Grand Am Racing

[85t5mcss]

Late July, 2012. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Thursday Quals and testing???
Friday GrandAm day
Saturday Nationwide Series since IRP lost the contract (no trucks in Indy for now)
Sunday Cup cars single file on an oval.

Grand Am AND Continental Tire Series should be running on Friday-which sounds like short races, CRAP, but with Nationwide and Cup on the same weekend (makes since because NASCAR is GrandAms parent company). All I can say is that I will be at the Grand Am race. Anyone need a place to crash for a weekend?

I was hoping for their own weekend so that they could run a 6 hour Enduro. Maybe Speed's Touring Class or something similar can run and have NASA tag along as well.

And, yes.....I am excited about GrandAm coming to town.

[twomanymontes]

Oh Man!!! Let me know when it gets closer, I'll have to see what is going on, I may take you up on that offer.

And yeah, A Friday race would probably be short. Like you said, too bad a touring class isn't making it a weekend full of road course racing.

[twomanymontes]

Setting Up for Indy - A Tale of Two Circuits
Sept. 8, 2011


Racing on the infield road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be a challenge for drivers and engineers alike.

Like a page from the thingyens novel, it presents the best of times, and the worst of times. It's racing on a high-speed superspeedway and tackling a demanding road circuit at the same time.

"The challenge of setting up a car for Indianapolis is coming to terms with the level of grip in the infield vs. the oval," said SunTrust Racing engineer Brian Pillar. "We face a surprising difference in the grip levels here. There is a very low level of grip in the infield, and a lot of grip on the oval. We're facing two extremes."

Pillar said that teams can adjust the car through working with springs and shock absorbers. Another approach is modifying the bodywork. But since the Daytona Prototypes will be going to the G3 body styles for 2012, working with the current bodywork would be counterproductive at this test.

Setting up for Indy's 2.605-mile circuit will be a matter of compromise.

"You really want to have that speed on the front straight," said SunTrust driver Ricky Taylor. "The grip level on the oval here is unbelievable, more than any other track we race at. But there are so many slow corners in the infield, it's really a matter of two extremes."

Pillar also cautioned about track temperatures.

"The track temperature was 120 degrees when we tested here in 2009," he said. "Yesterday, it was 80 degrees. I imagine track temperature will be more than 100 degrees when we race here on July 27. So we've got to be careful with what we take away from this test."

High downforce for the infield or trim the car out for the oval? That's the compromise Pillar and other GRAND-AM team engineers will be working out over the winter as they prepare for Super Weekend at the Brickyard at the two circuits collectively known as Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

[85t5mcss]

Boy O Boy, I can't wait.