You're not going to get exciting side-by-side action at every track every time. In fact, there are some tracks that rarely produce that kind of action. Indianapolis is one of those. It is, for the most part, a one groove race track that puts a premium on getting good restarts. When you have two days of racing that produce not one single crash, there aren't going to be a lot of restarts.
Still, the benefits of NASCAR running at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway far out-number the negatives that come largely from lack of side-by-side action.
Bottom line: NASCAR needs to be at Indy. It is the most prestigious race track in the world. Bar none. NASCAR's arrival at the Brickyard, in 1994, stands as one of the red-letter days in the sport's history as it gave NASCAR international credibility.
It still does. Sponsors want to be at the Brickyard and the drivers still rank it as one of the top 2 or 3 events of the year. To pull out now because the racing is less than spectacular would be seen internationally as a huge FAIL for NASCAR.
And, things change. It wasn't that long ago that there were plenty of fans who were ready to dump the road courses off the Cup schedule. Now, they're being widely hailed as the best races of the year.