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IRL Phoenix, Page 3

Can't pass up a CART/IRL comparison. This engineering cart is as elaborate as any in that OTHER series. This is Scott Goodyear's team. They won the race. That's Andy Brown, ex-Galles, ex-PacWest engineer, in the black shirt. He says one of the benefits of engineering in the IRL is you get to sit down.

Scott Goodyear in Turn 1 driving an Aurora-engined G Force on Goodyear tires.

This photo shows several interesting things. Notice the custom-formed hand-holds on the steering wheel. The gear-shift lever on the right side of the cockpit operates the transmission with a normal H-pattern. For 2000 there will be a new six-speed, sequential gearbox made by Xtrac standard in all IRL cars. You can also see the LCD dash that is a part of the Pi data acquisition system. The mirrors are very important for the driver because he needs to see what's happening around him at the rear. It's not easy to install the mirrors so they stay in place without vibration.

The front suspension of the Kelley Racing Dallara driven by Scott Sharp reveals they have the weight jacker hooked up to the right-front coilover. This weight jacker is an Ohlins part supplied by Motorsports Spares and allows a driver-adjustable way to change cross-weight and, therefore, balance. If the car is loose, oversteering, he can add some weight to the right front tire which also adds weight to the left rear tire. More weight transfer at the front gives a little less grip up there and less weight transfer at the rear give more grip. When a weight jacker works it's a magic way to adjust the balance of the car as the track or tires change or fuel usage alters weight distribution. A leak can render the device useless, however, and with it mounted at the right front, that means massive oversteer.

Here's the rear suspension of that same car, again with Ohlins shocks. I like the anti-roll bar going through the gearbox like that. Nice, neat linkage, but maybe difficult to change bars. Also notice that neat, shield-shaped actuator on the bell crank. That engages a gear on a rotary transducer that develops a position signal for the right-rear suspension.

Another Dallara gets an engine change between sessions. This is the Hemelgarn Racing car driven by Buddy Lazier.

Good 'ol A.J. What would racing be without him? More professional at least, but a lot less colorful. His team was getting away with so much cheating last year that John Menard went public in an attempt to get IRL officials to do their job. Looks like it worked. Kenny Brack and Billy Boat are mid-pack now.

Kenny Brack in his A.J. Foyt Racing, Aurora-powered Dallara on Goodyear tires. This is a view east showing the Turn 4 grandstands and The Hill.

Foyt Racing was using the Dallara monoshock rear suspension on Brack's car. This is a coilover instead of the separate spring and damper shown in the Phoenix test report Jeff Braun submitted. The roll damper isn't there either, and I don't see the adjustable anti-roll bar.

Dallara monoshock front and rear suspensions are shown on another page on this site. The parts are available to any IRL team but only a few have tested them. If you want to check out the more complicated version of the Dallara monoshock suspension, jump to the Phoenix test page.