Observations from the Allstate 400

Contrary to TV commentary – which drew lots of laughs of derision in the press room — there were lots of empty seats in the grandstands. IMS officials told us that Brickyard attendance figures roughly mirror NASCAR's TV ratings, as well as the attendance trends at other events. In other words, attendance was down a bit again this year over last year, and scalpers were seen shouting, “Prices lower than box office."

However, according to the Indianapolis Star reporter Curt Cavin, there are 257,325 seats at Indy (he counted them). According to knowledgeable IMS people, that figure is a bit low, but in the ballpark. This means that IMS holds twice as many fans as Daytona, and given that both seats at both the Daytona 500 and this Brickyard 400, Indy still drew twice as many fans as the Daytona 500.

You know you're at Indy when you're using the bathroom in Gasoline Ally, and notice that the obscene graffiti is in four different languages. Just to think, that I might've been taking care of my business in the same spot where Michael Schumacher wrote, “Here I sit, broken-hearted…" in German.

You also know you're at Indy when you see hundreds of racing fans who are totally oblivious to the fact that they're standing on an F1 track while waiting for an autograph, or that they drove their Winnebago on an F1 track getting to their parking spot.

Next week, NASCAR visits Pocono. Traditionally, NASCAR teams have used the same car for Pocono and Indy, which means that those that crashed will be at an disadvantage if they can't fixed the cars.

NASCAR crew chief “Bootie" Barker did a 90-second TV bit with Robin Miller. While the production version of the show is entertaining, the warm-up sessions were even better. Bootie knows from experience that NASCAR has “a line" that he cannot cross. When Bootie said somewhat jokingly that he didn't want to get fired, Miller responded, “Boy (pronounced “Bouyh"), I've been fired from more jobs that you'll ever know."

A Speed TV reporter who was watching the event assured me – from firsthand experience – that NASCAR does have a way of explaining their point of view to journalists, including language that Tony Stewart might use in a post-race interview. Tim Wohlford reporting from Indy