 400 after an epic battle with Ernie Irvan, cementing the Brickyard 400 as a mainstay of the NASCAR schedule for years to come.

As the years went on, however, the race began to slowly lose steam. A tire fiasco in the 2008 edition made for one of the worst races in NASCAR history — echoing the tale of Talladega's horrendous opening weekend in 1969 — while the on-track product and attendance began to suffer more by the year.

NASCAR tried various solutions to regain the momentum the race once held, making it the regular-season finale and moving it to the Fourth of July weekend. But after 2020, the writing seemed to be on the wall: NASCAR at the Indianapolis oval was dead.

The harsh truth sent shockwaves through the NASCAR garage. Abandoning what was once a crown jewel in favor of its less prestigious, more complex brother was seen as a necessary evil for a sport looking to win back the millions of fans it had lost over the years.

That's why Sunday's race at Indianapolis should be considered so special. As little as two years ago, there was speculation that NASCAR could abandon the famed track altogether. The racing may not be great, especially with an extremely aero-dependent Next-Gen car, but the prestige of the Indianapolis oval simply can't be ignored.

The Brickyard 400 must be treated by NASCAR like other major sporting events. Even in years where the Super Bowl, World Series or NBA Finals aren't exciting, they still carry the weight of their prestige and history with them everywhere they go. The racing product at Indianapolis may be the NASCAR equivalent of Super Bowl LIII — boring, tedious to watch and lopsided on paper — but at the end of the day, history and tradition must win out for a sport that has as much of it as any other.