[Joe Schaub]

Originally Posted by jonboat15 What ever happened to the PPIR track? Back in the day it seemed like a pretty nice track. I'm not really a road race fan but on natural courses they can be bearable. Tracks I'd like to see Indy cars on. IMS, Michigan, Milwaukee, Richmond, Gateway, New Hampshire, The oval in Miami.... OK, I'll stop.

PPIR was purchased by NASCAR and shut down as a full fledged race track. The track can only have regional events there and no more than (I think) 7,500 tickets sold for any one event. That was actually a better deal that NASCAR gave Nazareth as they dug trenches across the track, removed grandstands form Nazareth to be put at Watkins Glen and have left the track to fall into disrepair.

[Puppy]

Originally Posted by ThrowbackRacingTeam Bunch of rich, second rate cry babies that would never make a midget A-main.

Always someone making totally ignorant comments....
"Throwback" says it all.... Living in the past.....

[Charles Nungester]

Indianapolis to go to pedal cars next year, two laps around the track. Now known as the Indianapolis FIVE. Pay's a Hundred.

[chrismattlin]

Originally Posted by Charles Nungester Indianapolis to go to pedal cars next year, two laps around the track. Now known as the Indianapolis FIVE. Pay's a Hundred.

I LOVE IndyCar, but the way things have unfolded in recent times, it wouldn't surprise me if what you're saying comes to pass. In my lifetime.

[mc/rider]

My dream, Indy cars on mile dirt

[Stevensville Mike]

Originally Posted by ThrowbackRacingTeam Might as well run 1/4 miles if safety is such a big concern. No one even got hurt at Pocono this year. Bunch of rich, second rate cry babies that would never make a midget A-main.

Well..... true.... no one was seriously hurt this year. But don't discount Robert Wickens and his injuries from last year and Justin Wilson's death from years' past. I like Pocono, but IndyCar had to make a decision.

Correct me if I am wrong with who brought this up, but I think Will Power is on to something: The problem mainly lies with the catch fencing. Once an IndyCar leaves the ground it goes into the fencing and can easily hook on the fencing from a variety angles of the car. The nose, a wheel, the rear wing, etc. Once that happens it starts spinning wildly and then nothing good will happen. If the fencing did not allow for the open wheel cars to get hooked, the cars would essentially just "ride" along it, albeit airborne, but not spinning wildly as they go. Think of it as the "boards" around a hockey rink - smooth and high.

Now a stock car or IMSA car is a different beast. There is less to get hung up on a fence once one of those goes airborne. Closed cockpit aside, those cars have less of a chance of hurting driver in a Wickens/Rosenqvist-type mess.

Now granted, something like the boards in hockey with shatterproof glass atop would more than likely not be feasible in racing, but how about a huge tall wall around the outside of some of the Pocono corners? Nothing is outside of Turns 1 or 2 as far as fan viewing goes, so it is not like you are impacting sight lines. Knoxville, for example, has a huge armco wall outside of Turns 1 and 2. There is no "fencing" there at all. So someone has already picked up on this idea. It would just have to be improved upon for larger tracks like Pocono.

I like to think IndyCar left Pocono for safety purposes. Next comes their standard windscreen. The little fin in front of where the windscreen will go also served James Hinchcliffe well in the Pocono wreck, as pointed out in another thread on IOW. A series cannot back off on safety when there are immediate problems facing them.

But as far as "smooth" fencing goes, it will be interesting to see if any of this technology kicks in in the next decade, or so. Look at how the SAFER barriers eventually came about. It all started with styrofoam blocks. They worked well on some smaller ovals, but cleanup was a debacle. It took quite awhile to make the final product work, but eventually it was put in place. The SAFER barriers are here to stay.

Let us see if this idea gains steam.

[ronmil]

I wonder why the road course at IRP isn’t used by IndyCar any more?

[luckybuc97]

Originally Posted by mc/rider My dream, Indy cars on mile dirt

Keep on dreaming Abe!! LOL

[Non wing lover]

Keep dreaming that would only happen took over control of indycar racing which is unlikely

[Stevensville Mike]

Originally Posted by ronmil I wonder why the road course at IRP isn’t used by IndyCar any more?

Had to do a little digging, but I remember that Mario Andretti won his first Champ Car (IndyCar) race there. 1965. Also, that was the first time IndyCars raced on a road course. Al Unser won the last one in 1970.

Is the track pavement even still there?