Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Oval)

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been in existance for just over a century. This is no cookie-cutter oval. I sometimes like to think of this as the world's fastest road course. It is difficult to think of any oval as a road course, but this is a fantastic oval to race on. The ancient Romans had the Circus Maximus; us Americans have the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And rather than chariot racing, our brand of horsepower is with a variety of high-powered race cars taking on the four corners that make up the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's oval configuration. These are sacred racing grounds as it isn't open for driving events. Expect speeds north (and sometimes WELL north) of 180 mph here!

This blog entry ONLY concerns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's oval configuration. I may chat about the two road course configurations (the old F1 course and the MotoGP course) in the future.

--- Indianapolis Motor Speedway ---

Here is a look at the oval configuration:


^ from: razorgator.com - the Indianapolis Motor Speedway layout (including the road course).

When I race this track in video games, the one thing I realize is that you can take this track at full speed. All four corners are almost exactly alike in banking and in attacking the corners. All you need to do (as it seems) is to let off the throttle or use a little brake (in cars not set up very well) in the corners. The problem area I have is in finding the proper area for which to attack Turns 1 and 3. Getting Turn 1 wrong will screw up your lap for Turn 2, and messing up Turn 3 will screw you for Turn 4. The real challenge here is to consistently find the proper racing line. If having to pass other cars, you'll need to overtake cleanly to avoid screwing up a well-done lap around IMS.

Here is a video lap from Scott Dixon:


I actually tried to find a stock car lap around Indy, but I was unsuccessful to find one I can really use.





For more information about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, check out the official home page of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Thank you for reading!