I’ve seen a lot of races in my life, but what I saw on Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was not a race.

Now while it’s obvious that Jimmy Johnson probably deserved to win the Brickyard 400 (notice I didn’t mention the official name of the race), no one else even had a chance to prove they had a car that they might have brought home first.

There was no race Sunday. The have longer runs between pit stops at the Brownstown Speedway. Heck they don’t even have pits stops at the Brownstown Speedway.

I know there was a safety issue, but Sunday’s debacle was almost as bad as they one involving Formula I at Indy in 2005.

It’s easy to blame the track for the tire problems even though nothing’s been done to the track since 2005. Michelin did it back in 2005.

NASCAR and the crews chiefs should have held an open test at the Speedway and they didn’t. So let’s blame them. But let’s also blame Goodyear.

That company has a reputation to uphold, and I don’t think they did a very good job of that Sunday.

I think NASCAR needs to reconsider and allowed anyone who can meet specs to sell tires for races. Teams have all kinds of options when it comes to chassis, car bodies, engines and even drivers. Why is Goodyear the only supplier for tires?

A lot of drivers spoke out about Sunday’s non-race, but one in particular, Tony Stewart, was silent on the issue at least that day. He later said on his radio show that he couldn’t blame Goodyear entirely.

I guess as car owner, Tony is trying to learn to be a little more diplomatic and maybe that’s why he was silent Sunday. That’s a shame because while he might not always be right, Tony sure doesn’t have a problem saying what he thinks. NASCAR could use a little more of that especially in light of Sunday’s non-race.

A lot of fans, including myself, left the track less than happy. Some of us may not be back. There were a lot of empty seats Sunday and there will probably be more next year even if NASCAR says they have the tire issue corrected.

As for Tony, I’m glad to see him jump on a deal that made him a instant car owner and promises to keep him involved in the sport for years to come. Who wouldn’t jump on the chance to be a car owner without having to put a lot of money into it.

Tony brings a lot to the table and hopefully he may one day make Stewart-Haas a top team. That would be special.