2011 IndyCar Series

[Ivo Simons]

Indy Car = Oval. So no.

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Hard to separate my hate for the left turners and the real question in hand. Doing a full flat out lap is stupid and not racing anymore which involves turning right at least once in a lap. I can't anyway understand the audience wanting to see this, just like Nascar, over half of the spectators wish for a spectacular accidents and everybody is making sure it happens. Oval racing is very close to Destruction Derby and should get the same appreciation.

 

[Steve Sachse]

Indy Car = Oval. So no.

Yeah, it's sort of inherent to Indy Car racing. On road courses they might as well just be F1 cars.

 

[Juen-Jen Wang]

Yeah, it's sort of inherent to Indy Car racing. On road courses they might as well just be F1 cars.

Exactly. No one wants another GP2 clone. Even if it's on American style tracks it would be fairly mundane. You might as well watch European series.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Is that true? I mean would Dan's death make IndyCar lose more credibility in the eyes of the motorsports community in Europe?

I don't think so. Accidents are also a pull factor for people to watch oval racing, unfortunately this one didn't end so well.

 

[Chris Butcher]

Same with Nascar. I bet if you asked, an overwhelming number of people just watch to see the wrecks.

 

[Chris Jenkins]

Oval tracks is what identifies Indy as a legitimate racing series. Without oval tracks it runs the risk of being categorised as an American imitation F1 series, which it is not.

 

[Ryan Soucy]

The conversation will probably be driven by insurance and money more than what drivers, ex-drivers, or team managers say. For the paltry sums that IC brings in, there will soon be a point where tracks simply aren't going to invite the series. Just like Charlotte did after 3 fans were killed. IC is relatively lucky they are so unpopular, otherwise there would be a lot more pressure from sponsors/politicians who might take the decision to race on ovals right out of their hands.

And lets please stop using the term "freak accident" in talking about oval racing crashes. Assuming 15 races a year on average in the past 15 years (a generous estimate considering ChampCar had none and the IRL schedule was not that prolific early on), I think I recalled at least 10 deaths or severe injuries (race only, so not including Paul Dana or Tony Renna), for a percentage of 4.4%. That's statistically significant, even for a risky world like auto racing. That would equate to 23 severe injuries/deaths in Winston Cup, and 12 in formula one in the same 15 year period. Freak Accident? No. A rare occurance? Still a stretch. I would call it a somewhere between unlikely and remote.

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

But still, 4 drivers killed in IndyCar racing in 15 years, and this is the first death in an actual race.

 

[Juen-Jen Wang]

But still, 4 drivers killed in IndyCar racing in 15 years, and this is the first death in an actual race.

They are making changes to it. It's not like IndyCar is just sitting on their hands and doing nothing. The new oval car will be safer and it should make oval racing at acceptable levels

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

My post was actually a supportive post for IndyCar, in response to Ryans post

 

[Fredrik Arbegard]

Hard to separate my hate for the left turners and the real question in hand. Doing a full flat out lap is stupid and not racing anymore which involves turning right at least once in a lap. I can't anyway understand the audience wanting to see this, just like Nascar, over half of the spectators wish for a spectacular accidents and everybody is making sure it happens. Oval racing is very close to Destruction Derby and should get the same appreciation.

1) It is racing, anything where you drive against someone else in order to finish first is racing dispite if the track is oval curvy, point-to-point or a strip.

2) Have you ever seen the Indy 500 start with almost 33 drivers running in pack and some 3-4 wide into turn 1? That requires a lot of concentration and skill it is just not simply driving flatout in circles.

 

[Kyle Constable]

But still, 4 drivers killed in IndyCar racing in 15 years, and this is the first death in an actual race.

Err, Greg Moore died during the race at California. I know, I was watching it. Indycar should not abandon ovals but they should take a measured approach to their use. If it's possible to go flat out the entire way, then it shouldn't be used. Ovals with shallow banking is what they should use, Somewhere like Pocono(although the first turn is pretty steep). Really, there isn't many left as most tracks are built to cater stockcars with Indycars an afterthought

 

[Luke McVicar]

Err, Greg Moore died during the race at California. I know, I was watching it. Indycar should not abandon ovals but they should take a measured approach to their use. If it's possible to go flat out the entire way, then it shouldn't be used. Ovals with shallow banking is what they should use, Somewhere like Pocono(although the first turn is pretty steep). Really, there isn't many left as most tracks are built to cater stockcars with Indycars an afterthought

If you watched the race the you would know it was cart not IRL and it was done on a awkward part of the track you wouldn't find on other ovals.

 

[Carlos Luna]

I don't think IndyCar should stop racing on ovals altogether, but I do think they should reconsider racing on tracks such as Las Vegas with high banking that easily has them reach 200+ mph all around the race track. Racing on ovals such as LV makes them run at high speeds in packs and can create accidents such as the one that happened this past weekend.

 

[Kyle Constable]

I do realize it was CART, not IRL. I didn't realize that IRL had already changed cars by then. We only ever got CART/champcar on free-to-air here so it's not something i'm familiar with.

 

[Omer Said]

If i remember correctly, HANS was first used in IndyCar

 

[Xosé Estrada]

Cancel every motorsport then, because MOTORSPORTS ARE DANGEROUS, YOU CAN BE SERIOUSLY INJURIED.

You have to sign that every time you are on the other side of the barriers, even as photographer.

 

[Ramon Alonso]

They should just restrict the engines for the short track ovals. The way Wheldon hit the wall and catch fence, are you sure he would survive in an F1 chassis. Hopefully we'll see a CG model of it and find out.

 

[Thomas Dougherty]

Like the majority of people here, I don't think they should abandon oval tracks all together. But they should definitely make some safety changes.
But it's racing, the drivers know they're risking their lives.

I personally wouldn't miss the oval tracks gone. I would follow IndyCar a lot more if they had more road and street courses. Ovals are just too tedious to watch.