This weekend marks the 67th running of an iconic tradition in motorsports that has been regarded as ‘The Great American Race’ for the longest time. The Daytona 500 signifies the start of the points-paying regular season in the NASCAR Cup Series and is arguably the biggest jewel in the NASCAR crown today. Another event that comes close to the realm of the Daytona 500 is the famed Indy 500.
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The crown jewel race from America’s premier open-wheeled racing series, the 500-mile-long race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway holds similar weight in the NTT IndyCar Series and is often regarded as ‘The greatest Spectacle in Racing.’ While both races go on for 500 miles, there are key differences in terms of the racecraft required to excel at either.
Seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson detailed the first obvious difference between the two, the cars. Having driven both in IndyCar and in NASCAR, the Legacy Motor Club owner elaborated, “In IndyCar, the tow is just mind-blowing how much it helps cars pick up speed. A tow in the stock car is minimal. All the energy comes from behind the push. Really just different dynamics.”
While a Next Gen Cup car and an IndyCar are poles apart even to the naked eye, one rather fine detail that everyone but the hardcore motorsport enthusiast would miss is the finesse of racing in each event. Former F1 and NASCAR and winner of the Indy 500, Juan Pablo Montoya laid the same out in simple terms.
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“The factor with NASCAR that makes it really difficult is that you not only depend on yourself to win the race, you depend on your teammates pushing you, your friends,” said Montoya, alluding to the importance of teamwork and drafting partners in NASCAR, whereas the same is not as important during the Indy 500.
“The Indy 500, the year I ran it, the way the aero was, you make big runs and stuff, but you’re not side-by-side constantly. I think that to me is the bigger difference of the way you race those races. You have to be pinpoint accurate in either car,” explained AJ Allmendinger, another driver in this year’s Daytona 500 field who has experienced the rush of an open-wheeled IndyCar at Indianapolis.