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 Friday, December 13, 2002
Smallish oval to challenge IRL drivers
By Jack Arute
Special to ABC Sports Online
Gateway International Speedway is this week's stop for the Indy Racing League, a stop that requires some different skill sets for the IRL drivers and mechanics than those exhibited in the previous few races.
"Both sides of the track are very different from each other. The wind and the weather can change the car dramatically. It will be one of the more intense races we will run this year," was Nashville winner Alex Barron's assessment of the mile-and-a-quarter track located on the Illinois side of the Mississippi.
|  | | Al Unser Jr.'s pit strategy led him to the Winner's Circle last year at Gateway. |
Gateway falls into the "short oval" classification shared by IRL stops at Phoenix, Nazareth, Richmond, Nashville and Pikes Peak. But its unique configuration makes it stand out. It is shaped like a paper clip with Turns 1 and 2 far different than Turns 3 and 4.
"Turns 1 and 2 are very sharp, while Turns 3 and 4 are flat out," observed Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves.
The IRL's most recent winner, Felipe Giaffone, agrees.
"Gateway is different from all the other smaller ovals because it's not symmetrical," said Giaffone. "Turn 1 and 2 are pretty tight, and 3 and 4 should be pretty flat when the car is good. You really have to have a good setup, but it's tricky because you are making compromises all the time."
Look for a lot of shifting during the 200 laps. It is one of the compromises that comes with the track's layout.
Another is grip versus drag. Unlike many of the 1.5-mile banked layouts where team engineers take away as much grip as a driver can stand so as to minimize the drag produced by the cars, the Gateway setup relies upon grip to navigate through the corners.
That said, the "X" factors for Gateway success may be shrewd fuel and pit tactics.
Last year, Al Unser Jr. used a radical pit strategy to advance through the field and win the inaugural IRL race there after a late caution allowed him to take on the needed methanol to finish the race.
More importantly, teams will find a new surface when they get to Gateway.
"The track used to be very bumpy in Turns 1 and 2, but I heard they repaved it, so it shouldn't be too bad," said A.J. Foyt/Harrah's Airton Dare. "As far as race strategy, it will be pretty much the same as at any other track. You have to stay with the leaders so that you can position yourself in the last 15 to 20 laps to have a chance to win the race."
While winning the race is the goal for everyone, points for the championship are equally important. Just three races remain on the 2002 IRL schedule and the battle at the top of the standings is knotted up between Sam Hornish Jr., Castroneves and Gil de Ferran. Hornish holds a four-point advantage over Castroneves and a 13-point margin over de Ferran.
The short oval plays into de Ferran's hands. He scored his only IRL win back at Pikes Peak and thinks that Gateway's configuration plays to his strong suit.
"We're certainly looking forward to racing in St. Louis next weekend," he said.
He and Castroneves, his Marlboro Team Penske partner, were two of the quickest in St. Louis testing.
"We've been doing well at this type of track all season, and we've gotten some of our best results on the short ovals like Gateway," de Ferran said. "I'd say we've got a very good chance for a successful weekend. It's important that Marlboro Team Penske does well in St. Louis so that we can go into the final two races in a strong position in the championship."
"We had a very good test and are fast in the car," added Castroneves. "But we still have work to do to get ready for the race. But we've got a good start from the time we had."
Hornish, also a short track winner (Richmond) also believes that he has the right setup for Gateway.
"This is one of the races that Panther is very good at, the tighter tracks where it's all about setup," the defending series champion said. "The only downfall of that is the Penske cars are usually fast at these tracks, too, and it's usually a dogfight between these two teams. We just have to go out there and continue to do what we've done over the last couple of months. If we don't have what it takes to win on that certain day, then we do the best with what we've got, and it usually works out pretty good."
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