Drivers, analysts agree: Oval tracks not safe for IndyCar

Every driver knows that what happened to Dan Wheldon at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16 could happen to them. Drivers face tremendous risks whether they are sitting in a stock car or an Indy car, or whether they are racing on a road course, an oval or a street circuit.

Racing a car near or above 200 mph will never be completely safe. But there is a perception among some in the racing industry that degree of difficulty for Wheldon -- and his fellow IndyCar drivers -- was heightened in Las Vegas because the race was run on an oval track.

Many of today's high-banked, oval tracks were designed for NASCAR races, not IndyCar.

"I've been bad mouthing [Indy] for 15 years because I've called this type of racing, Death Race 2000," said Robin Miller, who covers IndyCar for the SPEED channel.

The October 16 race was the season finale for IndyCar. According to Miller, drivers groused during testing that the track was "grippy" and that "they couldn't get away from each other." On a "grippy" track, tires hold on to the surface better and -- with that kind of handling -- the cars are able to travel at higher rates of speed.

After the Wheldon tragedy, Oriol Servia, who drove in the race, specifically addressed the topic of the track in a statement released to the media.

"We all had a bad feeling about this place in particular just because of the high banking and how easy it was to go flat and if you give us the opportunity, we are drivers and we try to go to the front -- we race each other hard because that's what we do," Servia's statement read.

Two days later, NASCAR's five-time champion Jimmie Johnson told ESPN.com, "I wouldn't run them on ovals. There's just no need to. Those cars are fantastic for street circuits, for road courses. I hate, hate, hate that this tragedy took place. But hopefully they can learn from it and make those cars safer on ovals somehow. I don't know how they can really do it.

"Myself, I have a lot of friends that race in that series, and I'd just rather see them on street circuits and road courses. No more ovals."

At issue is the design difference between Indy cars and the stock cars used in NASCAR and how they handle on ovals. The design of an IndyCar -- open wheels and open cockpit -- are not built to withstand the bumping that occurs during oval-track racing. Racing on ovals is often done in packs, which lends itself to contact between cars. Pack racing and bumping are commonplace in NASCAR.

(It should be noted that IndyCar's signature track -- The Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- is an oval. However, it is 2.5 miles long and has banking of only nine degrees on the turns. It doesn't race as fast as Las Vegas, which is 1.5 miles and has 20-degree banking on turns.)

"These are open-wheeled cars," Miller said. "You rub wheels with someone at 225 mph and it launches people. Pack racing is fine for NASCAR. But you are going 50 mph faster in an Indy car. There is absolutely no room for error. You can't rub and you can't bump. It's a recipe for disaster."

The IndyCar travels at about 225 mph, while the average speed during a NASCAR race is 185. From Miller's perspective, the oval has diminished the quality of racing in IndyCar.

"You just shutter when you watch the races," he said. "It wasn't much fun to watch. It's not pure racing. It's not the pure form of racing where you use the break and the throttle."

When contacted by Newsday, IndyCar issued a statement that read in part:

"The entire IndyCar family is saddened by Dan Wheldon's tragic death, and our thoughts continue to be, first and foremost, with Dan's wife, Susie, and his entire family at this incredibly difficult time. The safety of our drivers, their crews, IndyCar staff, racetrack staff and spectators is always our paramount concern . . . As part of our standard safety protocol, a full investigation has been launched by IndyCar, with assistance from individual members of various motor sports bodies . . . In the meantime, it would be inappropriate to comment further until the investigative team has had the opportunity to conclude its work."

Scott Goodyear, a former IndyCar driver who now calls races for ESPN, is not ready to lay the blame on oval racing.

"I am not sure that is a recipe for what happened here," Goodyear said. "People are always going to look to point blame for it. He got sideways and there was a chain reaction. That could have happened anywhere."

Goodyear was quick to point out that IndyCar has long been at the forefront of safety issues. He said they introduced softwall technology as well as the six-point harnesses that NASCAR adopted after the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr.

"We'll continue on and there will be improvements," said Goodyear, who suffered two broken backs during his racing career. "There is no cost or measure IndyCar won't take to improve the safety for our drivers."