Set in brick: finding the proper setup at Indy—adjusting the suspension to get the best balance of speed and handling—yields benefits far beyond one big race

Sporting News, The, August 4, 2003 by Lee Spencer

Desperately Seeking Setups: NASCAR race teams searching for the best combination of shocks, springs and sway bars. Must be able to produce optimum adhesion to the racing surface and enhance the aerodynamic balance of a racecar at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Why choose the Brickyard for one of the five precious tests NASCAR allows Winston Cup teams to conduct in search of that all-important setup? The answer is simple: After the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 is the most prestigious race on the schedule. It also offers the second-biggest purse, $7,861,873, behind only the Daytona 500.

But file Brickyard, which is Sunday, is run on one of the most difficult tracks to set up for.

* With five-eighths-mile drag strips on the front and back stretches, teams need to make the most of the aerodynamic abilities of the car.

* Teams must also be mindful of the four distinct turns on the track, turns that account for two-fifths--I mile--of the 2 1/2 miles of pavement over bricks.

* There also are two one-eighth-mile chutes on each end of the track.

"Teams test at Indy because they want to win this race," says Larry McReynolds, a former longtime crew chief who's now a Fox racing analyst. "But if they have a successful test, they also can transfer the knowledge they gain to other tracks on the circuit, like Pocono or Michigan or even a place like Kansas.

"You want the best aero you can get down the straightaways but low drag going through the corners, which present four separate challenges. If you don't have the right setup to get into the entry of the corner, then you'll miss the center and the exit, too."

OK, the same thing in 15 words or less: "You want the nose down, the tail up and as much grip as possible."

That's from car owner Len Wood, whose father, Glen, and uncle Leonard worked pit stops at Indy in the 1960s, long before Wood Brothers returned with a stock car.

There's one other factor that complicates the setups for the Brickyard. Indianapolis and Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte are the two most temperature-sensitive tracks. By race time in August, the track's temperature at Indy can fluctuate 40 degrees from the morning to the afternoon, when the checkered flag falls.

"You can't get too aggressive," says Tony Glover, team manager for Ganassi Racing. "You can do a lot with the car when it's cool and green that you can't do when it's hot and slick. Most teams concentrate on race setup. Of course, teams that are further back in the points have to worry about qualifying."

During three days of testing at Indy, we looked at three teams, three manufacturers and three drivers with different styles. Robby Gordon in the No. 31 Chevrolet, Ricky Rudd in the No. 21 Ford and Bill Elliott in the No. 9 Dodge all were seeking two things in their setups: mechanical balance and aerodynamic balance. When testing ended on Wednesday, July 16, they left with three different sets of findings.

"The objective is optimizing the mechanical side of things to make absolute use of the aerodynamics," says engineering consultant Terry Satchel of Wood Brothers, which fields cars for Rudd. "The springs are used to control the cars' attitude (the "nose up, tail down" portion of the equation), and the shocks are used to control how the tires react to the ground. There's a proper shock that goes with a proper combination of springs and (sway) bars, and you've got to find that.

"But the problem with the shocks is that there's no absolute solution because it's all driver preference. Does the driver turn the wheel briskly? Or is he gradual and smooth? Or is he a late braker and abrupt? What you do with the shocks is dramatically different depending on the driver's style of driving--does he roll on the throttle, or does he jump on it? All of that affects what kind of shock package you put on the car."

Since Chevrolet introduced a new car this season, Gordon's team has learned certain tricks that have improved the overall package, and it wont hesitate to cut up and reskin a car if necessary. That's what the team did last year before Gordon qualified fourth and finished eighth at Indy.

"The most important thing is that the car handles says Gordon, who works for Richard Childress Racing. "That means getting into the corner and rolling through the center as fast as possible. There's not a lot you can change when you get to the racetrack except for tuning it with shocks and springs and brakes."

Gordon's team brings One Monte Carlo that is a relatively new car. After it ran at Las Vegas Martinsville, the fabrication shop reskinned it for Michigan, which is a mostly flat track like the other two. Gordon is pleased with that car. Crew chief Kevin Hamlin and engineer Chris Andrews have a baseline setup but want to run an additional 15 laps to fine-tune-it.

"We're looking for the whole package," Hamlin says. "When the springs and shocks work with the aero package, then you know you're going to have a good day."

Gordon runs 41 laps in race trim on the first day, and the team doesn't vary far from the original setup. He believes that this year's body is better than the previous model and that it's a waste of time to work on different setups just for qualifying.