There has been plenty of talk across the Internet about how to improve IndyCar racing on super speedways. With one open wheel series, many people have looked back to the CART race at Michigan in 1998. The race had 62 official lead changes, a lofty goal for the IndyCar series.

The big news in 1998 was the introduction of the Hanford Device, a horizontal addition spanning the rear wing, which was installed originally for events on super speedways.

The primary roll of the Hanford Device was to improve safety by slowing the Champ Car through aerodynamic drag. The byproduct of this aerodynamic drag was a massive hole in the air flow behind the car, creating a premium draft. If you watch a replay of a Michigan race, you can see the cars pickup the draft and slingshot around the lead car, on both the front and back straightaway.

The racing with the Hanford Device was a fans dream, continual passing the full race distance. However, with the current IndyCar configuration, I don’t’ think a Hanford Device would yield as big of a difference as it did in 1998 and the immediate year after.

The first thing you have to consider is horsepower.

The current naturally aspirated Honda 3.5 liter V8 develops 650 horsepower. Back in 1998 big budgets were fighting for superamacy as Honda, Toyota, Ford and Mercedes-Benz fought for the championship. The 2.65 liter turbocharged engine of the time was producing horsepower in the 800+ range. Development was ongoing with teams receiving different versions of their manufacture’s engine depending on if they were a development or customer team.

It was not uncommong for engine manufactures to be vague on horsepower ratings due to continual development and the always-preset ear of the competition. Before the eventual departure of all but Ford, talk of 900+ horsepower was prevelant.

Any doubts on engine output can be confirmed by the continual increase in speeds, even with the Hanford Device and the occasional Honda blowing an intake plenum completely off the engine. Engine development was 24/7 back then.

The second factor to consider was the super speedway wing package used at the time. With the series unable to control engine development, the reduction in down force through smaller wings was done to force drivers to lift in the corners, reducing the average speed of a lap.  

This practice was eventually followed on all ovals as the series only recourse to reduce speed and lap times in the name of safety. The result was cars that were unable to run side by side in the corners on short ovals, creating two-hour single file parades.

The current Dalarra IndyCar runs much larger wings and has less horsepower. This allows them to run continually side-by-side, while never having to brake for the corners on many ovals. Putting on a Hanford Device could potentially create a premimum draft, but also slow down the cars. This would not be helpful for a series that is working to build itself up to become the premier racing series in the U.S.

To create more passing you need to put more opportunities in the hands of the drivers, or more specifically there feet.

At either a Formula One circuit or a NASCAR short oval, either out braking into a corner, or accelerating out of a corner creates passing. Having the driver’s work the accelerator and brake will put more emphasis on a driver’s skill and has the potential for driver error. These two factors alone not only translate the human factor of racing to the fans, but also add multiple opportunities for passing. 

The answer for creating more passing in the IndyCar series is not a Hanford Device to slow the cars down, but more power to speed things up. Not only will the series then have drivers braking on the ovals, but an addition of 100 horsepower and 100 ft•lb of torque would give the cars more drive out of the corners on the road and street circuits, which they defiantly need. 

Road courses and street circuits will be come more numerous in 2009 and beyond.

Until there is more than one engine and chassis manufacture supplying the IndyCar series, it is likely drivers from other major racing series will not look to IndyCar as a destination. The series needs to consider how to make the cars quicker on ovals and road courses. A faster series with increase the intensity of the racing, make the series more attractive to potential drivers, teams, sponsors and create more passing.

The faster a series is, the greater destination it becomes and the more attractive it is for those that want to be considered part of the elite.