Taking Stock

Portions of IMS' grandstands will reportedly be closed off for Sunday's race

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Brickyard 400 has "reached a crossroads" as the race can "continue a downward slide in popularity and interest, or it can try to find its way back to what it once was," according to Terry Blount of ESPN.com. The "newness and novelty have worn off." Attendance at last year's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway "was estimated at 140,000." At a facility that "seats 257,000 people and an event that had more than double the 2010 attendance a few years ago, it's a disturbing trend." That trend is "expected to continue this weekend." An internal NASCAR e-mail stated that "ticket sales at Indy are 'significantly behind previous years.'" In the past, the "glory of NASCAR competing at the Brickyard was ...