J
Jim Dutton
Guest
Sunday July 31, 1994
AP Sports WriterINDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Motor Speedway revels in its traditions. But the door-bangin' tire-smokin', bumper-to-bumper world of NASCAR racing hasn't been one of them — until NOW
The Brickyard 400 stock car race, a form of motor sports once considered heresy within Indy's hallowed concrete walls, makes its debut Aug. 6. Its own traditions will come later. "I'm not a big history guy, or tradition, but (winning the first race) would really even to me mean a lot, because I know it will be in the history books," said NASCAR driver Mark Martin. "That would be really, really special to me." Martin lived in North Liberty, Ind., for about two years. He was 150 miles north of the famed Indy oval; he might as well have been on the other side of the world. "I was just out of high school, and I was pretty young and pretty dumb," the 35-year-old driver said. "I had a lot to learn about racing and everything else. I never dreamed and never had an interest coming out here because I never expected I'd race here. I sure didn't think NASCAR would race here."
So how did the good ol boys end up at a track known since the infancy of the sport as a magnet for the top drivers in the world? It was due to the efforts of Tony George, the president of the Speedway and the grandson of the late Tony Hulman, who rescued the track and, many believe, the sport itself after a decline during World War II. "I went to my first stock car race in probably July of 1976, and when (John) Cooper was president here I went to Talladega and saw a race there," George said. "I watched it develop and grow over the last 10 to 15 years and started to follow it more closely and realized it would be a good show to bring here if we ever had another event," he said. "Subsequently, I broached it with my family."
Click on link below to read more.
http://www.fueleconomytuneup.com/2012/07/nascar-inaugural-indianapolis-brickyard-400/
