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 Indy 500 Tickets - We don't actually sell Indy 500 tickets but we can link you to people who do. Indianapolis 500 track map for people who want to know the seating and track layout, Indy 500 camping and parking details, schedule & tickets.
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The Indianapolis 500 track map page describes the best places to sit in relation to the turns, with some essential Indianapolis 500 track map facts and links to other useful websites.
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The Indianapolis 500 Track Map
The track map above shows the track itself as a monster oval (it's actually a long rectangle with rounded corners) -
it's 2.5 miles around and there is no vantage point anywhere where you can see the track in its entirety. Indianapolis 500 Track Map contd.
If you are able to sit on the top row (that's about 50 rows high) of the Northwest Vista which is on the outboard side
of turn 4 of the speedway, you can see most of turn 3, the short "chute" between 3 and 4, all of turn 4, and about a
third of the way down the main straightaway. Indianapolis 500 Track Map contd.
The turns are only banked at about 9° of arc which is very shallow compared to most other tracks. Today's Indy cars
actually have front and rear wings (canards) which are designed to act in the reverse fashion of airplane wings. That
is, they provide "down force" (as opposed to "lift") which enables the cars to stick to the track in the turns. Indianapolis 500 Track Map contd. It is
mainly this feature which enables these cars to go at speeds in excess of 225 mph (362 kph) - that is the average speed
for the entire circuit. Straightaway speeds are over 250 mph (402 kph).Indianapolis 500 Track Map contd.
Unlike Formula One racing where the drivers stand next to their cars at the start, the Indy cars make what is known as
a "flying start." The cars are lined up in eleven rows of three and they make two or three parade laps behind a pace
car. Then, the pace car exits into the pits as they come off the fourth turn and the field comes down toward the start
line at well over 200 mph. Indianapolis 500 Track Map contd. When those 33 cars come screaming through turn 4 just prior to the start of the race -
you can feel the electricity in the air - it's a charged moment unlike anything you may ever have felt
before.
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Around the bend
After the brutal 1992 Indy, with 27 accidents in all, an investigation was undertaken to make the track safer.
It was decided to add a grassy area inside each corner. The aim was not to provide a "cushion," but to keep
racers from driving in a warmup lane that used to run alongside the track. Indianapolis 500 Track Map contd.
The change makes the track more challenging, because drivers who used to cut across the warm-up lane now have to make
tighter, sharper turns. That may sound more dangerous. But if you study the physics, you'll see how it makes
drivers, usually concerned with nothing but speed, take the turns at a slower pace. Indianapolis 500 Track Map contd.
The most relevant links we could find, placed here free
 Thomas Fisher's Indy 500 Page
- Thomas Fisher's Indy 500 Page. www.nlci.com
Science World
- more facts on the Indianapolis 500 Track Map. www.findarticles.com
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