Spec Racing vs Open Formula: Indycar’s New Race Cars

What motorsports we cover around here at TTAC are usually the participatory variety, the kind without corporate sponsorship (not that there's anything wrong with that) or deep pocketed and not quite top level talent rent a riders (Baruth will tell you what's wrong with that). Still, the Detroit Grand Prix has returned after a hiatus caused by the carpocalypse and subsequent bankruptcies and bailouts. Chevrolet has anted up for title sponsorship, and with all three domestic automakers turning a profit plus reduced unemployment in the Detroit area, there was increased demand for sponsorships and vendor space than the last time the race ran, in 2008. TTAC may not cover top level motorsports but it does regularly address topics like marketing and the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix is nothing if not about marketing. Which is how I ended up at the Detroit Yacht Club, on Belle Isle, the same island park that hosts the racing this weekend, at the media luncheon. The weekend events include a GrandAm Rolex series race for sports prototypes, a Pirelli Challenge GT/GTS race, an Indy Lights supporting race, and the main event, Indycar's sixth race of the season, the first since the Indianapolis 500. Andy Pilgrim's Cadillac CTS-VR team was at the luncheon, so was the factory Corvette racing team. In addition to General Motors, another corporate marketing effort was represented by Target Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon, who just finished 1-2 at Indy. When two noted curmudgeons and on-record critics of the state of open wheel racing in North America like Pete DeLorenzo and Robin Miller agree that the 2012 Indy 500 was one of the best Indy races of all times (Miller actually said it was the best he'd seen) it's worth noting. It's particularly noteworthy because both Delorenzo and Miller were somewhat skeptical of Indycar's new formula, which involves spec chassis made by Dallara with team owners' choice of new turbo V6 powerplants from Honda, Chevy and Lotus this year, and then individual aero and body packages added next year. Lotus is down on power and there's been controversy and litigation over how much turbo boost each engine manufacturer will be allowed to use. The thing is, though, it hasn't just been Indy. Indycar racing this year has seen good racing, some of the best the series has had. Competitive races with a number of different winners. In five races so far this season, there have been three winners, and the largest margin of victory was 6 seconds. Two races were decided by less than a second (Indy had a smaller margin but it ended under caution and Franchitti, Dixon and Tony Kanaan finished the race in close formation in memory of their good friend Dan Wheldon). Indy this year had a record number of lead changes and the race winner wasn't really determined until Takuma Sato's car got loose as he tried to pass Franchitti on the last lap. Say what you will about spec racing, it can be competitive, and I'm guessing that most fans prefer wheel to wheel racing for position over a dominant team winning by multiple laps. Both Dixon and Franchitti mentioned those large winning margins when I asked them separately about spec racing vs the open formula under which the Indy 500 operated for most of its history, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, with a run what you brung mentality that managed to keep starry eyed garage built specials in the same paddock as elegantly engineered and innovative racers. I asked both drivers how they'd feel about a return to an open formula, albeit with modern safety requirements. People may look back fondly on all those "specials", but it was genuinely a bloodsport back then. As fans and students of the history of motorsports, both racers love that era. Franchitti idolized Jim Clark and has driven Clark's restored revolutionary Indy winning midengine Lotus around the brickyard, a high point in his life. I asked him if he'd been to the new Racing in America exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum, where the car is on display, and he told me, "I asked them if I could come by and see 'my girl' when I was in town and they said, 'anytime." Still, though they appreciate the men and machinery of an earlier ear both Franchitti and Dixon said that the racing this year has been fantastic and that fans don't really want to see someone win by two laps. Franchitti told me that in light of his connection to Clark's Lotus he was happy to see a Lotus team back on the grid at Indy, but that it was the right call for race control to black flag and DNF both Lotus cars for not getting up to speed. As drivers Dixon and Franchitti still want fast cars that use the latest technology. Robin Miller has popularized the notion of more horsepower and less downdraft to make it more of a skill competition and less about pedal to the metal lap after lap. It's an attractive idea and both drivers smiled when I mentioned it. I'm just not convinced that will ever happen. Drivers may say that they want a skill competition but if you press them, most agree with the late Mark Donohue about wanting an unfair advantage. I said to Dixon, "But don't you really want the fastest car on the track, a car that wins the pole, takes the first corner and leads every lap before taking the checkered flag," and he said, "Sure," and smiled. Good luck and godspeed, gentlemen.   from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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