INDIANAPOLIS — Brickyard weekend is back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

This year, NASCAR and IndyCar will be on the same track and thousands of fans from across the country are expected to watch the races. 

That has business owners on Main Street preparing for a big weekend.

“It’s the crowds and the people and everybody you meet,” said Greg Schultz, who is in town from Florida for the races. “We camp out for four days so you get to meet a lot of people and it’s a lot of fun! This is our 30^th Brickyard.”

“Every year we meet up here and we’ve been doing it for a long, long time,” said Eric Schultz, who is in town from Ohio for the races. 

And with diehard fans like brothers Eric and Greg Schultz flying in from all over the country for Brickyard weekend, businesses are hoping to cash in. 

“I feel like the weather has made it pretty slow,” said Tammy Frost with Brozinni Pizzeria. “It’s either cold and rainy or it’s way too hot and people just either want to stay inside with the rain or stay inside with the air conditioning. ”  

But says Brickyard Weekend could help turn that around. 

This weekend they plan to go through more than 200 dough balls and 400 pounds of cheese. 

“It has been an odd summer. We are looking forward to seeing all of the fans coming back to Main Street, it’s been kind of slow around here for business up and down Main Street. We’re excited for the rush,” said Frost.

Meanwhile, down the street at Dawson’s on Main, they too are hoping the increase in foot traffic will bring in big bucks. 

“We’re a local business as are most of the businesses on this street. That helps the economy. It helps boost the property tax values, it helps schools,” said Nancy Breen with Dawson’s On Main. “It’s more than just the business owners you know. Everything impacts everybody else, all the way down the line.”

Rain or shine, businesses and fans are just happy to be back at the track. 

“If the weather stays like this. it’ll be great. We’ve been here when it’s super hot. We’ve been here when it has rained,” said Greg Schultz. “So far, the weather has been great, and if it’s like this and we get to see three races, that’s perfect.”

“It’s going to help out a lot,” said Breen. “We have a lot of our locals that are always here, but new people coming into town is always going to help a lot.”

Gates open Saturday at 7 a.m.