You Really Think 122" Matters?
First off, props must be given to Jeff over at My Name is IRL for initially catching this in my Graham pseudo-interview-thingie a few weeks back, which was the first I had ever heard of the fixed wheel base. Graham seems to think that this will make things closer.
Well, IndyCar.com has an article on wheel bases (well, wheel base) leading up to the first oval race of the season at Kansas. They say it’ll tighten things up on the cookie-cutter 1.5 mile tracks.
It appears as though they are fixing the wheel base at 122 inches. For you readers not from the states, that’s approximately 1.63 Justin Wilsons.
It might tighten things up.
The Big 3 are still going to dominate.
These tracks are all about the little things you can modify, and more specifically, the little things you can develop to trim off a few tenths of a MPH. Certainly setting the wheel base to a constant is one less thing to modify, but I don’t really think that this one, single variable is what allowed the Big 3 to win every 1.5 mile oval race since Kentucky 2005.
Speaking of little things to develop…are the teams still allowed only one mirror-type for the season? I had a thought that AGR may not have a good mirror selection for aiding downforce on a street circuit, because they chose one trimmed out for the cookie cutters. I don’t think that really explains how far off they were in qualifying, though.
Finally, The Kansas entry list (PDF) is out. No Power. No Tagliani/Conquest. The #23 Dreyer and Reinbold car is TBA, which means that a deal has not yet been made with Milka. Finally, this weekend marks the debut for the year of Sarah Fisher, who the Dog went out and supported.
Oh, and ratings were up significantly from last week (to a 0.5). Conserve that momentum, Versus!
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:05 am
I have wondered about this ever since you posted that interview with graham Rahal. I wondered why the Versus TV crew hadn’t said anything about it, usually expect commentators to note any major rule changes at the beginning of the season, and highlight it as a reason to watch. I guess I’m used to Speed TV’s coverage of F1 and grand-am where they definitely do that, even if the change isn’t that visible (like TC or engine changes).
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:39 pm
The mirrors are still open to development. They are one of the few aero parts, along with the fins on the front wing and the top of the engine cover, that can still be developed.