The IndyCar series is coming back to the paperclip shape of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time since 1998 this weekend.
With no current driver on track last time the series came in NH, one would think a run in the NASCAR series would have helped the lucky ones who tried, but as it turns out, it really won't.
"In the stock car, you run down on the bottom," said Danica Patrick, who has competed in the NASCAR Nationwide series at the NHMS in the past years, just like her rival Dario Franchitti.
"But here in the IndyCars, you move up into the 2nd lane where the banking is a little more significant. It is fast. There is going to be that lane down low, but it will be a challenge to make it stick. The exit of the corner on the bank falls off a bit and that makes the car get loose off the corner," added Patrick.
The NHMS' banking was shaped and repaved in 2002 and 2003 respectively, meaning the series has no experience at all on it. It turns out the IndyCars are so fast that the drivers never stop turning the wheel on the short track!
“Imagine the constant G forces generated on the tires and the chassis that transfers directly to the drivers,” said Mike Hull, managing director at Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
And its not like you can really help your drive by walking the track like you would on any road course, explains Patrick.
"On the road courses, you can even drive around a course before practice to get a feel for the circuit. However, on an oval, you drive an IndyCar so much differently than you would a passenger car. It usually doesn't help you.
"It is so different when you jump from a permanent road circuit to an oval track to a street course. You just have to adapt to each form of the track and, of course, to the cars too," she concluded.
With no current driver on track last time the series came in NH, one would think a run in the NASCAR series would have helped the lucky ones who tried, but as it turns out, it really won't.
"In the stock car, you run down on the bottom," said Danica Patrick, who has competed in the NASCAR Nationwide series at the NHMS in the past years, just like her rival Dario Franchitti.
"But here in the IndyCars, you move up into the 2nd lane where the banking is a little more significant. It is fast. There is going to be that lane down low, but it will be a challenge to make it stick. The exit of the corner on the bank falls off a bit and that makes the car get loose off the corner," added Patrick.
The NHMS' banking was shaped and repaved in 2002 and 2003 respectively, meaning the series has no experience at all on it. It turns out the IndyCars are so fast that the drivers never stop turning the wheel on the short track!
“Imagine the constant G forces generated on the tires and the chassis that transfers directly to the drivers,” said Mike Hull, managing director at Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
And its not like you can really help your drive by walking the track like you would on any road course, explains Patrick.
"On the road courses, you can even drive around a course before practice to get a feel for the circuit. However, on an oval, you drive an IndyCar so much differently than you would a passenger car. It usually doesn't help you.
"It is so different when you jump from a permanent road circuit to an oval track to a street course. You just have to adapt to each form of the track and, of course, to the cars too," she concluded.