Super Weekend at the Brickyard

Kroger Super Weekend at the Brickyard was a series of auto races held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in late July, surrounding the annual Brickyard 400. The weekend of events included the following races:

Xfinity Series — Pennzoil 250

NASCAR Cup Series — Brickyard 400

The naming rights are owned by grocery chain Kroger.

History

Brickyard 400

The NASCAR Winston Cup Series debuted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in

Truck Series also held a race

at IRP.

"Super Weekend"

On September 3, 2009,

Grand-Am tested on the combined road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a potential future venue. A total of nine cars, representing both the Daytona Prototype and GT classes, participated. Laps were run in a clockwise direction (like Formula 1 at this track, and unlike MotoGP). For most of the test, the southwest turn of the oval was used (as it had been with Formula 1). A brief period in the middle of the day (approximately 20 minutes) was spent turning laps that included the southwest MotoGP road course section.^[1]

On July 6, 2011, at a press conference held at the start-finish line, officials with the speedway,

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

race at Lucas Oil Raceway was also discontinued.

The move of the Nationwide Series race from Lucas Oil Raceway to the Brickyard came with much criticism. Lucas Oil Raceway sold out every race in the 28 years it held a Busch Series/Nationwide Series race while offering exciting short track racing on the track, while many fans consider racing at the Brickyard "boring."[3]

The sports car endurance race was put on hiatus after 2014. Track and series officials noted very low attendance for the Friday afternoon event, and considered moving the sports cars to their own stand-alone event. As of 2017, the sports cars have not returned. As a result, use of the "Super Weekend" moniker has since diminished.

References

^ "Rolex Series to Hold Special Test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Grand-am.com. 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
^ "Indianapolis Motor Speedway Added To 2012 GRAND-AM Schedule". July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
^ "NASCAR Making Mistake By Moving Nationwide Race To Indianapolis Motor Speedway". July 5, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.

External links

Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Official website

[1] "Rolex Series to Hold Special Test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway". Grand-am.com. 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2009-11-21.

[2] "Indianapolis Motor Speedway Added To 2012 GRAND-AM Schedule". July 6, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.

[3] "NASCAR Making Mistake By Moving Nationwide Race To Indianapolis Motor Speedway". July 5, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.

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