Formula One is widely regarded as the pinnacle of motorsports for it technical open wheel approach to racing, but it is far from the only open wheel racing series.
The NTT IndyCar Series or if you aren’t a fan of long windedness, IndyCar is the United States’ take on open wheel racing. Founded in 1905, IndyCar is one of the oldest racing series still active today and despite being a grandfather in the racing world, it is still proving to be among the most exciting.
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IndyCar despite being open wheeled, is a staunch contrast from F1. For one, it is not a constructor series. Unlike F1 where 10 teams build cars that are all vastly different, IndyCar uses a Dallara based chassis similar to F2 giving teams with more funding less freedom to build unbeatable cars (Looking at you Red Bull). This ability to give everyone the same starting point allows for more competition in the field while also not being completely random because teams are allowed to make modifications on certain parts of the cars and engines giving limited benefits to teams with more money.
Another way IndyCar is different to F1 is the style of tracks they run. F1 currently runs mainly on mainstay racing circuits like Monza, and Silverstone with only a handful of street circuits like Monaco and Azerbaijan, but IndyCar is more diverse in its track choices doing far more street circuits and a few mainstay tracks but they also go to an F1 stans worst nightmare… ovals. IndyCar break the golden rule of purists rulebooks and race on tracks without right tuns. Most people only know IndyCar for an oval race as well, with the Indy 500 being the most attended single day sporting venue in the world, millions around the world watch these open wheeled death traps go around the 2.5 mile squared oval at speeds exceeding 230mph for 250 laps in what I can safely say is the most exciting race in the world.
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The Indy 500 has it all, from close battles to drama and all the way to showmanship. If you aren’t an IndyCar fan, you still know about the Indy 500 you have seen a clip of a car going around the biggest turn you’ve ever seen going speeds you can’t fathom and for 250 laps you are glued to your screen because at any moment some drama can take place whether its a huge crash in the middle of the field or if its a car running out of fuel in the lead forcing them to make a decision that could decide if they finish 1st or finish 40th, that is what makes IndyCar special, its that uncertainty that makes it impossible to look away, its the insane speeds while they go 3 wide into a corner allowing absolutely no room for error, that is why I watch and that’s why I think you should watch too.
Written by Andrew Monson