If you wanted action you got it during the IndyCar race at Fontana this past weekend. High speeds, cars racing four and sometimes five wide for position, a record 80 lead changes and Graham Rahal claiming his first victory in 124 starts which is a record number of races between victories.
Watching the 500 miles of competition unfold was both fantastic and frightening, the best in years according to some. For others including a few drivers, it’s a recipe for disaster and only a matter of time until we have another incident like the one that killed Dan Wheldon.
While the loudest opinions are at the far ends of the spectrum, I’ll suggest the truth lies somewhere in between. When I watch a race its seeing drivers battle for a position that I want most. It doesn’t matter if it’s first or fifteenth they’re fighting for, I want to see racing for position and passing.
What we had Saturday was a large bunch of cars all racing for the same position. It’s referred to as “pack racing” when a significant number of cars are grouped together and all fighting for position.
Fans want and deserve to see good, close racing and drivers want that too. Racing an open cockpit car at over 200 mph is an inherently dangerous proposition, everyone knows that and accepts it.
However, there is a line where hard-fought, close-quarter racing between competitors goes from dangerous to reckless. It’s partly based on the rules package the IndyCar series mandates for the cars but also the actions of drivers.
The new aerodynamic package for the cars introduced this year has not been tested nearly enough to determine how the cars will react during the race and what actions the drivers must take to maneuver them and this is where the disconnect begins with drivers and the series.
A number of drivers expressed their safety concerns after Friday practice sessions but no action was taken by the series. The race played out as expected with a large bunch of cars running in extremely close proximity for the entire race. The slightest wobble of the cars set off collisions and thankfully no one was seriously injured.
For those like Tony Kanaan that stated, “we can’t be doing this,” well he’s wrong.
The drivers put on an incredible display of talent and skill running over half the race without a caution flag. You can race this close and this event is the evidence. Whether you choose to race like this, is your decision and I suspect Kanaan will be making that choice sooner rather than later.
Could more have been done to make the series competitive, provide close action in tight quarters but also provide a greater level of mental comfort for the drivers and not force them to be subject to the incredible stress levels of this kind of racing for the entire 250 laps? No question about it. It is fundamentally wrong for IndyCar to subject the drivers and teams to a racing package they’ll use in competition without thorough testing to understand how the cars will behave and what kind of race to expect.
While true that sprint cars and the like run tight together like this in bunches they run much shorter races on shorter tracks. It’s not nearly the same as doing it in IndyCars for 500 miles.
Racing in tight packs is ridiculously exciting for fans and for the drivers but it’s unrealistic to expect drivers to be in that position for 250 laps at over 200 mph.