Guest bulm5 Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 in high bank ovals. While I don't watch the IRL ( I primarily watch F1 and CART) , my stomach churned when I saw the Accident in ESPN. Maybe this is a wakeup call for the IRL. Kenny Brack suffered Multiple fractures ( career ending if you ask me). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 In anything other than one of those beasts, I suspect it would have been life ending. And don't count on Kenny Brack chucking in the towel. And a KIWI won the championship, go Scotty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 I saw that one on ESPN also. That car went from hugging pavement...to loose parts... faster than Brian Enos on Double Trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Anyone notice that IRL has had a lot of major accidents this year. Maybe it's with the quality of the drivers. I don't know about you guys, but I get bored watching cars make left hand turns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufus The Bum Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 I went to the Texas IRL race in 2000 with a girlfriend and we sat there the entire race with NO accidents, it's fun, but people come to see the crashes. The best part about going to that race was that since it was the last race of the year, we got to go down into the garage, met Eddie Cheaver, Eliseo Salazar, Scott Goodyear etc.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 A few years back, they had a race set up on a Texas speedway and had sold all the tickets (don't know which one). It was a high bank super speedway. Problem was, the turn radius was too tight and the drivers were pulling >6g in the corners. The first two drivers tried a couple of laps at speed and then drove zig zag back into the pits. One stumbled from his car and staggered like a drunken fool... the other just sat there unable to move with his eyes spinning in opposite directions. The drivers refused to race there, and several million $$$ in set up costs were forfeit and lawsuits were filed. Somebody should have taken physics in high school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bulm5 Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 That was CART in 2000 I think. That was a black fro CART. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bulm5 Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Anyone notice that IRL has had a lot of major accidents this year. Maybe it's with the quality of the drivers. I don't know about you guys, but I get bored watching cars make left hand turns. ditto on that one, I think OSHA should look into it or just put fenders on them IRL CARs since they wanna be NASCAR to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 I remember reading in RaceCar Engineering, IRL did a couple design studies to see why so many cars are getting airborne in accidents. They concluded that it wasn't the car, but the way the accident occured. I only watch WRC and SCCA ProRally now. It's much more interesting. Much less whining in rally racing then there are in road racing. The best part is they rarely ever cancel races except for too many spectators on the course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufus The Bum Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 I like all types of open wheel racing, but the best show hands down is the World of Outlaws. Those guys are just plum crazy!! 140mph on a half mile dirt track just isn't right, but fun to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoNsTeR Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Wasn't the whole point of IRL to have mostly road courses, reducing the frequency of catastrophic accidents for rookie teams/drivers? I remember reading a thing about the IRL/CART split in Road & Track way back when... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 No IRL was to do ovals only. IRL is looking into road courses. I guess they got tired of making left turns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Actually, IRL was born of the big $$$$ and pure greed. Once upon a time, all US open wheel cars were sanctioned by CART (championship auto racing teams) which sponsored a series of races, the most famous of which was the Indy 500. Then, the owners of the Indy 500 track decided they were important enough that the tail should wag the dog: they created the Indy racing league (IRL) and stated that you must join the IRL to race at Indy, and you must race in a minimum number of IRL events which (SURPRISE!) were the same days as CART races but at other places. I believe they also made minor rule changes so the CART cars had to be different than IRL cars. They conducted the races, ran the league, and put the money in their pockets and intended on destroying CART. The first year, CART had a race called something like the "World 500" at another track the same day as the Indy 500.... hardly anybody came. Eventually, IRL and CART went separate ways and the result is that the drivers pool was diluted in half, team owners were forced to choose, and fans at all events pay full price for tickets to races where only half the big time competitors attend.... ain't capitalism wonderful? Funny how the TV announcers had to adapt: the 40 years I have watched racing, they just called them "Indy" cars. Now they call them either "Indy" cars or "Champ" cars depending on whether its IRL or CART race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hostetter Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Sorry about the length, but someone asked.................. Actually "Indy Car" racing in the beginning was sanctioned by USAC. CART came along when the car owners believed they weren't making enough money. They took control of all of the "Indy Car" races except for the Indy 500 which remained under the control of USAC. IRL was formed as a result of specific car owners gaining too much control of the equipment used in Indy Car racing. An example of which was Penske owning the sole rights to the so called Mercedes motors and refusing to sell them to other competitors in the series. Ford did the same thing with their A and B motors. Only the factory teams were allowed to lease the A motors, everyone else could only lease the B motors. The B motors were designed to produce a lot less horsepower, preventing anyone running a non factory supported team to have a chance at winning. The same thing was happening with chassis manufacturers. Most team's were forced to run with chassis' at least a year old. In most sports this would not be much of an issue. However in CART racing there are only a limited number of chassis and engine suppliers. By controlling who got what motors and chassis', the car owners could control who was capable of winning. There were effectively only a couple of team who could field cars that were competitive. IRL is based on the principle that if you want to have an "approved" engine or chassis, it has to be available to anyone that wants to lease one. And they are tuneable which CART motors are not. If you want to buy an IRL motor instead of lease one, you can modify it anyway you want as long as you maintain the series specifications. The real limit is set by the rev limiter which is set at the same rpm for everyone. CART motors come sealed, and if you pop one open you will never get another one. If it needs a rebuild or whatever it has to go to an approved engine shop. You can't do the work yourself, you can't even pull the heads off to see what happened. Also chassis and motor specifications are very stable and designed to be much more affordable (if you can believe any racing at that level is affordable). Several teams run tubs which are several years old with just updated aero packages on them, and they are very competitive. The problem with IRL and CART cars running on the superspeedways is they are just to fast and create too much downforce. IRL cars without the special aero restrictions on them are capable of speeds of over 250 mph on tracks like Texas and Fontana. These are average speeds we are talking about, with cornering speeds over 230-235 mph. The drivers can't stand the G loads and were blacking out in the corners. The reason these cars are getting airborne is the aero packages. The very thing that allows such high cornering speeds creates huge problems with air flow over the wings and aero structures. It actually creates the same problems aircraft have such as windshear. But instead of causing the plane to drop, it causes the car to lift. The reason the cars come apart is because they are designed that way. The entire car except the tub is designed as stacked crush zones. As each zone crushs and comes apart, energy is used, energy that is not available to hurt the driver. Open wheel racing is the only true form of racing. NASCAR is fun, but it's not the same. I spent many of my younger years behind the wheel of a nonwinged Sprint Car, and winged Super Modified. THAT was really racing...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bulm5 Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 I remembered when Juan pablo Montoya ran around circles the IRL guys during the INDY 500 years ago. It was embarrassing to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Just look at the top drivers in IRL, almost all of them are former CART drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck D Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 IRL can't hold a candle to CART of F1 on either sanctioning bodies worst day. CART guys that "defected" to the IRL are traiters. Especially Michael Andretti. Living proof that "cash" is all that matters. Screw 'em. Open Wheel cars belong on road courses...at least they have large enough "run off areas" that the driver stands a chance in a major wreck. Best wishes to Kenny...hope he recovers soon and comes back to CART when he's all healed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bulm5 Posted October 18, 2003 Share Posted October 18, 2003 Ditto on that one. Hope Kenny has a fast recovery and I hope he doesn;t drive for IRL again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bulm5 Posted October 29, 2003 Share Posted October 29, 2003 Another death in the IRL....God Speed Tony Renna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now