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Thursday, July 5
Full-house expected in Kanas
Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- With a 1.5-mile oval track at the brand
new Kansas Speedway, Sunday's Indy Racing Northern Light race will
be quite a contrast to the IRL's last race.
On Saturday night, the series was at the oval in Richmond, Va.,
which is only three-quarters of a mile. The temperature at race
time Sunday is expected to approach 100 degrees.
| |  | | | Salazar |
"It got pretty hot at Richmond, too, but that race was at
midnight," said Eliseo Salazar, who made 31 starts in the Northern
Light series last year.
"It puts a lot of heat on the tires. It just demands a higher
level of performance. We'll get a little more thirsty, but we'll be
prepared for that."
The 200-lap, 300-mile race starts at noon and is already
guaranteed a sellout crowd of 75,000.
"The main adjustment is changing gears," said Al Unser,
who finished a season-best third in the SunTrust Indy Challenge at
Richmond and climbed into the top 10 in the Northern Light Cup
point standings for the first time.
"They're a lot taller gears. Basically, we were averaging
160-165 mph (at Richmond). Now we'll be averaging 212-215.
"The car load will be about the same because as the speed
increases, so does the downpull. The difference in speed, the wings
will be different. As far as setups, it's going to be pretty close
to what it was in Richmond but for the gears."
Unser also expects the oppressive Midwestern heat and humidity
to be a factor.
"It's really hot. That's going to play a big role as far as
what the air temperature goes around cars, plus what the surface is
going to be," he said. "With wings on our cars, it's actually
another challenge."
While flying around the track and feeling the wind rushing over
their face, drivers may not be bothered. It's when they pull into
the pit for an extended stop that they'll feel the heat.
"We can remove the cone of the car to let air flow through and
get some relief that way," said Airton Dare, last year's IRL
rookie of the year. "But that takes about 30 seconds to take off
and put back on and nobody is going to want to spend another minute
doing that."
Unser, a two-time Indy 500 champion, is also excited to be
racing in the track's inaugural major race.
"It means a lot," he said. "I won the inaugural event at
Portland in 1984, which was my first victory also. Everybody
remembers it. I've been a part of opening up a lot of tracks in my
career and that first inaugural race is exciting.
"It's anticipation like the start of the Indy 500. That's what
makes it so exciting. At a quarter 'til eleven on that day, all the
guys are in their seats and you wait for, 'Gentlemen, start your
engines."'
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