Hauler parade fuels kick-off to Brickyard 400 festivities

Speedway, Indiana – Main Street was flooded with three years’ worth of excitement and NASCAR haulers on Thursday, as if we needed more evidence that Speedway is the racing center of the world.

Since NASCAR initially announced that it would be returning to the oval, folks have been yearning for this sight.

“My kids are here, my dad is from Pennsylvania. The hauler parade is really just something I can bring the kids to, I can enjoy myself at the race,” fan Eric Myers said.

“If you’re from Indiana, you know the Indy 500. With the Brickyard 400, it’s just as big, just as great,” fan Rhyder Morgan said.

You already know that Indiana is unique, even if you’re not from here.

“It’s a bucket list track for me,” fan Steven Demello said. “I drove down from Massachusetts on Monday, 14 hours straight. 948 miles I think it was.”

The celebration was aided in getting underway by former champion Dale Jarrett and his crew leader, Todd Parrott. You may thank these couple for initiating the IMS tradition of winners kissing the brickwork back in 1996 if you adore it.

“This was just two guys – a driver and a crew chief – wanting to do something different to celebrate what we were hoping was going to be a win, and it turned out to be that,” Jarrett said.

This year is particularly noteworthy because it’s the Brickyard 400’s 30th anniversary.

“Our ticket sales are really strong. Maybe the best ticket sales year we’ve had since 2017. We haven’t seen that kind of turnaround since 2002. The last 20 years have been a struggle,” Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles said. “I feel like this is a great year to reset and begin to grow the Brickyard 400 back to what it used to be.”

Every fan is getting excited for what looks to be an amazing racing weekend.

“I went to the inaugural Brickyard many many years ago. So it’s nice to get a whole new generation interested in racing and out to the track as well,” fan Jeremy Garrett said.

“There’s a lot of feelings. Because this has been around for a long time, like 20 years,” one young fan named Xander added.