by "Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
Published 06/22/2017 at 14:14
by "Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
Published 06/22/2017 at 14:14
Tags: indycar
; kohler gp
; road america
; ram dash cam
; caught on dashcam
STARS: 0
My wife got me tickets to the Kohler GP this weekend at Road America, and while I don’t mind watching cars go roundy round, I’m not the biggest IndyCar fan and want to know if there’s anything I should know to make the experience more... pleasurable.
I have been to a sports car race there a couple times, but this is my first ‘REAL’ race of any kind at this track or any other.
Oh, and I saw some transporters last night:
I found it odd that they were staying about an hour south of the track, but hey. I know how hard it is to get a hotel room on busy weekends.
"jvirgs drives a Subaru" (jvirgs)
06/22/2017 at 14:25, STARS: 1
I think with Indycar races outside of the Indy 500, you get a lot of access to the paddock with your tickets. Drivers are known to be fairly accessible too
"Azrek" (azrek)
06/22/2017 at 14:27, STARS: 0
Watch the tires. Black sided Tires are slower, but last longer. Red tires make the car faster, but burn up faster. So you will hear them referred to as “Sticker red”. You will see the red stripe on them. That is part of the strategy of the team.
They will discuss downforce. Watch how they change the car during pit stops. If a guy comes out with something that looks like an old school screwdriver, they are changing the downforce of the car to change the handling.
Push to Pass: This gives the car slight Turbo Boost. So for a few seconds they have additional horsepower. It will say PP On the LEDs on the side of the car or they announce it.
Go watch qualifying. It is awesome. They will do all they can to eeek out a few seconds in the car. They will tweek and tweek and tweek.
Watch fueling. They will have 2-3 stop designs, so they have to refuel 2-3 times for the duration of the race. This is a risk/gamble as accidents can screw this up.
And...ENJOY! I love Indy Car races, I goto the StPete Race every year.
"WiscoProud" (wiscoproud)
06/22/2017 at 14:41, STARS: 0
I’m interested to know how you like it. Road America isn’t that far from my house (Milwaukee Area) and I’d love to check out some races there sometime.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
06/22/2017 at 14:42, STARS: 0
Thanks! I’d love to go to practice/qualifying but there’s so much going on this weekend otherwise.... plus the kids will be along and I don’t want to bore them.
At least this way if I just go on Sunday for the race and they hate it, they don’t have to come back to the track. Thankfully RA has a Family Zone with stuff for them to do, and ziplining.
How big are the crowds, usually? I know IndyCar isn’t as big as it once was, and RA is a big open track with plenty of grandstands and grass seating, but I don’t want to have to fight a big crowd to get a decent view.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
06/22/2017 at 14:47, STARS: 1
The track and facilities are nice. I’ve seen some SCCA and PWC races there, and there are some good views of the track from most of the popular grandstands. They’ve upgraded quite a lot since I was last there, and like I said I’ve never been to a Big Time race, so I’ll have to let everyone know how that goes there.
Some day I want to go for the NASCAR race as well, I think it’d be neat.
"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
06/22/2017 at 14:48, STARS: 0
A friend of mine went to the Indy race in Ft. Worth a week or so ago. It was his first time. He rented some headphones for $44 that let him listen to the spotter/pits radios and he said it was the best money he ever spent. Is this an oval race? If so, look for a lot of passing and tight racing. The Texas race was a real nail biter.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
06/22/2017 at 14:50, STARS: 0
I heard it was quite the race, accordng to the facebooks and twitters.
RA is a road course:
"Mini Guy- Now has a 4Runner" (gavinharter30)
06/22/2017 at 15:01, STARS: 1
The cars have around 550-700 horsepower depending on downforce package. Engines are abit bigger than f1 but the car weighs more overall
"Azrek" (azrek)
06/22/2017 at 15:03, STARS: 1
It depends. StPete is usually very full. But it is an oddly laid out track in the center of town, so it may not be as crowded as one thinks.
You should be fine to spread out and find a good spot to campout and watch the cars zipping past.
I recommend going to the Fanzone with the kiddos and let them climb over the demo cars and see the video games.
"DasWauto" (DasWauto)
06/22/2017 at 15:07, STARS: 0
Get a paddock pass and nerd out over the cars as you stand 10ft from them while they’re prepared for the race. It was maybe $30 the last time I went, totally worth it.
The drivers are usually out and about in the paddock too and some will be at their team trailers, talking to fans, taking pictures, signing things. It’s pretty cool. I’ve got Rubens Barichello’s signature on a hat, somewhere... (when I’m done moving I’ll find it again).
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
06/22/2017 at 15:14, STARS: 1
I think the passes we got include paddock.... I’ll have to check the details when I get them at the track. My wife won a raffle put on by the local schools and Belardi Auto Racing. They touted that besides the race, there was an autograph session with REBA MCENTYRE’S SON.
But since the passes are good all weekend I’m going mainly for the IndyCar race, and not Indy Lights.
"Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief" (flynorcal)
06/22/2017 at 15:43, STARS: 0
The cars are all powered by either Honda or Chevy. There’s some debate about which is more durable.
There’s a couple companies that make the frames as well but as I understand it only one of them is a winner so it’s what nearly everybody uses. I forget the name.
No traction control, no abs, and you’ll likely see someone spin out. You’ll also likely see someone make a U-turn with nothing but throttle at some point too.
Don’t forget sunblock.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
06/22/2017 at 15:54, STARS: 0
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
+1
"jvirgs drives a Subaru" (jvirgs)
06/22/2017 at 16:04, STARS: 2
All teams use the Dw12 chassis. Believe it’s built by Dallarha
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/22/2017 at 17:10, STARS: 0
Not sure how loud the Indycars are but when I went to the USGP in back when it was in Indianapolis, I kinda wished I had brought some kind of hearing protection. From watching F1 on tv, it didn’t even occur to me that might be necessary.
At the beginning of the race I was like, “THESE CARS SOUND AMAZING! THESE PEOPLE WITH EAR PLUGS ARE MISSING OUT!” By about 2/3 of the way through the race I realized why they had brought the ear protection. Even if you get some cheapie ear plugs from Walgreen’s or whatever that will be useful.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
06/22/2017 at 17:16, STARS: 0
Good point. I might pick some up, at least for the wife and kiddos and for me if I wuss out.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/22/2017 at 17:23, STARS: 0
I have some experience with ear plugs because my wife insists on sleeping with a fan on in the summer time and last summer we had this crappy annoyingly loud fan and this stupid-ass decorative “vintage” cheap clock that ticked extra loud. Thankfully the fan has been replaced and the clock moved out of our bedroom.
The little foam ear plugs are ok but they eventually don’t stay in your ears.
The ones with the little weird ridge-y shapes like this generally work better.
"Takuro Spirit" (takurospirit)
06/22/2017 at 17:36, STARS: 0
Thanks, will keep that in mind.
P.S. I love sleeping with a fan on. Except that one time I had a dream I was in a tornado, and woke up thinking I was in an actual tornado, but it was just my loud ass old metal-bladed box fan I had turned on before bed.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
06/22/2017 at 18:08, STARS: 0
I love sleeping in absolute and total silence, but am cursed with extremely sensitive hearing.
"RacinBob" (racinbob)
06/22/2017 at 20:12, STARS: 1
1. Get your Verizon indycar app and an earpiece to listen to the in car radios and see who is where on the track. Also bring a radio with an earpiece.
2. Get there early enough to set up a strategy for watching the race. The place is huge so you need to drive to the turns. I recommend viewing from the stands into Turn One outside, I also recommend driving to the inside of 6 and watch down into turn 5, and then cross to the outside of 6 and watch from the woods the cars come under the bridge and into turn 6 (this is my favorite place). Finally I would go to Canada Corner turn 12 outside and watch from the stands. The winning pass often happens there. Also walk the woods down to the outside to Turn 5. You will be less than 100 feet from 220 MPH cars. How cool is that.
3. You get a free pit pass, use it. You can get so close you could touch the cars (but don’t)
4. Wander over to the victory celebration. You often can get into the crowd.
5. Don’t miss the GT races before and the World Challenge race after. These races are alone worth the price of admission.
6. Suntan lotion, fluids, and snacks are your friends.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/23/2017 at 01:28, STARS: 0
Last years Indy Car race was their second biggest crowd ever. I was there, and there was plenty of places to go view and plenty of room. I wouldn’t worry about that. I’ll be there again this weekend in the inside of turn 3, but also floating around to other viewing areas. There are some really amazing viewing positions around the track.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/23/2017 at 01:31, STARS: 0
It’s amazing place to watch a race. The area is beautiful and there are several good places to watch. It’s one of the greatest natural terrain road courses in the world. I’ve got an extra weekend pass for this event that I’ll sell you at a discount.
"WiscoProud" (wiscoproud)
06/23/2017 at 11:34, STARS: 1
I’d love to, but we already have plans for this weekend. I’ll have to go sometime. I wish they did more at the Milwaukee Mile, its a 10 minute drive for me.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/23/2017 at 11:58, STARS: 0
No worries. I highly recommend coming up here next year. Or if you want to sample the track experience for cheap, there’s a vintage race in September. I’m hoping to make it up there for that.
"WiscoProud" (wiscoproud)
06/23/2017 at 12:45, STARS: 0
That would be a lot of fun. I’m a sucker for vintage races
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
06/23/2017 at 14:23, STARS: 0
Perfect!