June 29, 2008
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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A few weeks ago, I had the adventure of participating in an Indy car ride along. It was the first time I had ever seen an Indy car on track, much less been near one in action. The laps around Richmond International Raceway pushing 160 mph made me think, going to an Indy race might be fun. With the IRL in Richmond this weekend, I thought this would be as good a time as ever to take a look at the second most popular motor sport in America. I have been to seven NASCAR Cup races at Richmond International Raceway, but, having never been to an Indy Racing League Race of any kind, anywhere, Richmond seemed like the perfect place to dip my toes into the IRL pool.
I discovered during my weekend that while both series involve racing cars, that is pretty close to where the comparison stops.
The first real difference I noticed when I arrived at the track on Friday was the smell. When you go to a NASCAR track, you smell the 102 octane fumes of gasoline wafting through the air. However, at an Indy race, they use ethanol. And burning ethanol smells a lot like yeasty rolls you get for dinner. I don’t really know of any other way to describe it to you.
I also noticed fans of the IRL aren’t as obvious as to their allegiances. I saw very few fans wearing drivers gear. The gear I did see was mostly that of two drivers: Helio Castroneves and Danica Patrick. Where NASCAR has dozens of driver souvenir haulers placed strategically around the track and four and five deep at the entrance to the track, Indy weekend has only one specific driver that has a trailer full of stuff: Danica Patrick.
The IRL had a tent selling official wares not only for the IRL, but for various drivers, and if you were looking for a shirt for Helio or A.J. Foyt IV or another driver, that is where you bought it. There were two trailers set up selling NASCAR gear, and you had more selections for Jimmie Johnson or Dale Junior than you did for Buddy Rice or Marco Andretti.
The next difference I spotted is the access to the drivers. NASCAR drivers go out to their souvenir haulers at some point during the weekend to sign autographs. It all kind of depends on what time the driver has free as to when that actually happens. The IRL get together in a group and sign together, giving fans access to multiple drivers at one time and in one place.
Much like NASCAR, the drivers hang out on pit road before qualifying, talking with their teams or each other. Some sit away from access by the media, while others sit on the pit wall where anyone can walk up and talk to them. When they are done qualifying, they get out of the car, and immediately run a gauntlet of media, but the media is organized much differently than NASCAR. The first person they talk to is the network covering broadcast, whomever that might be. Then they talk to two other TV cameras before going over to the pit wall, where the press has gathered in one location. They go down the line, answering questions of the media, individually or as a group, until they reach the end, at which time they hop on a scooter and ride off. It isn’t nearly the chaotic crush that happens after a driver gets out of the car in NASCAR.
Speaking of the media, there aren’t nearly as many of us, and those that are here are from everywhere, and I do mean everywhere. Behind me in the media center this weekend was a contingent of reporters and photographers from Japan. On the other side of me, a reporter who told me he has never covered anything but short track racing before this weekend. Across the counter from me is Speed TV’s Robin Miller, who isn’t nearly as crotchety as he seems to be on Wind Tunnel every Sunday night. There are almost as many photographers as reporters, and it is pretty easy to tell which ones are regular Indy media, and which, like me, are doing this for the first time. You see, there are a different set of rules for media at a NASCAR race versus an IRL race.
It is a whole lot easier to move around at an IRL race. A “Hot Pass”, which at a NASCAR race is a credential you are given along with any other credentials you are required to wear on race weekend, at an IRL race it is a sticker you put on your credential, and is only in effect for the race proper -- and two hours before the race. At all other times, the garage and pit road are open….and to pretty much every one. Fans, who seemed to have pit and garage passes by the hundreds, came over Saturday morning and were walking through the garage and hauler areas, looking at the cars and trucks, and looking for drivers to interact with.
There are team PR people in the Media center, who are more than willing to discuss Helio Castroneves’ pit strategy with an inquiring reporter hours before the race starts (“He doesn’t think he has ever started this far back, but we have a really good pit team and we’ll look at coming in off cycle and getting him some spots. He’ll be fine.”)
Out in the garage area, there is only team haulers, not ones marked for specific drivers. Three Target haulers, two Penske haulers, and so on. Behind Danica’s hauler stood dozens of fans, waiting for her to come out and sign autographs.
It isn’t just the ambiance between the two series that is different…it is the driver's experience as well. John Andretti, who has spent many years driving in NASCAR for teams such as Petty Enterprises, is now back where his family roots are, the IRL. He started 8th for yesterday’s race, and explained to me that driving for his current team, Roth Racing, has some similarities, yet more differences, than racing in NASCAR.
“Some of the things we fight in stock car we fight in Indy car, some of the things in stock car are not at all in Indy car," said Andretti. "With the stock car you go around and you pretty much, you lift, you break, you have to wrestle it down in the corners and try and get on the gas. In Indy car in qualifying and racing you are just working on getting it into the corner, where in a stock car you get right down into it.
“When you drive an Indy car and a stock car, it’s not the same race track, it drives totally different. Ironically you think you’d feel the bumps more in an Indy car but you really don’t, it’s really smooth…in the stock car you can feel the little bumps.”
John has driven in both series this year, and while the cars are totally different, he says for a driver, the idea is to just get behind the wheel and hit the gas.
“I just think they are race cars and you just get in them and go," Andretti continued. "Now the hard part is going fast. Anybody can get in and drive, the challenge has been to get up to speed with everybody.”
Just because John is in the IRL now doesn’t mean doesn’t still think about racing in NASCAR.
”I would have liked to have done the truck race and the Indy car race in Texas, I think that would have been a lot of fun,” Andretti said.
Unfortunately for John, last night didn’t end up being much fun. His night ended before he hit lap 100.
Any kind of racing at Richmond is always a big draw, and even folks who cover NASCAR on a regular basis took time off from their day job to head to the race this weekend.
Bob Pockrass, who writes for NASCAR Scene, had the weekend off from his regular duties, and decided to road trip up to see the IRL race as a fan instead of a member of the media. Steve Post, who is a pit road reporter for MRN radio, commented that he has always wanted to see the IRL race at Richmond. (Maybe next year since this will be MRN’s last broadcast at NHMS).
Last night's race certainly lived up to the excitement factor. I was beginning to wonder who was going to win…a driver or the track. One thing that is certainly the same, no matter the kind of racing…cautions breed cautions, and last night was looking to match the NASCAR Cup race last month for the amount of chaos on the track.
I discovered this weekend that comparing NASCAR and the IRL is like comparing apples and oranges. Yes, they are both fruit, but once you get beyond that, they might both be curved and sweet, but they are totally different foods. And while the IRL and NASCAR are two totally different racing series, they are both exciting to watch, and well worth the trip.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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