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Menard: Deceiving IMS Oval Poses Constant Challenge for Teams, Drivers

July 20, 2018 | By Paul Kelly, Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of 21 ovals on the 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, but Paul Menard insists it’s unlike any other track.

Every other oval on the schedule has either two constant-radius turns that are depicted as four corners, or the three unique corners at Pocono Raceway. The 2.5-mile oval at IMS is the only track that has four individual corners connected by straightaways – the long front and back straights and the two “short chutes” between Turns 1 and 2 and Turns 3 and 4.

Combine that with the relatively flat 9-degree banking in each of the turns, and Menard thinks the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line on Sept. 7-9 poses one of the toughest challenges for drivers and teams in NASCAR.

“There are four true corners,” Menard said. “We turn four different times, and every corner is a little bit different.

“It looks very symmetrical, but Turn 1 is way different than Turn 2 is. Turn 2 is different than Turn 3. So there’s a little bit of compromise, but you have to make sure you have to know what corner you’re going into because they’re all different.”

IMS also poses an optical illusion to drivers due to the “tunnel effect” of the grandstands that line both sides of the main straightaway, making the entry to Turn 1 look much tighter than the identical arrival at Turn 3. And the fickle temperatures of late summer in Indiana and occasional swirling winds in the huge facility also can create setup headaches for crew chiefs and engineers.

Longer stretches of green-flag racing, combined with NASCAR’s stage racing format, also can cause crew chiefs to lose more sleep pondering possible strategy calls at the Brickyard than many other races.

Still, there is one common trait to the handling characteristics of every winning car in the previous 24 years of this classic NASCAR event, Menard said.

“You’ve got to get off the corner; that’s the biggest thing,” Menard said. “You’ve got to get off the corner and go down the straightaway. Horsepower is obviously a big component of that. Keeping speed up through the corners, so a good car.

It’s the whole package. It’s everything. Strategy, when to put tires on, when to stay out, getting track position, it’s the whole deal.”

Menard knows all about what it takes to win at Indy. The greatest day of his racing career took place in July 2011 at IMS when he shocked the racing world with his upset victory in the Brickyard in a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

The win remains Menard’s sole victory in 12 full-time seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series, but it was no fluke. He led four times for 21 laps and held off Brickyard legend Jeff Gordon by .725 of a second the last time cars crossed the Yard of Bricks.

It was one of the most emotional victories in the history of the event, eliciting scenes of joy from the usually low-key Menard.

His father, home improvement store magnate John Menard, had either sponsored cars or entered teams into the Indianapolis 500 for more than two decades, from the early 80s into the 2000s. John Menard’s own team never won an Indy 500, so he finally – and emotionally – tasted the sweetness of victory at the Racing Capital of the World through the triumph of his son.

Combine that unforgettable day for the Menard family along with his frequent trips as a boy to watch the Indianapolis 500 from the pits of his father’s team, and it’s no surprise why Paul Menard considers the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard Powered by Florida Georgia Line to be one of the biggest, most special events in NASCAR. He is driving the No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Ford fielded by the legendary Wood Brothers in this year’s race.

“It’s the history,” Menard said. “It’s the greatest racetrack in the world, and I’m honored to be here.”