IRL on the roads?

[Crash Test]

Remember back in the begining, TG said that one day that the IRL would hit the road courses? Since ovals are obviously not working, should they have a crack at the road courses?

I doubt that they would be capable of making a worthwhile event on a street circuit (unless they join up with a current street circuit like Reno or Trois Riveres [sp], or one of the other Transams use), and it would be interesting to see how the dirt track boys handle the lefts and rights.

Would bigger crowds which might come with a road course help at all, or is it forever resigned to the seemingly unpopular endless circling...?

[Hyacinth]

I don't think there is any way that te IRL can successfully add road courses to the mix. The salt-of-the-earth American oval track drivers would never be able to adjust to road courses. The only drivers who could adjust would be the F1 and CART retirees and guys like Kenny Brack, who saw the IRL as a stepping-stone to other racing series.

The IRL will probably continue to drive around in circles chasing their collective tails until either Tony gets bored with it and finds a new toy, or until Tony's mommy gets sick and tired of watching the family's money being p*ssed away to support a series that far too few people even give a damn about.

[Dave S]

Never gonna happen. Foyt would have a major tantrum if was even discussed. He never could turn right & he damn sure couldn't engineer one to do so.

[Heeltoe6]

I would think that most of the cars would not take the punishment of a grueling road course; espeically a street circuit. They'd have to really make the cars more reliable

[marcus]

I would like to see it though...but I guess its not going to happen but it would be good to see the lap times compared to other classes.

[Lizzerd]

It will never happen. If Boy George even thinks about it he would be the biggest hypocrite of all time.

[KC]

One of ther biggest stunbling blocks to the IRL racing on road and street courses is it goes directly against the tenets of the design of the IRL. All of their cars are designed to run ovals only. They are not designed to race on road courses adn it would require all of the teams to purchase chasis designed for that purpose. Most of the team owners are looking to only race oval because it is easier to maintain one style of chassis instead of three in CART.

[marcus]

I think I will bring this one back to the top as it hasnt been seen for a while.

what do you think should the IRL try road courses or stay on the ovals ?

I still feel that it would be nice to see for at least one race just to see what they go like

[Crash Test]

Bloomin heck- did I post that??

[SevenGrain]

Originally posted by Crash Test
Since ovals are obviously not working...

What makes you say that the ovals aren't working? The IRL actually had some very impressive crowds at their oval races at Richmond, Texas, Kansas City, and Nashville.

[Crash Test]

Hey! I posted that back in May 2000.... my opinion has definately changed since then

[SevenGrain]

Originally posted by Hyacinth
I don't think there is any way that the IRL can successfully add road courses to the mix. The salt-of-the-earth American oval track drivers would never be able to adjust to road courses.

Actually, while there are some "salt of the earth" oval drivers in the IRL, there are quite a few who began their racing careers in the SCCA running on road courses. (Sam Hornish, Greg Ray, Scott Sharp, and Jacques Lazier, to name a few)

And a number of drivers have experience in Indy Lights and Toyota Atlantic, series that run on road courses. (Jeff Ward, Ricthie Hearn, Robbie Buhl, and Buzz Caulkins, for example)

Also, there is one of those "salt of the earth" sprint and midget drivers in NASCAR who wins just about every road course (Jeff Gordon). Having this type of background doesn't hamper one's adaptability.

Most of the IRL's drivers should take quite well to the road courses.

Now... the IRL equipment is a different story.

[SevenGrain]

Wow, I didn't realize until just now how old this thread was. Sorry Crash Test... Back in May of 2000, I felt the same way too.

[marcus]

yeah sorry , I am currently in the process of moving threads to this new forum and found this one hiding in the CART forum and thought it would be a good discussion point so I decided to bring it back to the the top.

sorry bout that , but I think it is an interesting point.

I know the cars are only built for Ovals , but personally i would just like to see an event on a road course basically to satisfy my own curiosity of what they would look , and go like on them

[KC]

I think it is still a question of equipment more than drivers. Most of the IRL drivers have at one time or another raced road courses. However, the current IRL gear box is very large and not designed for multiple up and down shifts required for road course work. It is designed to be used to go in and out of the pits and mainly operate at top rpm. I would think the gearcase is not ready for the rigors of constantly moving and up and down the ratios. I know in NASCAR the standard J-Tex gear box is not used at the road courses and a road course specific unit is used in its place.

Also, the chassis is designed for weight balancing for left turn only. I bet it is heavily ballasted to the left to insure better traction for oval racing and that would have to be changed as well.

Switching to road courses also requires a differnt steering mechainism that is much faster than the slower oval steering.

Also, consider that the engines are designed for top rpm work and do not carry large enough main bearing and rod bearings for mid and low range torque.

It would be extremely expensive for the current IRL package to be made ready for a road course. Keeping costs down was one of the founding features of the IRL.

[bluefeather]

I think that the road courses would be challenging and entertaining. A true road course like Mid Ohio, The Glen, or Road Atlanta would offer a better racing experience. The street races would require too many 15-30 mph corners .
Having a Masters Degree in Sofa Racing Engineering and Strategies,my reasoning says keep the speeds up by staying on courses with fast corners and you could probably better your chances on getting a gear box to last.

By the way, Tony spoke of road courses in the beginning. They were not a primary concern of course but he never said the IRL would remain an ovals only series.

Now that I've gotten the tracks selected, I'll let the experienced racers and designers figure out how to make it work !