It's time for NASCAR to pull the plug on the Brickyard race

The NASCAR Cup Series returned to the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway's oval course in 2024, following three seasons of running the infield road course.

Kyle Larson won the Brickyard 400 following an impressive late drive through the field, in a finish highlighted (or perhaps lowlighted ) by a series of accidents and some controversial officiating .

Overall, though, the racing was dull and forgettable. Passing was next to impossible save for Larson's charge in the closing laps, which can be largely attributed to most of the rest of the field being forced to save fuel.

Drivers running midfield could inherit the lead on pit strategy and take off, while others could be cycled to the back after running up front and be completely stuck there.

Some will attribute that to NASCAR's NextGen car, but Indy's oval has struggled to put on exciting action for many years. There's a reason why it was ditched in favor of the road course between 2021 and 2023, which was hoped to be a solution, but that didn't work out as the road course does not offer the same prestige.

Obviously, Indy is a historic venue. The Indianapolis 500 is quite possibly the greatest spectacle in motorsports. The possibility of a driver such as Larson, who ran both Brickyard races in 2024, potentially winning both events in his career is something that gives IMS a unique appeal as one of NASCAR's crown jewels. Unfortunately, though, it's just about the only appeal.

The best thing that can be said racing-wise about any of the more recent Brickyard 400s is that pit strategy can throw an interesting wrench into things. However, there's other tracks where that's also the case, such as Pocono, which is better suited for stock car racing and has been a staple of the Cup Series calendar for 50 years.

The truth is simple: NASCAR needs to stop going to IMS. This track was not designed for stock cars, and the novelty has largely worn off. The Brickyard 400 may bring in high attendance numbers (mostly by virtue of IMS having the largest seating capacity of any track), but its calling card at this point goes no further than simply being at the same facility that hosts the Indy 500.

The Brickyard had a nice run as part of the Cup Series schedule, but it's time to pull the plug. If NASCAR is to continue to race in Indy, it should be across town at Indianapolis Raceway Park.