F1 Back At The Speedway

F1 appears to be at the top of Roger Penske’s wishlist for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He mentioned the series in his press conference after it was announced he had bought the speedway. Now he’s mentioning it a few months later, it’s obvious F1 is on his mind.

IMS previously hosted the United States Grand Prix from 2000-2007 however the Michelin tire debacle of 2005 ultimately doomed the series at Indianapolis. Teams running Michelin tires felt the banked corner of oval turn 1 was unsafe for their tires which had experienced failures during the weekend. Michelin teams went to the grid and pulled into the pitlane following the warm-up lap. That left 6 cars to contest the race much to the dismay of fans. The same fans who in 2006 and 2007 decided F1 wasn’t worth their time thus ending the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Since that time IMS has added an infield section in oval turn 1 to avoid using the banked corner.

F1 success in the US

With F1’s growing popularity in the US along with the series success at the Circuit of the America’s in Austin it only makes sense for Penske to want F1 back. The series wants a second and third race in the states, Indianapolis could be the answer. F1 wanted Long Beach, they rebuked. F1 wants Miami, they’re dragging their feet. F1 wanted New Jersey, they built apartments. Indianapolis is a purpose-built facility waiting to be used.

Endurance Race At The Speedway w/Lights

Jenna asked about endurance racing at the speedway and it’s top of the priority list for Penske as well. IMSA hosted a race at the speedway from 2012-2014.

More racing at the speedway is never a bad thing. Penske is even open to the idea of putting lights up at the track. Here’s the thing, you don’t have to light the entire track. Obviously it’s a pretty compact layout so it would make sense to but auxiliary lighting in places would be sufficient. Either way, it’s a safe bet that IMSA will be at the speedway if not next year then definitely by 2022.

Moving NASCAR To The Month of May

One of the most interesting bits of information Penske mentioned is the possibility of moving the NASCAR race to May. Everyone knows the Month of May at Indianapolis belongs to IndyCar and the Indy 500. Penske wants to move the NASCAR date on the oval to a doubleheader weekend with the Indy GP.

Would NASCAR want to play second fiddle to IndyCar during the series’ biggest month? Tough to say but if NASCAR is hell-bent on staying at Indianapolis it’s likely their best move to put butts in seats. You know, since they won’t move seven miles away to IRP.

Bye Bye Bathroom Troughs

The disgusting troughs in the men’s bathroom will be a thing of the past. FINALLY.

Give me a urinal with a divider every day of the week. Penske said you’ll see those changes when we get to the track in May.

Paving Parking Lots

One other thing Penske mentioned is his desire to pave the parking lots surrounding IMS. He’s not a fan of the muddy mess they become behind the grandstand. That’s a great idea under one condition.

Coke Lot stays a grassy muddy mess.

The future is bright for the speedway.

The post Roger Penske Wants F1 At The Indianapolis Motor Speedway appeared first on Apex Off.

Since the initial test at Richmond and the second test at Phoenix information about the car has come out bit by bit. The newest piece of information fans got with this test has to do with downforce and the official introduction of a sequential five-speed gearbox.

Jones and John Probst, NASCAR’s senior vice president of racing innovation gave us some insight into what the series is working toward with the car and how it will react on track.

More Downforce, Less Sideforce?

One thing NASCAR fans have desperately clamored for is less downforce on the next-generation car. Not to be brash but we’re not getting that, at least not on 1.5-mile tracks. One thing it does sound like we will be getting is less side force on the car. We’ll let Erik explain that;

“We have a lot of sideforce in our cars now and there is a lot to lean on – when you get loose the car kind of corrects itself and straightens itself out,” Jones said. “This car doesn’t really have any of that. The quarter panels are so short and there’s no offset in the car – it’s very symmetrical – so there’s not a lot to lean on in this car.

LESS SIDE FORCE? NOT A LOT TO LEAN ON? Not to be graphic here but you should be aroused by all of that. One of the biggest issues with the Gen 6 car is the side force. It’s so great, the cars are too easy to drive. As Jones says, you get loose now and the car straightens itself out. Not great for racing. You need a driver to walk a line between being in control and wrecking. As Clint Bowyer said, you need wrecks.

While the upper quote gets you aroused, the lower quotes will shut that sucker right down.

“I think a lot of the aero changes they’ve done are going to help as far as racing goes, especially racing in a pack. Other than that, as we were working on things, some driving characteristics are similar. I think there is definitely more grip to be had as far as what the car is capable of. I think as far as development goes, there is going to be a lot more mechanical grip available than what we currently have.”

“We continue to work in the wind tunnel, we’re developing rear diffusers to generate more rear downforce,” he said. “One of the big things we have here that we didn’t have at Phoenix is we added some of the lift-off devices that we’ve developed over the winter, including roof flaps. We also have a few other related items in development that aren’t on the car right now such as flap-down doors for the diffuser to get the liftoff speed even higher than what we run today.”

NOOOOOOOO not more grip and more downforce. Those are things no one wants. Unless Jones is talking about more grip than they currently have on the Gen 7 car because they’re still figuring out the setup. What no one wants to see is more downforce, off-throttle time is key to good racing. For now, we’ll hold off on judgment.

Bye Bye 4-Speed, Hello 5-Speed Sequential Gearbox

Since the beginning of time NASCAR cars have had a 4-speed H-pattern gearbox.

Not anymore.

The Gen 7 car will switch to a 5-speed sequential gearbox as shown in this video from inside the car with Erik Jones this week.

While the sequential gearbox certainly makes the car easier to drive and takes out the possibility of missing a gear, etc. It does allow drivers to attack a restart harder than ever before. Jones talked about how he has already thought about how this gearbox will change restarts on road courses. So while the variable of messing up a restart due to a missed shift is all but done, the idea that it will allow drivers to attack more is certainly a good one.

The next Gen 7 test will take place in March following the Cup race at Fontana. It will be the first time the car is driven on a rubbered in track.

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