Iowa Corn Indy 250

[ACTF_ZETT]

What a sweet sponsor. Anyways, why the heck are all these races so short? 250 miles? Come on this race is going to be over in less than 90 minutes. Just about every NASCAR race is like 400 miles (at least), and it takes about 4 hours to run the race. I am looking through the IRL schedule, just about all the races are 250, 300 mile events? Would be nice to have more time to watch indy cars. Not to mention that out of the 90 minutes of racing, 40 minutes is commercials.

[ACTF_ZETT]

Also there is about 1 IRL caution for every 4 NASCAR cautions, not to mention the cars are a heck of a lot faster.

[RGM Fan]

There aren't enough cars in the field. There are 19 cars If they ran a 500 mile race at Iowa there might be four left running at the end of the race.

[CCFanatic]

Actually it is 250 laps. Not 250 miles.

[Komahawk]

I think it's good to have a few '200+ races on the schedule. It's variety. There have been complaints by NASCAR fans in recent months that the races are way too long, and most were just cruising along until the final 30 laps or so and then go for a sprint.

And the past showed that usually around 15 cars make it back in one piece in the IRL races, 400 miles or 200 miles.

Still, I'd like 3 500-races on the schedule. It was a tradition before the split. Indy, Michigan and California (which sadly isn't on the schedule). I'd also like Pocono BTW, but I guess by now it's probably almost too bumpy even for stockcars.

[Komahawk]

Hey, am I seeing things or are Ganassi using the Panoz-chassis this weekend?

[45 Below]

Ganassi have certainly entered Dallaras and as far as I know they have sold off their Panoz cars. The only time anyone has used Panoz this year has been at Indy.

It may be the different paint jobs this time around and the fact they seem to be running an almost road course style front wing with much bigger end plates. There are also rear wing differences, plus the deflectors just ahead of the rear wheels. Compare an Iowa pic (top) with pic from Texas (middle). I have also posted a link (bottom) to a pic from the Mid Ohio test to show the road configuration.

http://www.indycar.com/multimedia/photos/gallery.php?series_id=1&event_id=632&eventDate=2007-06-23&display=60&photo_id=59418

http://www.indycar.com/multimedia/photos/gallery.php?series_id=1&event_id=618&track_id=5&eventDate=2007-06-07&display=60&photo_id=58246

http://www.indycar.com/multimedia/photos/gallery.php?series_id=1&event_id=623&track_id=25&eventDate=2007-06-13&display=60&photo_id=58568

[Komahawk]

Thanx for the pics!

[turbo-engine]

Ganassi have certainly entered Dallaras and as far as I know they have sold off their Panoz cars. The only time anyone has used Panoz this year has been at Indy.

It may be the different paint jobs this time around and the fact they seem to be running an almost road course style front wing with much bigger end plates. There are also rear wing differences, plus the deflectors just ahead of the rear wheels. Compare an Iowa pic (top) with pic from Texas (middle). I have also posted a link (bottom) to a pic from the Mid Ohio test to show the road configuration.

http://www.indycar.com/multimedia/photos/gallery.php?series_id=1&event_id=632&eventDate=2007-06-23&display=60&photo_id=59418

http://www.indycar.com/multimedia/photos/gallery.php?series_id=1&event_id=618&track_id=5&eventDate=2007-06-07&display=60&photo_id=58246

http://www.indycar.com/multimedia/photos/gallery.php?series_id=1&event_id=623&track_id=25&eventDate=2007-06-13&display=60&photo_id=58568

Did I miss something? Well, yes...the last two races, but what happended to the red target cars? They aren't red any more.

[ChicagocrewIRL]

Did I miss something? Well, yes...the last two races, but what happended to the red target cars? They aren't red any more.

Ganassi runs special paint schemes throughout the season featuring other major sponsors including FujiFilm, Commit, etc. The Target red cars will run the majority of the events this year.

[indycool]

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070624/OPINION01/706240356/1003

[tstran17_88]

Also there is about 1 IRL caution for every 4 NASCAR cautions, Really? Watching today's race, I didn't notice. :confused:

[KK3869]

Thats an interesting fact lol

[Hoss Ghoul]

Indy type cars are a lot tougher on the drivers because of the G loads at the higher speeds they run even though they're not quite as hot as a stocker. Especially at some of the shorter ovals where you are turning all the time.

I think what's actually harder physically varies from race to race and track to track, especially since NASCAR races are longer and temperatures are higher.

Did you see the telemetry on todays race though? They were pulling 4.5G's in the corners.

[Andrewmcm]

How close were those gs to what CART were doing in Texas when the race got cancelled? Weren't they doing 5.2g or something like that?

[NickFalzone]

So did Milka get black-flagged for being a chicane or what, I didn't hear the announcers mention it. I guess Barnhardt made that call? After the qual and practice times, they were probably ready to make that decision before the race even started.

I'm disappointed Simmons got caught up in TK's spin. It just seemed like the fastest engines were not getting traction on cold tires, and were overly aggressive on restarts because Wallace's track wasn't gonna allow easy passing once everyone's up to speed. But I guarantee next year there will be a lot more cautious driving here.

As far as Danica's "mistake", I saw the crash from her in-car cam and she was just surrounded by overly aggressive drivers. I think it was almost 4 wide at time of the crash. Should she in retrospect have slowed to let Carpenter by? Yes. But she was trying to protect her position in a packed group. Running inches apart 3 wide was just dumb for all involved, and she was stuck in the middle.

[Andrewmcm]

With CART it wasn't the Gs in the turns (as in toward the side) but Gs pushing the drivers down in the cars which was the problem. The aero and the banking allowed speeds which forced the drivers down in the cars - like in a centrifuge. A similar problem was encounter at Road Atlanta a while back when (I think it was) IMSA GTP cars would generate huge forces at the bottom of the last hill on the straight.

Yeah I had remembered it was more the overall resultant gs that scuppered the race at Texas - I guess it was a non-issue at Iowa, as their overall top speed was much lower than what CART ran at Texas (by a good 40-50mph if memory serves).

[NickFalzone]

Did Vitor's car hit something on pit road, or what? Very strange that the suspension would just snap like that. He looked disappointed (to say the least). And was he really at fault in the Patrick/Hornish, etc. crash? I didn't see that during the replay.

[45 Below]

IIRC correctly the fear with the CART race was that those downward Gs, over a prolonged period, could make it hard for the heart to keep enough bloodflow to the brain, starving them of oxygen, and causing some of them to blackout.

[Komahawk]

Damn this race really wrecked my pickems.

[ACTF_ZETT]

Wow what a race, not exactly what I was expecting.

First of all, it is their first race at a new track so a more than average number of cautions is expected.

I dont understand some crew chiefs though. After you see Wheldon spin out on his own, you should make a mental note to take it easy. After Kanaan spins out on his own, you have got to be on the horn with your driver saying just keep the car in one piece, dont push the issue at all until the last laps.

Then they go out and go 4 wide on a restart and tear up 5 good cars. They then played Scott Sharps crew chief saying excatly that, but honostly I would have been telling my driver to just relax after the lap 1 caution.

I must say watching the race, I liked the track, but the fans did not get a great show. I dont know if there was no passing because it is the first race at the track, which is a common problem, but perhaps the progressive banking needed to be more than a 2 degree difference (I think it was 2 degrees).

I cant say that the big crash was Danica's fault, but you cant take all the blame away from her. She should of been able to catch her car there on the front straight, though she was heavily pinched going 4 wide.

Listen, I am all for getting more cars into the field, but Milka should not have been allowed to start this race. Maybe let her run a few laps to start the race, but she was definately a safety hazard.

Please to god get Paul Page back in the booth.

How many commercials can we have in a race? Give me a break. At least the side by side was back. I think there were 2 restarts that were missed because of a commercial break, that is unacceptable.

[RGM Fan]

It wasn't the track's problem, it was a rule problem. If you look at the wings the teams were running the IRL cars probably had as much down force as they do on road courses. The result was the drivers never had to lift. If you don't have to lift there is no way you can get any kind over taking advantage on another driver because there is no accelleration curve. You can't drive harder into the corner than someone else because you're flat out all the time. You can't get a run off the corner because your RPM band never moves.

The IRL should have specificed which wings the teams could run so teams would be limited on downforce and there would have been more skill and passing involved.

[libra65]

Damn this race really wrecked my pickems.

That race wrecked everything else too!!

[Mark in Oshawa]

Less wing would have made for better racing, and safer conditions, but I find the IRL tends to allow for setups that allow the same set of circumstances at a lot of tracks. They like pack racing, so at Texas and bigger tracks, the setups tend to allow for flat out runs. It just isn't a safe situation long term, but I guess the management of the series is happy with the racing they get. I personally don't like it as much, although I did like the visuals of the cars whipping around Iowa's tight corners. I think it makes for a better NASCAR track, but I did think with tinkering the show might be better here...

[Hoss Ghoul]

It wasn't the track's problem, it was a rule problem. If you look at the wings the teams were running the IRL cars probably had as much down force as they do on road courses. The result was the drivers never had to lift. If you don't have to lift there is no way you can get any kind over taking advantage on another driver because there is no accelleration curve. You can't drive harder into the corner than someone else because you're flat out all the time. You can't get a run off the corner because your RPM band never moves.

The IRL should have specificed which wings the teams could run so teams would be limited on downforce and there would have been more skill and passing involved.

I agree.

So why say it was "team orders" that prevented Marco from trying to pass Dario?

[RGM Fan]

I agree.

So why say it was "team orders" that prevented Marco from trying to pass Dario?

I think its both. Marco appeared quicker than Dario, I think most everyone will agree on that. So either he was faster than Dario and couldn't pass or he got team orders not to try to pass. Neither one is exactly a shining beacon of light for the IRL.

[NickFalzone]

I think its both. Marco appeared quicker than Dario, I think most everyone will agree on that. So either he was faster than Dario and couldn't pass or he got team orders not to try to pass. Neither one is exactly a shining beacon of light for the IRL.

Or he had exactly the same setup as Dario (Marco said in the post interview: "Dario did a great job setting up my car, identical to his"). He had a couple extra mph because of the tow, but essentially they were the same speed. Of course if you want to find a negative here, it's that Iowa was bad for passing. This is not new information, nor a guarantee of a bad race (see TMS this yr).