The 2019 Brickyard Grand National 400, also known as the Big Machine Liquor 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway presented by Sprint, was a monster truck race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana on Sept. 8,2019. It is the second running of the legendary Brickyard 400 event. It marks the first time in the history of the Brickyard that the race will be held outside the walls of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's famous “Highway 400.”
The winner was expected to be a big machine, or rather a big machine with a driver capable of out-dragging and out-lapping his competition, and the driver was none other than Tony Stewart, the three-time champion of the Daytona 500. With a new car, a brand new engine and a new approach, it was expected to be an amazing showpiece. What we saw however was not just a big machine, but rather a very slow machine.
There was no doubt that Tony Stewart had a truck capable of out-doubling the competition, and that he would be a force to be reckoned with. However, when a new driver enters a high-profile rivalry and doesn't know what to do with himself, you can bet that it will take a while to get that truck going.
This is why stock car racing in general is so much fun. You never know who is going to come out of their pit box or who is going to be able to push their vehicle to the limits. That is exactly what happened to Tony Stewart and to the big machine that he rode into victory lane.
If there was one thing I thought could have been done to slow down this stock car race, it would have been for the driver to come out of his pit box on pit road. Instead of being a huge, lumbering beast, and coming out of his pit box like a small child who was trying to run up and down the track, the driver was actually a giant. and he had to run a few steps to get back into the truck to change gears and drive the truck back home. This was silly and very frustrating for the fans. They just wanted the big machine to win and they wanted to watch it happen.
What I found in the crowd watching the races was a lot of admiration for the Stock Car Racer and for what he did. He didn't take a lap around the track, he won two of the three races, and his victories were impressive.
