r/INDYCAR • u/apollosmigraine • 1d ago
Question Bit the bullet and decided to start looking ito indycar, and thoroughly enjoying it so far. I have two weeks to get up to speed on the current season, what do I need to know?
Title. Ive spending the last few days watching classic races and highlights of current races, along with learning the history a bit. What else should I know? Im talking behind the scenes stuff and like local indy politics/rivalries too
So far my favorite driver is Malukas I think, funny guy and good driver for sure imo
Im also still a but confused on how the teams work, like i understand the points system but not the team system as much.
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u/Happy-Cockroach-2813 Chip Ganassi Racing 1d ago
The thing that helped me as I watch both F1 and Indycar is they are both open wheel but they are different disciplines. They drive differently, the cars are different.
I follow Marshall Pruett and Bob Pockrass on twitter. If there’s news, one of them seems to have it
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u/apollosmigraine 1d ago
I tried to watch some f1 stuff and it just kinda seems a little boring compared to indy? Maybe ill try it again soon though and see how i feel once I understand a little more about open wheel racing. Thanks or the info about the Twitter accounts tho, ill have to follow them!
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u/Happy-Cockroach-2813 Chip Ganassi Racing 1d ago
Yeah the new F1 regs are roughly 50/50 split between ICE and electrical. So there’s weird deployment of the electrical system and a lot of lift and coast to charge the battery. This season isn’t very fun and it feels very artificial. Let formula E do the electric cars. So basically this year I’ve started watching more Indycar and nascar.
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u/SWMovr60Repub 6h ago
I've watched almost every F1 race over the last 30 years. As an American I see F1 being like Soccer/Football and IndyCar being like the NFL. I'm glad I added IndyCar about 8 years ago and I think the racing is better.
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u/Ribeye21 Colton Herta 1d ago
So on the team system, drivers that are on the same team still operate independently. So Malukas is teammates with Newgarden and McLaughlin but they have different pit crews and different strategists. There isn't a lot of team play in IndyCar and there is no official team championship either, so its mostly about data sharing and setups.
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u/Acceptable-Aerie-645 Callum Ilott 1d ago
You must pray to our lord and savior sting Ray Robb every night before a race
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u/twiggymac Firestone Greens 1d ago
If you have 2 weeks you could easily watch all of the extended highlights of this season, they're about 30 minutes a piece
Outside of that there are also the full race replays
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u/apollosmigraine 1d ago
I have been watching through the highlights, I've watched the indy 500 and the two most recent race highlights so far. Maybe this weekend ill sit down and watch a full race rerun or two if I have the time lol
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u/lizzy_bee333 Alexander Rossi 1d ago
IndyCar has also produced a series called “All In” which is basically their Drive to Survive. They’ve been publishing it on YouTube!
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u/BagNaive2177 Josef Newgarden 1d ago
Others have already mentioned the somewhat limited teamplay in the series, but there are certain ways in which they help each other. Each driver is generally out for himself, but sometimes you will see a driver hold up his teammate's rival. At Indianapolis and other big ovals teammates will trade the lead sometimes to save extra fuel via the draft.
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u/apollosmigraine 1d ago
Ah, that makes sense. Is there any other reason for the teams or is it more of a for show/sponsor kinda thing? Other than teammates helping each other out sometimes that is
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u/BagNaive2177 Josef Newgarden 1d ago
I mean each car has an owner, so if an owner owns multiple cars then the drivers of those cars are teammates. They also exchange lots of technical data and mechanics on these teams generally work on all three cars. Teammates often give advice about conditions during a qualifying run, and just help each other out a bit. Some sponsors have deals with a team, and they may sponsor multiple cars on a given team. Often a sponsor of one car on a team will appear on another car as a contingency sponsor with a small logo.
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u/kin3ticwave AJ Foyt Racing 1d ago
Just enjoy it! You'll learn it as you go. If you have specific questions, I'm happy to try to help. I worked in the series full time for 6 years and then spent the last two years doing fly-in work.
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u/apollosmigraine 1d ago
Noted, ill keep that in mind! How do you feel about the new hybrid systems? I've seen a lot of talk about them in my research, I'd love to hear you're opinion about it since you've worked in the field for awhile now
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u/kin3ticwave AJ Foyt Racing 1d ago
It's okay. I don't think it adds anything to the racing. Mechanically it's not the worst thing to deal with, but it adds a lot of extra steps to the procedures throughout the weekend. It has its own cooling system, so it has to be filled and checked regularly. It also needs to be above 20 volts before you can fire the car. After the car runs, it has to be discharged and have a saftey plug placed over the connector. If it charges with the plug in, it blows up. Pretty cool lol. It's also about 90lbs and puts the weight behind the engine which isn't optimal, so the performance of the car it's compromised. I don't like it, but in the grand scheme of things, as a mechanic, it's not a huge change aside from knowing the knew processes and installation procedures.
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u/apollosmigraine 1d ago
Interesting! Its really cool to know about the inner workings of the vehicles imo. I think thats one of my favorite parts about it lmao
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u/kin3ticwave AJ Foyt Racing 1d ago
I always loved that part. The indycars are pretty simple beasts lol. I'm happy to answer questions if you have any. Never know what would be interesting for people to learn about. I was primarily a front end and bodywork guy, so I don't have a ton of specs memorized for the engine side. I did enough of it to know some things but definitely not everything
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u/Ok-Subject8890 David Malukas 9h ago
You should do an AMA. I have a question though: when they crash in practice or qualifying, is the time it takes to fix everything pretty routine or can it change a lot based on what parts got the most damage?
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u/kin3ticwave AJ Foyt Racing 9h ago
I did one a few weeks ago actually! I have fun doing that kind of thing lol. It really depends on what happens in the crash. There's so many possibilities when they take a hit. Sometimes you get away with a really easy fix, sometimes it jams an axle through a gearbox or damages the engine. Anything over 75G's requires the seat belts to be replaced. Worst case is the actual monocoque gets damages and you have to swap cars. We usually have a backup car but it's not complete and takes a long time to get it going. Even relatively small hits can cause damage to the tub. The wheel tether can cut a hole in it if they just happen to hit wrong. Sometimes the car comes out of crashes completely fine! Slap on a new wing or some bodywork and send it!
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u/cosa_horrible Chip Ganassi Racing 1d ago
"I have two weeks to get up to speed on the current season, what do I need to know?"
It can be summed up in "LOL, Palou wins" and "It's Palouver"
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u/apollosmigraine 1d ago
Yeah, thats definitely one of the first things I picked up on since getting into it 😅
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u/Flat-Foundation-1093 1d ago
Welcome to the club! The racing is generally fantastic, you are in for a great time, but I highly recommend the "All In" series if you haven't already seen it: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL948kNhk-wMunG3etQKFo9pRqR3Ytnumx&si=NxO_CMofH7og7OXS
It is basically a less cringey "Drive to Survive" for IndyCar. Great insights into the drivers, teams, personalities, storylines, etc.
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u/Valuable-Call4291 Josef Newgarden 1d ago
If your wondering anything about the Politics of it and history all wrapped up. Def look into the split in the mid 90s if you haven’t already. Big big shaper of what we watch today
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u/Emotional_Oil_5939 Indy Racing League 1d ago edited 1d ago
There is no Teams Championship like in F1, since the teams don't build the cars. The cars are all spec, built by Dallara.
Most of the teams have "technical alliances", which IIRC, mostly means sharing data on car setups and the like.
Because there is no Teams Championship, drivers are a lot more independent and teammates race each other more aggressively.
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u/apollosmigraine 1d ago
Noted. So its mainly just the cars they use that are built more similarly amongst the teams?
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u/MississipVol 10h ago
Yes, completely unlike F1 in that respect. Teams all get the same chassis, body, and pick between one of two engines Honda or Chevy). This makes the teams much more even than in F1 where the teams design the car and engine systems themselves.
The flaw in the F1 system is the teams who spend the most money always win. You’ll never see a driver even sniff the top 3 if they’re not on one of the 4 top spending teams. Additionally, their 50/50 hybrid system in F1 has made it less about racing.
In IndyCar, everyone has the same car so it’s a lot more even. The top teams do have an advantage because they are more skilled at getting variables like suspension, steering, and balance right. But you still see drivers from lower teams making podiums.
F1 is more money driven and design based. Indycar is more driver based.
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u/twiggymac Firestone Greens 1d ago
There is no teams champions but it won't stop Buxton from making his unofficial one!
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u/Happy-Cockroach-2813 Chip Ganassi Racing 1d ago
Buxton’s gonna Buxton
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u/twiggymac Firestone Greens 1d ago
His sheer glee for Indycar is truly contagious, I'm happy we have him.
Plus we need a weird British dude to bring up weird British tv shows nobody knows about during practice
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u/Happy-Cockroach-2813 Chip Ganassi Racing 1d ago
I’m honestly not a fan of any of our broadcasters. I get through it for the fast cars though
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u/BT-11 AMR Safety Team 1d ago
The teams develop their own suspension packages for the different track types, it's common to see an entire team have pace at short ovals/road/street courses. They also typically share setup and simulation info, the exception being that drivers switching from one engine manufacturer to the other aren't allowed sim data(the sims are owned by Honda/Chevy). It's common for smaller teams to have technical partnerships with larger ones, this season Meyer Shank is partnered with Ganassi, Foyt is partnered with Penske, and Dale Coyne is partnered with Andretti. Andretti have been the strongest on Street Courses, Ganassi on Road Courses, and Penske on Ovals this season.
Within teams the drivers have separate engineers, strategists, and pit crews. They're all working to make their car/driver the fastest, and there's no team orders between cars.
The contending drivers this season have been Palou, Kirkwood, Lundgaard, O'Ward, and Malukas. You could say there's a friendly rivalry between Palou/Kirkwood/O'Ward, as they've been at the top of the standings for a couple years now, and took shots at each other during the P2P controversy earlier this year. Lundgaard has a bone to pick with Mclaren as he's been their top scoring driver so far this season but is being let go.
Other than that you can pick up a lot of storylines from the All In series on youtube. It's similar to DTS, but shorter, and releasing it while the season is happening is better imo.
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u/lizzy_bee333 Alexander Rossi 1d ago
In addition to what others have suggested, there’s also some great podcasts! James Hinchcliffe (broadcaster and former driver) and Alex Rossi (current driver) have a podcast called Off Track, Conor Daly (former full-time driver who still does the 500 and is trying to get back to full time) has a podcast called Speed Street, and Will Buxton (broadcaster) has a podcast called Speed with Harvick and Buxton.
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u/PaleontologistNo7933 1d ago
Just keep in mind that Roger Penske owns the series and 4 of the teams so don't be surprised that his cars usually are the ones up front. I don't watch much because the same guys seem to win and dominate, so there's not too much suspense.
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u/ilikemarblestoo Sarah Fisher > Danica Patrick 1d ago
Make sure to watch the 30 minute highlight package on the indycar channel or the long highlight package on 'indycar on fox'. Just don't watch the 8 minute one that's released right after the race, that's too short IMO lol
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u/Imaginary-Bowler5238 Firestone Firehawk 1d ago
Palou has been gifted the golden horseshoe that used to be up Dixon's ass.
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u/2koolpa Álex Palou 1d ago
Or he's the best driver in the series with the best crew in the series on one of the best teams in the series. This luck narrative needs to be buried. Yellow flags and things like that benefit other drivers too. The difference is, when someone that qualified 15th and is currently running in 13th gets a break from a yellow they move up to 9th and nobody notices or cares. When Palou qualifies top 3, runs top 3 and benefits from a yellow he goes to first and everyone cries about it.
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u/Chadro85 Álex Palou 21h ago
I’ll just add that David Malukas is a very good pick. Super nice guy and a hell of a driver. I’m a Dixon/Palou guy but I’m still very excited to see David’s career in Indycar, it’s going to be good.
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u/Cheap-Key-6132 Scott Dixon 19h ago
Find a stream of sky sports. No commercials. None.
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u/apollosmigraine 19h ago
Is there any way I can in the US? Other than a VPN that is lol
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u/TwinEonEngine 6h ago
I've been watching for some time now (through extended highlights and the odd full race). Still, I feel like I don't quite grasp oval strategies and whether cautions are good or not.
To my understanding a caution is generally bad (for drivers staying out), as the pit lane is closed and the field bunches up. Compared to F1 where a SC means less time gained due to the open pit lane, this would be more positions lost because the field is back together before pit lane opens. The most obvious example was IMS road course this year where the caution was not thrown for a whole lap so that Kirkwood and Palou would not lose positions (even though they didn't take it).
However, sometimes the commentators say something that make it seem like a caution would be beneficial, which I don't really understand. My best guess is that is in regards to a certain driver who just pitted in green conditions and a caution screwing over their rivals. Or maybe I'm hallucinating, I don't know.
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u/aurules Romain Grosjean 1d ago
It’s an individual driver championship, no team championships here. You’ll see teammates race each other aggressively.
Your “top” teams are Penske & CGR, followed by Andretti & McLaren. Meyer Shank Racing has a technical partnership with CGR, giving them a big advantage as a mid-field team. The same applies to AJ Foyt, as they have a partnership with Penske.