Failure to Start: Causes & Costs of Indy Cars

[Janitor]

Um, "Failure to start."

I can kind of understand that in most Indianapolis 500 races cars suffer gearbox failures that put them out of the race. The RPM involved are much higher than for a street car. But many times I have seen cars towed away from the start line due to not starting. What is the explanation for this? How much does an Indy car cost? My vehicle has a Bluebook value of $800, and it fails to start once every four years when the battery fails. Even then, I can get it started by pushing it.

 

[Cliff_J]

How much does the car cost is difficult, do you go by just the materials and time to construct or factor in the R&D and expenses to bring the team of support people. Millions either way.

But the engine is tuned to work at 14,000 RPM and produce its power up there. Turning over at 500 RPM doesn't exactly fall into the powerband where the airflow has been optimized.

But I agree, with all that money on the line it doesn't make sense to show up and not play the game.

Cliff

 

[Janitor]

Good point about aspiration. But it seems like if it started okay the day before, it should start okay on race day, even if the temperature and humidity in Indianapolis are a bit different than they were.

One driver today could not get started until all the others were well into the pace lap, but finally he got underway.

What with rain delays, the race is still going on. A car owned by David Letterman is leading.

I remember about five or ten years ago at Indy, there was a crash that broke the nose off of a car. You could see the driver's shoes dragging on the pavement as the his car rolled to a stop. They took him to the hospital, and I never heard any more about him. Can anybody remember who the driver was, and is he racing again? His first or last name may have been Paul.