Getting Ready for Nashville

This week the IRL travels to Nashville, Tennessee, for the inaugural Harrah’s Indy 200 on July 21 at Nashville Superspeedway. If you don't have your seat already, you're out of luck, however, since the race is a sell out. Evidently Indy racing is going to be a hit in this traditional stock car venue. The 200 lap event will be televised on ESPN at 7 p.m., Central time.

This is the second consecutive sell out for the IRL, as last week's Ameristar Casino Indy 200 at the new Kansas Speedway was also a sellout. The new tracks that have been added to the IRL schedule this year have proven to be big crowd pleasers. According to Cliff Hawks, General Manager at the speedway, "We have no more seats available for the race. Because of continuing demand, we will accommodate people who want to see the race, but don’t have a seat." Standing room only tickets are available by calling (866) RACE-TIX. Price for these tickets is $20.00. They are located in Turn 1 and have limited visibility, according to speedway officials.

Tire wear is expected to present problems for some teams, but if they do encounter problems, they won't have far to go for help, since Firestone, which manufactures all IRL tires, is headquartered in Nashville. Among the crowd at the June 21 race will be over 1,200 Firestone employees, and hopefully the company has figured out the problems of a new concrete track. A company spokesman told the racing press, "Concrete does make for a little more added difficulty. It’s new. Tracks themselves take a while to bed down. The surface is very abrasive. There are little sharp points like sandpaper. It takes time." In testing earlier this year, the IRL cars were getting approximately 30 laps on a set of tires. With scheduled pit stops usually happening at about the 60 lap mark, this could present a problem, but as testing went on, the tire wear seemed to improve, and Firestone hopes that they have the problems solved. The company told reporters that, "Nobody has any race experience here. You’re not going to get it until you’re in a race. You can’t simulate that. Computers can’t do that"

In early practice sessions for the race, Billy Boat has the best runs, reaching speeds in excess of 199 m.p.h. in his #98 CURB Records Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone. Sam Hornish, Jr. also topped 199 m.p.h. during practice. It's expected that the second practice session, scheduled for 8:30 p.m., might even see some 200 m.p.h. plus runs, as the track temperature cools. Qualifying is set for 4:45 p.m. on Friday, July 20 and will be televised by ESPN2 beginning at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time.

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