In Driver’s Eye with James Hinchcliffe, the six-time INDYCAR winner will bring you inside the mind of a racer while breaking down the nuts and bolts of the sport for fans.
After a late arrival on the schedule, a myriad of complex logistical hurdles and an unprecedented (but totally justified) amount of promotion and hype, we are finally here: INDYCAR’s Freedom 250.
For many people, being able to attend an Indianapolis 500 — or indeed any INDYCAR race — could be a once-in-a-lifetime proposition. We in the industry often forget how lucky we are to get to go to the race track for a living. But even those of us who live and breathe motorsports will be in for a once-in-a-lifetime event this weekend.
This is shaping up to truly be one of the most exceptional events in the long and storied history of INDYCAR for a number of reasons.
(Photo by Mehmet Eser/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Let’s start with the setting. Having a race track built in D.C., around the National Mall no less, is certainly not something many people thought they would see in their lifetime.
To build a track, you have to meet certain prerequisites, and — by a bit of luck and a lot of hard work from a lot of people, both on the D.C. side and the INDYCAR/Penske Entertainment side — all boxes were checked.
The backdrop will be unmatched and the visuals will be stunning, as Indy cars flash by some of the nation’s most recognizable monuments and buildings in a 180-mile-an-hour blur. The challenge for the drivers will be equally monumental.
We’ve already had two brand-new street circuits this season, so the idea of it all seems old hat by now.
(Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
But with D.C., things are a little different. Unlike the streets of Arlington, Texas, and Markham, Ontario, D.C. has not been laser scanned to make an accurate track model for the sim. There is a track model, but it’s based off a 2-D CAD drawing and is nowhere near as accurate.
Furthermore, teams don’t have exact info on surface conditions or grip levels, so it’s all a bit of a guess. When speaking with Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood on my podcast, “Off Track with Hinch and Rossi,” this week ahead of the race, he said that the pre-race simulations are predicting a lap time of somewhere between 53 and 60 seconds. A seven-second spread! That would be like the difference between a lap in an Indy car and one in an Indy NXT car!
So needless to say, drivers are coming in with even more unknowns than they had for either Arlington or Markham.
That said, having had the recent experience of Markham under their belts, the engineers especially will be looking back at what worked and what didn’t on another newly designed, freshly paved circuit.
But they can’t simply cut and paste setups because the layout of the D.C. course is comprised of several more 90-degree, slower-minimum-speed-type corners than Markham. This means there will be a huge emphasis on longitudinal grip — straight line braking and traction — and less on higher-speed lateral grip.
FREEDOM 250: WHAT’S AT STAKE FOR INDYCAR DRIVERS
On paper, D.C.’s 1.7-mile circuit looks like more of a traditional street course than what we saw last week. Think a little more Detroit-ish in nature. But tuning the car is only half the battle. You need to make sure your driver is ready to go, too.
(Render courtesy of INDYCAR)
Firstly, you have to cover the mental state of your driver. We are in the last few rounds of the season, and if your year hasn’t gone well, the desperation level climbs each weekend.
For drivers that haven’t won a race yet this year, time is running out, and bigger risks need to be taken.
Likewise for drivers who aren’t just thinking about getting a W on the board for this year but don’t have a contract in place for next season. Every race, every session, every lap of a weekend is part of the job interview that could make our break the next step in your career.
And let’s not forget about the magnitude of this race.
Penske Corporation President Bud Denker, Graham Rahal, Santino Ferrucci, Pato O’Ward and Alex Palou with the Winning Owner’s trophy in front of the US Capitol. (Photo by Michael L. Levitt/Lumen via Getty Images)
No, it’s not the Indy 500, but if you thought the list of Indy 500 winners was an elite one, the winner of the Freedom 250 will stand alone. One of one. The only driver to conquer the U.S. capital.
D.C. doesn’t have the racing history that Indy does, so it will never mean quite as much to drivers. But there is something undeniably cool about being the only driver to have won such a prestigious event. And it will be prestigious!
Not only will there be 100,000 fans observing trackside from the ticket lottery, there are also tons of hospitality suites occupied by some of the biggest companies on Earth, and many of the country’s most powerful people will be in attendance. They will say, “I remember when…” And they will remember who won that race.
Not going to lie, that’s pretty cool!
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE FAST: WASHINGTON, D.C.
So, once you make sure to keep your driver’s head in the game, you’ve gotta hope their body is up to the task.
Street courses are physical, but not in the way a Barber or Mid-Ohio is, with the long, fast corners that place the driver under high G-loads. They are physical because the bumps and surface changes send so much feedback through the steering wheel that it feels like it’s going to rip out of your hands. So you are death-gripping the wheel all day long.
And in D.C., the day will be long. Very long…
In an attempt to make the distance match the name, a handful of laps were added to make the official race distance 250 miles. That means we are going to be racing for 147 laps.
Freedom 250 course map. (INDYCAR)
Let me put that into perspective.
St. Petersburg is one of the longest races of the year out side of the Indy 500. And it’s also hot and humid with a bumpy street track. Makes it a real physical test. That track is about 1.8 miles, and we race there for 100 laps. Even all green, it’s a nearly two-hour race. Throw in a few cautions and you’re looking at two-plus. That’s a long time strapped into a race car in the heat and humidity.
The D.C. track is 1.7 miles long. And remember, we’re doing 147 laps. In a very humid city barely above sea level.
Even all green, this is set to be a marathon-type race for the drivers. And if what we saw in Markham is any indication, the combination of a new track, a big event and some late-season desperation kicking in means the likelihood of an all green race is slim to none.
(Photo by Kent Nishimura / AFP via Getty Images)
This will be a different type of physical challenge for drivers, maintaining their cool in composure in an environment where even misjudging an inch or two could fire you into the wall.
1 FOR THE ROAD
I will leave you with one final thought: This weekend is going to be memorable. This is going to be a mini Indy 500.
And as such, we at FOX have put together a monumental pre-race show, and if I am being totally honest, I am about as excited about that as I am for the race! Knowing what’s coming down the pipeline has got me telling everybody that as much as this race has the potential to be one for the books, don’t sleep on the pre-race show!
It kicks off at 11:30am ET for 90 minutes to set the biggest street circuit stage that the sport has ever seen. And you are not going to want to miss it!
