The good news is there was much more action at yesterday's Brickyard 400 than many of the recent editions of the much-maligned race. The bad news? The caution-fest took over six hours to come to completion.
Whether watching on TV, or being one of the estimated 35,000 at the track, fans walked way with mixed reviews of yesterday's action. Some praised the chaos at the end, saying it gave them a reason to watch, while others pointed to the pathetic attendance and drivers' inability to get a clean restart at the end to decide the race themselves.
Here are some of the positives and negatives of yesterday's 24th running:
POSITIVE: Kyle Busch didn’t win by three full minutes
No one wanted to see Busch run away with it again for the third straight year, and after he was punted late by Martin Truex Jr., fans were spared a finish that seemed inevitable.
NEGATIVE: The two best cars got punted
If you want these races won by merit, Busch and Truex Jr. had the two best cars (by far), and ended up with 34th and 33rd place finishes. If they stayed clean, there's no reason to think those two wouldn't have greatly separated themselves from the field.
POSITIVE: Wrecks provided some much needed action
Indy doesn't usually have incidents, which made the record-setting amount of cautions (14) a surprise. You never root for wrecks, obviously, but the constant barrage kept most fans' attention.
NEGATIVE: Wrecks marred the finish
You had a wild scenario at the end where it was anyone's race - at least for the cars that actually remained running on the track. Kahne basically won by default as no one could get a clean restart going in the final ten laps.
POSITIVE: Good or bad, people were talking about the Brickyard 400
Last year was an absolute snooze-fest, so at least this race caused a reaction. Some of it was positive and some negative, but any reaction is good reaction. At least fans weren't apathetic like in recent years.
NEGATIVE: The length and attendance were embarrassing
The race ended up being 6+ hours and the sparse crowd shots on TV looked awful. It’s hard to put a positive spin on something so drawn out and lengthy, which took place at a giant racing facility one-tenth full.
What's your take? Was it a good or bad race? Leave it on our Fox Sports 97.5 Facebook page.