IMS countered with Nationwide practice Thursday, GRAND-AM on Friday, Sprint Cup practice and qualifying on Saturday followed by the Nationwide race and then Sunday’s main event.

“We do all kinds of fan surveys and what we hear most is that the race is boring and there’s a lack of track activity,’’ said Belskus. “Well, we’re not saying we can make the races more exciting but we can provide non-stop track action and bring in a lot of things for our paying customers.

“The GRAND-AM race here is one of the biggest things in NASCAR in a few years and the Nationwide race along with Cup qualifying will give Saturday value and content.’’

The Speedway is offering a Super Ticket for $80, good for four days of general admission, and will only charge $10 for Nationwide practice on Thursday and $30 for Friday’s GRAND-AM race. Top price for the highest seat at IMS (any of the four Vista Decks) will be reduced to $50 for the Nationwide race ($150 for the same ticket the next day at the Brickyard 400).

“I don’t think it’s going to help,’’ said Foyt of the three races. "I just don’t see people going to Indianapolis to watch sports cars or another stock car race.’’

IS IT WORTH SAVING?

While the Indy 500’s attendance looks to be about 225,000 the past two Mays and 13 sections for the 2012 Indianapolis 500 were sold out, not one grandstand can make that claim for Sunday’s 19th Brickyard 400.

“The Brickyard is so far down on our end, it’s like the Indy 500 after the split, IU basketball three years ago or the Pacers were after the brawl,’’ reasoned Peduto, referring to the Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons donnybrook of 2004.

“We hardly buy any tickets in advance because there are only a handful of areas we can buy or sell for premium price. The Brickyard was good for several years but it’s nothing anymore.’’

Ditto for the merchandise and hotel business.

“The NASCAR fans spend about a third of what they used to,’’ said Jim Luebbert, who along with his wife has operated Speedway Monogramming (across from the main gate of the Speedway) for nearly 30 years. “We handled shirts, hats and event stuff and it was very big for a long time but not anymore. The climate has changed about stock car racing, nobody cares like they did several years ago.’’

A quick on-line check of the downtown hotels for the weekend of July 27-29 shows vacancies everywhere. On the flip side, the downtown Westin, Omni Severn, Conrad and Indianapolis Hilton were sold out for the Indy 500 weekend, all with three-day minimums.

If the Speedway only gets a body in half of its 250,000 permanent seats, it looks empty. “We find ourselves in an odd position in that if we’re half full or even a little less it’s still one of NASCAR’s best attended events,’’ said Belskus, whose $9 million purse in 2011 was second only to the Daytona 500.

Stewart says it hasn’t lost its luster with the competitors.

“Is it still a big, big deal for the drivers,’’ says the defending Sprint Cup champion. “Winning Daytona is still No. 1 as it should be but the Brickyard is second and the teams still put a big emphasis on it.’’

Indy has made a nice comeback in the last few years, MotoGP remains a small draw and the Brickyard is literally half as big as it was 10 years ago. One has to wonder if there will be a time in the near future when it’s not viable for IMS or NASCAR to remain partners.

“Nobody likes to see empty seats,’’ said Belskus. “But I have trouble envisioning a scenario that doesn’t work for them or us.’’

But there’s a real good chance IMS will now host two boring stock car races instead of just one and with temperatures expected to be in the mid-90s, there figures to be a lot of bare aluminum on display in the grandstands this weekend.

Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED