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Since 1994 the Brickyard 400 has stood apart as one of the premier events on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Winning on the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a dream for most racecar drivers. And on Sunday the track delivered twice giving Paul Menard not just a Brickyard 400 victory, but his first ever Cup Series win (the first ever, first-time winner at the Brickyard).

The last 50 laps of the 400 were some of the more interesting I’ve seen at the track. There were two packs, two ideas and it was really anybody’s race. Eventually it was the kid who spent much of his life around the track watching a different kind of racing, crossing the bricks first. It was hard not to be excited for Menard.

The extraordinary thing about Sunday’s finish was that Menard became the 14th different winner and the fourth different first-time winner of the season. Those aren’t record breaking numbers just yet (19 in 1956 and 2001), but it is, I think, a testament to strength of competition in the sport right now. In addition to those 14, there is a long list of drivers with the means to win who haven’t.

Menard’s win also adds him to the list of drivers competing for the Chase’s two wild card slots. There are currently six different winners outside of the top-10 in points (Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski, Regan Smith and Trevor  Bayne – who of course is not eligible for the Chase). Of those six, four are eligible and in the requisite top-20 in the points. Right now it’s Denny Hamlin and Paul Menard who make the cut.

So far, this season has been one to remember. With 16 races left and just six until the start of the Chase, I doubt we’ve seen the end to the 2011 surprises. Stay tuned.

Feel free to use this as your Brickyard and 2011 season sound off post. What did you think about Paul Menard’s first win? How about the parity we’ve seen so far this season? Do you think we can beat the record of 19 different winners? Talk amongst yourselves.

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway is home to one of the greatest traditions in all of motorsports. The prestige of the place and the events surrounding it made it a perfect fit for the up-and-coming NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 1994. 200,000 spectators showed up that first year – in 2007 the number was 270,000.

17 years later NASCAR at Indy is struggling to find the magic it once had. The racing has never been that good, and attendance has been on the decline – down to 140,000 last year, still reeling from the tire debacle in 2008. With that in mind officials with IMS and NASCAR have been looking for ways to add value to the event.

In recent weeks that talk has centered around the addition of a Grand-Am Rolex Series event and potentially the Nationwide Series at the big track. The idea being, the more events, the bigger draw. Helping the case too is a guaranteed $700,000 payday for the Nationwide event.

Adding the Grand Am Series to Indy is, at least on the surface, a good fit – there is a great road course at IMS used for years by F1 and MotoGP. For the Nationwide cars though, the idea of a shift from Lucas Oil Raceway Park is a little cringe worthy.

The Nationwide cars have been at LROP every year since 1982. The short track always provides great races and great racing. While it would certainly be a novelty to see the cars at IMS, the racing is sure to be lacking.

With the Brickyard just a few weeks away, it’s interesting to think about not just whether or not the Nationwide cars should be there, but whether or not the Cup cars should be there. Certainly even in the worst year the Brickyard has produced attendance numbers any sport would envy. Still, with limited passing ability, the racing has always been lacking.

I think it important for a sanctioning body to occasionally evaluate the quality of its events. When those events reach a point that fan interest is clearly waning, perhaps it comes time to reconsider them. Perhaps, just perhaps, NASCAR is reaching that point with the Brickyard.

Sometimes it’s better to admit when things aren’t working and look for successful solutions than it is beat a dead horse – I’m not sure which they’re doing here.

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