What is the best IRL/CCWS circuit ever?

[CGormally]

I was just thinking about the 2008 schedule before and I thought to myself that there are a lot of CCWS tracks that could be added into a future IndyCar Series schedule, and I wanted to know which tracks are the best?

[ShiftingGears]

Watkins Glen or Road America.

[CGormally]

Watkins Glen or Road America.

What about Laguna Seca?

[Skid Marx]

Without a doubt - Road America!!!

[timshag]

Without a doubt - Road America!!!


I give that a second.

I also predict that Road America will be the voted on more than any other track on this post.

Amen.

[-Helix-]

..Indy? Michigan is up there too. Easily the two most popular IndyCar tracks of all time.

For Road Course I'd probably have to say either Road America or Mid-Ohio.

[ShiftingGears]

What about Laguna Seca?

A bit too poky IMO. And its main draw - The Corkscrew - has been made less challenging due to safety requirements.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Outside of Indy, the best oval is Milwaukee, the best road course is Road America.

[turbo-engine]

Oval: Eurospeedway or World Disney World Speedway (I know it's a Mickey-Mouse course, but I like it :D )

Road Course: Road America!!!!!

Street Circuit: Surfer's or Long Beach

[Chris R]

There are so many aspect to what makes a good track - among them are the era raced and the speed of the cars.... Mid-Ohio used to be a "better" course when the cars were a little slower....

Anyway, taking all factors into account Indy has to be #1.

Most of the other courses have at time produced great racing and real yawners. Personally, having never been there, I can't see why Road America is so great - any time I have seen the race on TV it have been kind of boring... however, listening to what people say about it - I can see it has something special about it....

Laguna has produced one of the best passes ever in CART - but for the most part everyone seems to agree that Indycars have outgrown the circuit...

If they can get the power/downforce balance right, Milwaukee is great - but if they don't it is boring...

Long Beach was special before it became one of many street courses.....

At any rate - the most consistently "great" track is Indy....

[nigelred5]

Road America without a doubt. Long, challenging and picturesque. THE road course in North America. Too bad we'll never see F1 where it belongs.

Ovals, Superspeedway, hard to beat Michigan. Short ovals, I ams a bit prejudiced towards Nazareth when they were allowed to run the road course wings of course. Speedway wings killed the racing. New Hampshire allowed some fantastic battles. Just not a big fan of the style of racing the 1.5 mile ovals produce.

[Pat Wiatrowski]

Outside of Indy, the best oval is Milwaukee, the best road course is Road America.

Milwaukee and Road America. Indy is past history.

[nanders]

Oval: Eurospeedway or World Disney World Speedway (I know it's a Mickey-Mouse course, but I like it :D )

Road Course: Road America!!!!!

Street Circuit: Surfer's or Long Beach

You guys may know this, Barry Blocker and I are SIM Racers and have raced on most of the tracks you bring up here. In fact I have raced on them all ... in a champcar ... with the exception of the EuroSpeedway which I have only raced on in a simulated NAS-CAB :)

I think the EuroSpeedway oval is one of best ovals I have ever raced on and if you go back to that first year Seabass was in CART, his race with Mario Dominguez was one of the most exciting races I can ever remember. If IndyCar should ever go to Europe again, IMO, that's where they should go.

Don't think that Laguna is "poky," forget the "corkscrew," turn 4 a righty and turn 6 a lefty are 2 of the most daunting corners in racing. You approach both of these corners flat and go neutral throttle for a moment without braking and at the apex quickly roll back into the throttle. Oh my! Turn 10, which is right before "pit in" also has a fair amount of pucker factor.

If any track is "poky" it's Mid-Ohio. Without traction control your car is a handful with all the places where your car un-weights just as you want to get on the throttle ... even with maximum downforce. The decreasing radius corner that approaches pit entry is also a Mickey Mouse one. My least favorite. It's on our schedule in a few weeks too. Bah humbug!

The most challenging track we have SIM-Raced on is Surfers Paradise. The speed you must carry through the chicanes is scary unbelievable ... Surfer is a "real mans" track. It is narrow and you must be super precise on every turn on every lap.

Of the tracks mentioned so far the easiest one is Road America. It has the long straights with allot of time to think about passing or corner entry and the only daunting corner is the kink on the run down to Canada corner. Even though it easiest it is still a bunch of fun and everyone loves it.

My favorites are Phoenix and New Hampshire ... I can't forget Long Beach either ... it's a blast.

If anyone is interested you can see our schedule and results at http://mnrlonline.com/ and follow the MIRL left menu link.

Barry jump in here ....

[bblocker68]

Yeah, were they using the Hanford device at Eurospeedway?? I forget.

Favorite tracks for me are Road America, Laguna Seca and Indy. Even when we were driving tin tops, there was always something special about Indy. All 4 corners were handled differently. In our Champcar series, we drive my 2 favorites, Road America and Laguna Seca. Those tracks are just magical to drive on. I swear I can feel the ghosts around me when the lights go green. There is nothing that gets me going like trying to stay on track through the Carousel, followed by going flat through The Kink. RA just makes for great racing. We used to race with 40 car fields back when we were in the GTP cars. Those races were insane.

For ovals, it's Indy, Phoenix and Pocono for me. Pocono is a rare beast. You have to approach each corner with a different mindset.

I could only wish Champcar could go to Spa one day. That track is in my top 3, for sure.

[BenRoethig]

The late great Nazareth.

[nanders]

The late great Nazareth.

Lesa France Kennedy buys it and kills it. She's the real grim reaper of motor sport.

[fugariracing]

I always was a sucker for the old IndyCar races at Phoenix, PIR. Real challenging with the dogleg in the backstraight and different banking in the corners. That's my favorite oval.

Road America takes the cake by a mile (or 4) for road courses in this country. Not to mention some of the best track food you will find anywhere.

[!!WALDO!!]

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY!

I never heard these cars called, Long Beach, Road America, Portland, Michigan, Belle Isle,Cleveland, Toronto, Mid Ohio, Chicagoland, Milwaukee, Vancouver, Mexico City, Laguna Seca, San Jose, Fontana, Phoenix, Texas, Hiouston, Homestead, Miami, Orlando, Charlotte, Atlanta, Richmond, Dover, New Hampshire, Nazareth, Pike's Peak, Las Vegas, Edmonton, Montreal, St Jovite, Monterrey, Surfer's Paradise, Montegi, Nashville, Iowa, Kansas or Kentucky cars.

They have the name "Indy". Since there is now only one track in Indianapolis that runs these types of cars, I guess the greatest place should be where the formula is based upon. Even from 1996-2006 the CART/CCWS formula was based on the 1990-1995 with modifications passed in 1995 for moving the driver back, cockpit wider, and higher side pods for less down force, on the 500. These rule changes were made by Kirk Russell of CART and Mike Devin of USAC in January of 1995. The CART board elect to maintain the 1990-1995 rules which the IRL accepted also. On April 4th, the CART board reversed itself and passed the rules they voted down three months earlier.
Those rules stayed in place through the 2001 season then were approved though 2006.
So the first time the CCWS raced a car that had no "rule" connection with the IMS was Las Vegas last year.

[!!WALDO!!]

The late great Nazareth.

The place was a money loser in the 1960's. Stayed closed from the early 1970's until Penske bought it. Truth be known, Roger never made a dime on it and neither did ISC.

It is nice to be romantic about a track but it is a business. If it is a drain on resources then it must go.

Let's see how romantic a person can be. In 1968 the 1.1 mile Dirt track saw the USAC National Championship Trail show up for a 89 lap 100 mile race at night. 19 cars came and Billy Vukovich in the Agajanian #98 Watson/Offy Dirt Car grabbed the pole. Who won his first career race in a Dunlop/Offy that night?

[Placid]

Road America, Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio and Watkins Glen.

[nanders]

INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY!

I never heard these cars called, Long Beach, Road America, Portland, Michigan, Belle Isle,Cleveland, Toronto, Mid Ohio, Chicagoland, Milwaukee, Vancouver, Mexico City, Laguna Seca, San Jose, Fontana, Phoenix, Texas, Hiouston, Homestead, Miami, Orlando, Charlotte, Atlanta, Richmond, Dover, New Hampshire, Nazareth, Pike's Peak, Las Vegas, Edmonton, Montreal, St Jovite, Monterrey, Surfer's Paradise, Montegi, Nashville, Iowa, Kansas or Kentucky cars.

They have the name "Indy". Since there is now only one track in Indianapolis that runs these types of cars, I guess the greatest place should be where the formula is based upon. Even from 1996-2006 the CART/CCWS formula was based on the 1990-1995 with modifications passed in 1995 for moving the driver back, cockpit wider, and higher side pods for less down force, on the 500. These rule changes were made by Kirk Russell of CART and Mike Devin of USAC in January of 1995. The CART board elect to maintain the 1990-1995 rules which the IRL accepted also. On April 4th, the CART board reversed itself and passed the rules they voted down three months earlier.
Those rules stayed in place through the 2001 season then were approved though 2006.
So the first time the CCWS raced a car that had no "rule" connection with the IMS was Las Vegas last year.

I always love to be scolded by Waldil for not thinking like he does. Please let me know when you have finished telling me everything you know Waldil.

[!!WALDO!!]

I always love to be scolded by Waldil for not thinking like he does. Please let me know when you have finished telling me everything you know Waldil.


Then tells where I am wrong? I will be waiting, grasshopper.

[mileman]

Road America hands down!!

Also like Cleveland for all those quirky reasons. (Turn one...)

[grungex]

Road America, there is no equal.

[!!WALDO!!]

I see a lot of Road America. I like it as my "name" is a cat picked up near Waldo, WI about 15 south of RA in September of 1990. Both her and her sister are still with us.

So here is a trivia for the RA fans.

Who won the first CART race at RA? Who was the car owner?

What famous "drivers" won their first races there? (Looking for 2 of "a kind")

[Blancvino]

Road America, there is no equal.


My vote too

[geek49203]

Ovals, Superspeedway, hard to beat Michigan.

I second MIS from a fan point of view. A fan can see 100% of the racing and pit action, unlike Indy and some other venues. The vast majority of races were wonderful events, including the last CART race (a true gem) and most of the IRL offerings.

However, if you ask a CART driver or crew person (even when they showed up later in the IRL or NASCAR) you'll hear nothing but complaining about MIS. They hated the place, and were glad to see it off of the 08 (and I presume, 09) schedule.