Why Watch: Indycar – America’s 230mph Battle

Want exciting racing? Want a championship which goes down to the wire? A series where the drivers are the stars? Cars which can hit 230MPH? Then you have to watch the IndyCar Series.

The 2020 season is set to be the 25th season of the IndyCar Series after the rift in 1996.

Dixon, Franchitti, Montoya, Hornish, Newgraden, Kanaan, Castroneves, Pagenaud, Rossi – just some of the names that have lit up IndyCar and provided some of the most spectacular racing and moments the series has seen.

Many people see IndyCar as simply open-wheel spec racing yet the biggest teams and drivers still eventually come out on top. Ganassi, Penske and Andretti have won every championship since 2003.

Ultimately the big names still come out on top but the smaller teams still have a chance of winning every weekend and often they do.

Nowadays, all sportsmen and women are looking for marginal gains and that best sums up how you win in IndyCar. Tuning the car so that you can get on the power a fraction of a second earlier, having a better feel of the pedals are being in the right mindset to go for a hero or zero manoeuvre can be rewarded with you and your car in victory lane.

The gaps from first down to 20th are very small considering the drivers can be averaging 150MPH or even 220MPH.

Oval races have gradually declined in IndyCar’s history mainly due to safety reasons as well as economic factors. But, seeing open wheel cars go side by side at over 200MPH or even three wide gives a thrill that cannot be beaten. What those drivers are doing is unimaginable and it is one of the reasons why drivers are so closely bonded and their is a lot of respect in the paddock.

Away from ovals, street circuits offer their own challenge and the old-school nature of the American race tracks that the IndyCar Series visits provide fantastic racing.

Places such as Road America, Long Beach and Laguna Seca are classic tracks which have all served up some classic moments in IndyCar history. Think Alex Zanardi’s ‘The Pass’ move at the Corkscrew in 1996 on the final lap of the race or Ryan Hunter-Reay’s memorable at Long Beach in 2010.

And then there is the last lap scraps. Whether it is a driver trying to do the impossible and get to the end with a tiny amount of fuel or if it is a slipstreaming scrap on a high-speed oval or maybe the intensity of a driver defending on a tough street circuit with rivals all over the gearbox of the leader.

IndyCar’s version of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indy 500, alone has had some of the most incredible and emotional moments you will ever see in motorsport.

Heartbreak for J.R Hildebrand in 2011, the insane battles for the win in the closing laps in 2014 and 2019, Takuma Sato’s redemption in 2017 and Alexander Rossi’s magical win in 2016 all spring to mind when thinking about the Indy 500 and that is just the last decade alone.

Some of motorsport’s biggest names have had success at Indianapolis over the years: Mario and Michael Andretti, Tony Kanaan, Jim Clark, Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt, Helio Castroneves, Gil de Ferran, Emerson Fittipaldi – the list is endless.

It is such a special event with 300,000 spectators seeing every bit of the 500 miles race and having one of the best seats in the house in motorsport. Every emotion has been felt at Indianapolis and the fans are a big part of that.

The drivers are heroes on the track yet they are easy to engage with off the track. Anyone who has been to an IndyCar race will know that they can easily have a laugh, take a photo or get the autograph of anyone on the grid.

This access is similar to the British Touring Car Championship, the only difference being that IndyCar is a bit faster, louder but equally exciting.

Recently, IndyCar has grown after a down period around 10-15 years ago. It really is a special motorsport that produces excitement every race weekend.

There are so many characters and personalities up and down the grid, add the factor of some brilliant race tracks and cars that can follow each other closely at high speeds and it equates to sensational action.