Tire Troubles Steam Brickyard Fans

INDIANAPOLIS -- Tire troubles that plagued Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard left thousands of NASCAR fans steaming Sunday.

The caution flag waved 11 times at the race -- many of them planned because of safety concerns brought about by excessive tire wear.

Many fans trickled into the speedway Monday morning to renew tickets for next year's race, but some of them said they considered not coming back for another year.

Jerry and Diane Stoll, Jeff Gordon fans, said memories from Sunday's race are bad, but that didn't deter them from getting tickets for next year.

"I wasn't happy with the race. There was too many mandatory cautions because of tires," Jerry Stoll said. "I think that everybody griped this year about that. Surely they can run more than 10-12 laps on a set of tires."

Most fans blamed Goodyear, the supplier of tires for the event.

"We were really bored with all the competition yellows," said Peggie Salter. "We ended up leaving early. They should have tested their tires more."

Salter and dozens of other fans dutifully renewed their tickets, but not without a sour taste in their mouths.

"We've been coming here eight years and will continue to keep coming," said Frank Schubat.

IMS President Joie Chitwood issued a statement Sunday that deflected attention from the track itself as a possible factor in the race's problems.

"Obviously, it's not the race you want to present to the largest crowd to watch a stock car race this year, but we do appreciate the hard work of the drivers and teams," Chitwood said. "The track surface hasn't changed since 2005, and I don't anticipate any changes to the surface in the immediate future."

Chitwood said the speedway would accommodate any NASCAR and/or Goodyear request for more testing before the 2009 race.