• The Essentials
  • Features
STORYCLIPPINGSSUBJECT BACKGROUNDABOUT THE FILMPRODUCTION NOTESIn Depth

Super speedway / subject background

  1. At top speeds in excess of 230 miles per hour, an Indy car is traveling more than a football field every second.
  2. An Indy car weighs only 1,550 pounds, 220 pounds less than the diminutive Suzuki Swift!
  3. An Indy car rolling chassis (the car without its engine, turbocharger, electronics or tires) costs approximately $420,000 U.S.
  4. Indy cars have a maximum length of 16 feet 3 inches (4.95 metres), a maximum width of 6 feet 6 inches (1.99 metres) and a maximum height of 2 feet 8 inches (.81 metres).
  5. Sweating can cause a driver to lose up to 10 pounds (4.5 kilos) during a two-hour race.
  6. At speed, Indy cars produce so much downforce they could drive upside down on an inverted track!
  7. Indy cars can generate four Gs (four times the Earth's gravity) of lateral acceleration driving around the fastest corners.
  8. The side tunnels of Indy cars generate so much suction that manhole covers found on temporary street circuits must be welded down so they are not sucked off when the cars pass over them.
  9. Mario Andretti held the world closed-course speed record; he lapped the Michigan International Speedway at a speed of 234.275 miles per hour (377.042 km/h) on July 31, 1993 (broken by Jimmy Vasser, age 31, in 1996).
  10. In 1990, Al Unser Jr. drove the fastest 500-mile race ever, averaging a speed of 189.727 miles per hour (305.347 km/h) at Michigan International Speedway.
  11. In 1995, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve became the youngest ever CART Champion at the age of 24.