IRL Notes: Drivers feel G’s at RIR

Drivers feel G's at RIR

Spinning through the corners at RIR, an IndyCar driver feels a force on his body equal to five times his body weight -- more than any other stop on tour, and more than NASCAR drivers feel on the track.

"Think about the tallest, fastest roller coaster you've ever been on, and multiply that by two," Tony Kanaan said. "That's what it feels like in Richmond."

Because of that, drivers are fanatical about conditioning, training their body not only to withstand those forces, but to maintain their focus.

Last night's SunTrust Indy Challenge was expected to last a couple of hours, time during which the drivers had to endure 5 G's of force.

"You've got to have strong arms and a strong upper body, because it wears you out," Graham Rahal said. "It's fun, but it wears you out. By the end, a good night's rest is what you need."

First the drivers have to recover, though. Robert Doornbos took his first ride at RIR on Friday as part of the practice session. He was bracing himself for a long night afterward, saying that after taking laps on an oval track, you feel dizzy for the rest of the night.

Technology tries to compensate for that with improved headrests and pedals that are adjusted for each driver, but that only takes them so far. Doornbos joked that when he retires, he and the rest of the IRL drivers will be walking sideways.

The other aspect of the track is its short distance, which requires drivers to be alert at all times.

"It's so short there's no time to think," Doornbos said. "You're out of Turn 2, and you think, 'That was a nice turn,' and you're already in 3 and 4."

Flushed, with cash

As the temperature neared 100 yesterday, Kanaan found a way to kill time in the infield area.

After finding a volunteer -- Aaron Godnai, an IRL series employee -- who was willing to subject himself to punishment, Kanaan raised $500 from spectators, which he matched with $500 of his own to offer Aaron a prize for performing a thankless task. Aaron had to spend an hour inside a port-a-potty on site at RIR.

After baking in the heat for an hour (Kanaan's crew helped out by taping up the ventilation ducts), he claimed a grand and, perhaps more important, helped the crew kill an hour while waiting for last night's race.

The challenge was documented on Kanaan's Twitter feed. Find a link at twitter.com/rtdsports.

Decade of IRL at RIR?

Next year's 18-race IndyCar schedule reportedly will be split evenly between ovals and road/street circuits, meaning one oval on this year's schedule won't be returning.

If IndyCar officials have their way, that track won't be RIR.

Terry Angstadt, the Indy Racing League's commercial division president, said yesterday the league hopes to stage a 10th race at RIR in 2010.

"We're hopeful," he said. "In fact, we have a conference call on Tuesday with the ISC [International Speedway Corporation, owner of RIR] group to talk through specifics of renewing next year. We're optimistic."

Sponsor for Lazier

Driver Jaques Lazier, who won the pole in the first RIR race in 2001, has found a sponsor for the rest of the season.

His Team 3G car will be sponsored by Novicomm LED light technology.

Going to Brazil

IRL drivers reacted this week to the news that the league likely will race in Brazil during the 2010 season.

Helio Castroneves said that he welcomed the chance to race in his home country, while other drivers said they felt the series would do well to expand its fan base internationally.

"I personally think it's good for the series," Rafa Matos said. "For me, it's great to be racing in different parts of the world." -- Michael Phillips, Shawn Fenner, Ralph Paulk, Paul Woody