If records fall, it should mean something
IndyCar commentary — By Paul Dalbey on March 16, 2011 2:52 pmQuick. Who was the first driver to break the 200 mph barrier at Indianapolis?
If you said Tom Sneva, you’re wrong. The correct answer is Gordon Johncock, who actually clocked the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s first 200 mph lap in March of 1977 during a Goodyear tire test, several weeks prior to Sneva’s feat. In fact, in the week leading up to Pole Day qualifications in 1977, Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt, and Johnny Rutherford all recorded laps over 200 mph before Sneva’s record run.
Why didn’t you know this? Because none of those 200 mph laps counted. They were in tests and practice. They were unofficial. They didn’t actually mean anything.
One of the hot-topic issues preceding this year’s Month of May at Indianapolis has been Randy Bernard’s quest to see the track records broken. In 1996, during the final year of the 2.65L V8 turbocharged engine era, Arie Luyendyk set records in his Treadway Racing Reynard/Ford-Cosworth that many people think will never be broken. His one-lap record of 237.498 mph and four-lap average of 236.986 mph stand as the longest-tenured speed records in IMS history. Since 1996, no driver has come close to matching them — in fact, no driver has even qualified above 230 mph since Helio Castroneves did so in 2003.
In a recent article by SI.com’s Brant James, Bernard reiterated that he wants the old records “gone” and that if he gets his way (along with the blessing of IMS and TV partner ESPN), those records could be broken this year during a special exhibition staged in early May.
Hold on a minute. Bernard wants to bring down the records during a special exhibition? Sorry, Randy, but that’s not going to fly with most people, especially the Indianapolis purists who will not recognize them as legitimate.
First and foremost, official laps (as I’m sure Donald Davidson will beat home ad nauseum) only go into the record books when run during qualifications or the race. Besting the record in a test, much less an exhibition, carries no more significance than did Gordon Johncock’s first 200-mph lap in 1977, which is almost universally disregarded and nearly forgotten 34 years later.
Information from the James article suggests that Honda Performance Development (HPD) will create four specially prepared engines for the run at history that would, among other things, burn methanol instead of the INDYCAR standard ethanol (methanol was, of course, the only fuel used in the Indianapolis 500 between 1965 and 2006). Additionally, only two cars would be used for this attempt to break the record, and the pilots of those two cars are anyone’s guess. While the speed run would no doubt bring attention to a team and its sponsors, it is certainly understandable that a car owner would be leery of letting his driver take a run at this attempt if it won’t actually be going into the record books. Given INDYCAR’s mandatory seven-day concussion policy, it is also conceivable that a driver could easily miss a good chunk of practice and/or qualifying if this exhibition goes wrong.
There is nobody more interested in seeing new speed records established at Indianapolis than me. I have maintained for many years that a major contributing factor in the decline of the Pole Day qualifying attendance is the lack of broken speed records and the excitement that the pursuit of new records brought each year. I realize it isn’t the only factor, but I do think it is a bigger issue than many people realize. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, from its very early days, has been about the pursuit of speed. The speed and the danger that came along with it turned men into heroes and icons.
By the time the speed records of 1996 were laid down, budgets of top teams (at least on the CART side of the split) had soared in excess of $10 million per car. It was inconceivable that such a spending effort could be maintained in the long run. For that reason, among others, the Indy Racing League sought a new formula that would be both slower and significantly less expensive. Non-turbocharged engines and 20 mph slower qualifying speeds were the new norm in 1997, and most believed that Luyendyk’s records of the year prior would live on as long as the grandstands remained at 16th and Georgetown.
But 15 years later, many are realizing that records are meant to be broken. But they need to be broken in a meaningful, useful manner.
Bernard believes that new speed records will bring credibility to the current formula and raise awareness of the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. From that standpoint, it’s hard to argue against his point. However, to call the speeds new records is quite misleading. To beat the unofficial Indianapolis lap record, someone will have to best the 239.260 mph lap set by (who else?) Luyendyk, which Arie himself admits was possible only with the help of an aerodynamic tow. To really draw attention and add any shred of meaningfulness, a driver is going to have to push the car through the 240 mph barrier.
As much as I have beaten the drum for new speed records, I am also against gimmicks in racing. This exhibition falls short of being a gimmick in my book as I believe that term should be used exclusively for practices that alter the integrity of the racing — practices such as the Lucky Dog rule or green/white/checkered finishes — but this still falls into the category of “what’s the point?”
If the point is to draw attention to this year’s race, does that then create something of an anti-climatic practice and qualifying period to the average viewer? Will the casual fan who hears about IndyCars running 235 mph at Indianapolis be confused as to why real practice and qualifying speeds are “only” in the 229 mph range a week later?
Beyond 2011, what would a record-approaching run at Indianapolis in this car mean for the new formula set to debut in 2012? One of the original goals of that car was to be able to run laps in excess of 230 mph at Indianapolis. However, if a driver runs 235 mph this year and the 2012 car is only initially capable of 230 mph, what impact will that have on the acceptance of the new car by hardcore fans and casual viewers?
All of these questions should be considered before making a run at new record speeds at Indianapolis this year. Sure, I would love to see speeds above 235 mph again, but if it doesn’t mean anything then… well, it doesn’t mean anything. There are a lot of factors, risks, and variables that all must be carefully weighed before making the decision to make a run at these speeds. At this point the risks appear to outweigh the rewards, and my personal belief is that, as much as I want to see the records broken, I want to see them actually broken, not simply exceeded. If the current car formula is not capable of breaking records without special trick pieces and a non-competition engine, then it is probably just as well to wait a few more years until the natural innovation and evolution of the new IndyCar formula can run its course, ideally with less stringent rules in place that artificially limit the speed of the cars. If records can be broken within a few years during normal competition and without using tweaks in an exhibition, the credibility and value of those records would remain untarnished.
(One final note: one of the teams most likely to try for this is Target Chip Ganassi Racing. For all of its success, holding speed records at Indianapolis is one area where TCGR is sorely lacking. In fact, TCGR cars only held the speed records at Indianapolis for about 90 minutes. In 1992, Arie Luyendyk (there’s that name again) was the first car to qualify in a TCGR Lola/Ford-Cosworth and set new one- and four-lap records of 229.305 mph and 229.127 mph respectively. His one-lap record stood for about 35 minutes until he was bested by Gary Bettenhausen. The four-lap record stood longer, but it too soon fell to Roberto Guerrero’s record-setting run of 232.482 mph about an hour later.)
Tags: Arie Luyendyk, Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, Verizon IndyCar Series - Technical
Great read…I forgot what it was like when we used to go faster every year. It would be good to have that component of the 500 return…
the author of this article is wrong. johnny rutherford actually had several unofficial 200 mph laps in 1973.
I agree with everything you’ve written, an attempt outside of qualifying and race is an interesting exercise but in no way would it be valid for the record books. You’re also right about the comparison to the new car. That car ought to look awesome compared to the current one, just as any car developed a decade later should. The best way to say ‘progress’ is to have the 2012 car lap Indy 5-10mph faster than the existing formula, which itself has been gradually ramping up speeds every year anyway. Was 2010 not the fastest since the current chassis/engine combo was used?
The only thing I disagree with is the need to go for a new record every single year, that’s kind of where you contradict yourself. It shouldn’t be mandated (even in a roundabout way) that a record is broken every May save for the general specs of the car putting them in that region. It should be left for the teams and drivers to reach it organically. If in one year they happen not to reach it, that’s fine. I think it would be even more special to break it once in every 3 or 4 years. Will *this* be the year it falls?
In any case, you just can’t do it every year until the end of time. It is too unsafe to do that, if not now then one day.
Excellent post. Though I understand the worry about having the 2012 cars possibly being slower than a record set this year, I would not mind a record attempt this year if this happened during qualifying. At least the risk taken by going faster than these cars have gone before is somewhat mitigated by the fact that they’re competing to get in the race. Then again, doing that for the entire field is likely cost prohibitive and somewhat unsafe.
Well done, Paul. A meaningless exhibition in soon-to-be obsolete cars with special engines would make their speeds meaningless. I also think it would detract from the significance of the 100th anniversary race. We do not need this for this year.
Seems to me (while we’re talking about meaningless records) that there was also some wild aero-crazy AJ Foyt-driven Oldsmobile factory prototype car driven at the Speedway around 1985 or so that did some ridiculously fast laps (with what became their Quad-4 engine), but I’m not sure if they were faster than an Indycar.
You’ve got everything right–but I also think there’s an elephant in the living room that’s not getting talked about. Some folks–including Bobby Unser–say anything above 230 is unsafe. I don’t think it’s the drivers they’re necessarily worried about, I think it’s the fans. A good look at Mike Conway’s accident last year shows how close his engine came to going through the catchfence. That safety problem leads to questions about insurance for IMS. And without some sort of insurance, I don’t think any races could be run. Hence repeated efforts to keep the speeds below 230.
In Europe, lap records are only official if they are recorded in a race. Qualifying times have never been particularly important to European fans. On saying that, I totally appreciate the significance and importance of the records at Indianapolis and to set up a contrived event outside the constrictions of the INDYCAR rules and regualations is kind of daft, it’s meaningless. You may as well give the cars NOS.
A good point and well made.
Paul,
You, Pat and Dex said everything I could have wanted to say on the topic. No need to run an exhibition that will mean nothing for the recordbooks. Too much potential downside, not nearly enough potential upside. Pass.
otherwise, the author’s opinion is valid. wait until 2012 to set records, although the way i hear it, horsepower even with dual turbochargers will be kept down in the 650 area with the same ground effects surface clearance for cornering, so 230 plus is not likely.
I believe the Foyt Oldsmobile effort was at Talledega, not at Indianapolis and those records might still stand. The car involves was a March 84C chassis with a special full body.
In any case while change might be inevitable, tradition is important too. After 100 years of racing history at Indianapolis, let the track records be born from competition, either in qualifying or during the race. Let solo speed trials remain to places like Bonneville.