The congested and aging Gasoline Alley garage area, narrow pit lane, existing retaining walls and catch fences were considered insufficient for the large, heavy stock cars, thus significant capital improvements would be required to properly host NASCAR.

[18] For instance, the July 4 weekend was already taken by the Firecracker 400, which would have prevented any NASCAR stars from crossing over to participate; plus several USAC regulars were known to pick up rides for Daytona.

Labor Day weekend was already crowded with the USAC California 500 at Ontario, the NASCAR Southern 500 at Darlington, and the NHRA U.S. Nationals at nearby IRP.

In 1980, due to a tax dispute with the City of Daytona Beach and Volusia County, Bill France openly threatened to move the NASCAR Firecracker 400 to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

[33] The board approved the measure, and the Speedway started taking steps towards hosting a second race, preferably a NASCAR Winston Cup event, but also considering IROC.

On June 22–23, 1992, nine top NASCAR Winston Cup series teams were invited to Indianapolis to participate in a Goodyear tire test.

NASCAR legend Richard Petty, who had retired from competition the previous November, took four laps himself, then donated his car to the Speedway museum.

Since the race was not being held on a holiday weekend, track officials decided to observe Sunday as a makeup date in case of rain on Saturday.

Moving the pole qualification to Saturday allowed for a potential larger audience, and also opened the schedule up for the Kroger 200 held at nearby Indianapolis Raceway Park.

[42][43] In an effort to prevent the Brickyard 400 from upstaging the Indianapolis 500 in gate attendance, some bleacher seating was removed for the 400, and infield general admission was not offered for the first several years.

Other factors that have been cited include poor sightlines compared to other NASCAR tracks, the overall lack of competition, and uncomfortably hot summer temperatures in July/August.

The expectations are that it will be conducted in cooler weather, and with the crowning of the regular season champion, and the last chance for prospective drivers to make the 16-driver playoff field, there is anticipation for renewed interest in the event.

The 400 also brought along a brand-new race, the Bryan Clauson Classic, a United States Auto Club Midget Car Championship event, on a new dirt track built in the infield near Turn 3.

[48][49][50] Due to scheduling changes for its season resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, the IndyCar Series announced that it would move its GMR Grand Prix — a road course race normally held prior to the 500 — to the Brickyard 400 weekend.

[51][52] Tony Stewart envisioned the theoretical possibility of pulling quadruple duty for the Clauson Classic, IndyCar, and NASCAR events in the same weekend.

After injuries suffered at Talladega, defending race winner Dale Earnhardt was relieved by Mike Skinner on lap 7, who drove to a 15th-place finish.

A huge pileup occurred in turn three, and Harvick held off over the final ten laps to become the first driver to win the race from the pole position.

2004: For the first time in NASCAR Cup Series history, the Green-white-checkered finish rule caused a race to be extended, in this case for one additional lap.

2005: Hometown favorite Tony Stewart won his first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and climbed the catch fence to celebrate, in the same fashion as Hélio Castroneves.

2007: Juan Pablo Montoya became the first (and, to date, only) driver to race in all three of the major events hosted by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Indy 500, Brickyard 400, and the U.S.G.P.).

Lengthy competition cautions were put out at roughly 10-lap intervals for teams to change tires, which caused controversy and angered fans and media.

Jimmie Johnson managed to tame the tire problems by winning for the second time in his career at Indy, holding off a mild challenge from Carl Edwards.

2010: 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya dominated most of the race for the second year in a row, leading a total of 86 laps.

2014: The race was served as its last air with ESPN, With 17 laps to go, Jeff Gordon passed Kasey Kahne on a restart on the outside of turn one to take the lead for the final time.

It appeared that Trevor Bayne, who was gambling on fuel mileage, was headed for his second career Cup Series win; but a caution came out at lap 150 that foiled his plan.

Points leader Kyle Busch started on the pole, and the field of forty cars took the green flag without having turned a single practice lap.

Kyle Busch, who had already clinched the regular season title the previous week at Darlington, looked strong early on, but lost his engine just beyond the halfway point.

Two-time Indy 500 pole winner Scott Brayton was initially entered in the 1995 Brickyard 400, but wrecked his car during a private test session.

Howard Brammer of Traders Point Christian Church conducted the invocation for every Brickyard 400 from 1994 to 2019, differing from the Indy 500, where the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis is normally invited.

The different name is due to a standing policy by NASCAR to not mention the race's title sponsor on-air more than the required twice per hour unless an advertising premium is paid to the network.