From Road to Oval Course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

A picture perfect day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the IndyCar Grand Prix, this was the “Will Power Show” Power had the most powerful car in every practice session, and setting the Pole and leading 61 of the 85 laps.

Rewind 12 months ago to the same track was a huge blunder for Power and qualifying which put him starting outside the top six, and spun in the first lap. Will Power was never able to rebound. It was imperative that Team Penske fix the issues in the off season. Indeed Team Penske did just that. Will Power has had a career that has seen its Highs and Lows. Saturday’s Victory was definitely a high.

In the post-race presser Will Power said “You can’t be consumed by the highs or the lows” and being a new father has taught him that. It seemed like it was density for Will Power to win at Indy!

So today we are at different track same Indianapolis Motor Speedway but different track over the weekend teams here at IMS began the transformation process of converting the road course back to the famed oval.

The entire process is about 42 hours.

That’s how long Verizon IndyCar Series teams have from the checkered flag of Saturday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix to Monday’s opening practice for the 101st Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil. 

Teams are accustomed to working late in the garages getting their cars ready. I am sure most of us do not realize just how physically demanding it is to transform an Indy car set up for the 14-turn, stop-and-start, 2.439-mile road course to be ready for the flat-out, 2.5-mile oval.

Julian Robertson, Chip Ganassi Racing technical director says. “The guys will start on prep Saturday night after the race. The race is quite late in the afternoon, which means it will all go late into the evening to get a head start.”

Chip Ganassi Racing is one of the series powerhouse teams, led by four-time series champion Scott Dixon and 2004 series winner Tony Kanaan, each of whom have won the Indy 500.

Owner Chip Ganassi has celebrated five Indy 500 victories in addition to 10 Indy car series titles, which means excellence is expected.

“The car looks the same, but it’s pretty different,” said Bobby Rahal, co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. 

The cars differ in brakes, aero kits, rear wings, suspension, shock absorbers, gearbox setups and dampers, among other things.

Also The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has announced a first-ever opportunity for race fans at the INDYCAR Grand Prix in May. IMS will offer spectator camping for recreational vehicles and tents in the infield.

Another beautiful day in Indy today Practice 1 for the ROP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway so far we have seen Fernando Alonso hit a speed of 220.805, Oriol Servia 220.805, Ed Jones 219.288. Jack Harvey currently on track 220.805 and has completed stage 1 of “ROP”

Later this afternoon all teams will have chance to turn laps.

The 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 is just around the corner.