Little track down the street outdid IMS on performance

As if it needed deciding, Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard settled the question of which race track in the greater Indianapolis area has the best racing.

The question actually came up last week in the prelude to the 16th annual Cup Series visit to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in conjunction with the annual USAC/NASCAR tripleheader at O'Reilly Raceway Park.

"What's a better place to watch a race, IMS or ORP?"

Record-breaker

Ron Hornaday became the first driver to win four consecutive races in the 15-year history of the Camping World Truck Series on Friday, taking the AAA Insurance 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park.

• More

You would've had to have been in a coma not to know the answer to that, without a doubt, would be the former Indianapolis Raceway Park, which is about as old school of a short track as that lovably roughneck brand of racing could provide.

And the weekend's NASCAR racing certainly secured that rep. What could have been better than Ron Hornaday going for his record-setting fourth Camping World Truck Series victory in a row (on old tires) with inaugural Truck Series champion Mike Skinner (on new tires) chasing him down from deep in the AAA Insurance 200 field?

There were plenty of lanes for Skinner to make his way through traffic, and plenty of laps left once he got to Hornaday's bumper. But over the last 10 laps, three things were burned into every observer's brain.

One, they saw history created as Hornaday held on to win, proving again that age is just another number. Two, they saw the tremendous amount of ability and respect possessed by two series veterans who know the value of each victory. And three, as Dennis Setzer and Aric Almirola -- who had come back from a lap down in another short-track treat -- nipped inside and out trying to improve their positions. They saw why ORP is the best show in town.

Carl Edwards only reinforced that in Saturday's Kroger 200 for the Nationwide Series. He came from deep in the field to overtake Kyle Busch, with only a little more contact than Hornaday and Skinner had used -- which was virtually none. The racing behind them, as Busch tried to hold on to his position and youngsters Steve Wallace and Trevor Bayne tried to come back to their former lead roles, was spectacular.

And then we had the Brickyard.

You hate to be a cynic, but maybe the crowd, or the semblance of one for Sunday's main event of the weekend, is about what it should be for the level of entertainment provided. (Continued)