Turn7
06-09-03, 11:22 AM
Everybody always talks about what made the 500 great, the race of all races, ect. One of the things that had to of been a thing that seperated it from other races is the endurance factor. "Back in the day", 500 miles at a pace of 100 mph would have taken most of the day to complete. The cars, while goint slower, were at the ragged edge, spun up full bore, and screaming with all of their might. To be under such grueling conditions for a prolonged period of time had to be one of the things that made the race great.
Now days, 500 miles isn't that big of a deal. NASCAR does it on a weekly basis, reportedly Rahal just won a race with a motor with over 1000 miles on it, ect. Would the Indy 500 be better served if it became the Indy 800 or even the Indy 1000? That would be a challenge that I would think most of the mfg's would covet a win from. A huge seperator from the rest. I know endurace racing with the RGAS and IMSA series sort of cover this area but, to have a race already widely known add the sort of milage to the race that would seperate it from the others would be news.
Do you think the mfg's would go for it? If so, would it turn the tides more towards the IRL?
Now days, 500 miles isn't that big of a deal. NASCAR does it on a weekly basis, reportedly Rahal just won a race with a motor with over 1000 miles on it, ect. Would the Indy 500 be better served if it became the Indy 800 or even the Indy 1000? That would be a challenge that I would think most of the mfg's would covet a win from. A huge seperator from the rest. I know endurace racing with the RGAS and IMSA series sort of cover this area but, to have a race already widely known add the sort of milage to the race that would seperate it from the others would be news.
Do you think the mfg's would go for it? If so, would it turn the tides more towards the IRL?