The Science of the Indy 500 - Term Paper Example

TABLE OF CONTENTS: INTRODUCTION -BACKGROUND AND HISTORY -SCIENCE OF THE INDY 500 -PAST TO PRESENT -MODERN TRENDS REFERENCES INTRODUCTION INDY 500 is a term the world has been familiar with ever since the beginning of the history of racing. Ever since the beginning, it has stood out amongst the racing community as an event by being dubbed as ‘THE GREATEST SPECTACLE IN RACING’. This year, on May 26th 2008, it celebrated its 92nd running (the 63rd consecutive running) and the event has been marked as one of the oldest events in the history of racing. Even though it is a single day event, it has drawn out large crowds towards itself from day one and the current approximate seating on the racing day has been measured at 400,000, labeling it the largest single day sporting event of the world. Background and history The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race is a popular American automobiles race held on the Memorial Day, every year since 1911, the only skipping dates came during the war years, which is the time period of the First and Second World War. The race is held on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indianapolis and has been dubbed as the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing’. The race has earned many shortened names including ‘The 500’ ‘Indianapolis 500’ or the commonly used ‘Indy 500’. It is among one of the three most significant racing events in the world and is measured amongst the oldest racing events of the world (Reed, 2005). Though the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was used for small racing events after it was made in the 1909, the first official 500 race came two years later. Many deaths were caused on the Indianapolis Speedway at first; the cause attributed as unsteady racing surface which was then paved with 3.2 million bricks on the insistence of the principal owner Carl Fisher (Reed, 2005). The first 500 race was held on Memorial Day, 1911 and is highlighted by the fact that victory came to Ray Harroun who was sporting his new invention, the rearview mirror in the race. He was considered a hazard in the race at first because he was riding without a riding mechanic, who checked the oil pressure and warned the driver when traffic was approaching. The first admission fee was 1$ from whence an annual tradition established itself. SCIENCE OF INDY 500 Passing time, events and growing awareness bring about revolutions in technology but advancement in technology also brings new and bigger problems. Every piece of technology, every creation in the human world starts from scratch and goes on to become complex and bigger; generating into something creative and sometimes a genius (Reed, 2005). Racing is like gambling except the stakes in racing are very high as the racer is not betting with just money or monetary objects but he is placing a bet with his own life on the line. It requires luck as much as it requires skill and technology. And over the years, technology has advanced around the sport of racing so as to give both safety to the racer and entertainment to spectators and fans. However, like every other thing in life, racing has its own pros and cons and most of them are highlighted in the field of practicality, Science(Reed, 2005). The Indianapolis speedway, built on 328 acres of farmland in 1909, was planned as a testing ground for the fast growing automobile industry of Indiana. Sporadic races were held where the manufacturers would pit their products against each others but the original flooring of tar and crushed rock proved disastrous and was later replaced with lined bricks that provided a much smoother and safer track and gave the track its nickname, ‘The Brickyard’. The track has four turns, each banked at 9 degrees and 12 minutes and measure exactly 440 yards from entrance to exit and are linked together by a pair of long straights on all sides forming a 2 ½ mile long track. The 2 ½ mile long track is in a rectangular oval shape and has a front and back stretch of 3,300 feet each. The INDY 500 was first seen as an interest generating activity where spectators would have a chance to see the cars competing against each other and it generate enough interest that spectators would feel the urge to head over to the showrooms to take closer looks (Berger, 2001). Everything in nature is explainable; that is the approach science gives each and every aspect. Racing, like anything else, can easily be described or explained through the branch of science called physics. Physics gives a name to all the actions that occur during a race and it gives a reason and an understanding of those actions. The following forces are at work during a race and have to be considered and compensated (Berger, 2001). Centripetal Force Centrifugal Force Friction All these forces act on the car at almost the same time when a car is racing on a track and the car designs over the years have been modified and changed in a bid to obtain faster speeds while still maintaining control over the car. Rules and regulations have been developed to give exact specifications for cars participating in INDY 500. These rules not only ensure the safety of the driver but also prevent accidents and mishaps but their design also corresponds with the laws of physics at work during a race so as to give the car maximum stability even when doing dangerous stunts or making sharp turns. These rules allow no margin for errors. At first there were different rules and regulations for cars competing in different racing events, so a car eligible to participate in the INDY was not necessarily eligible for other events. However, after some time, the rules and regulations for a car to be able to participate in any racing event were made identical for all events. According to the rules, The car length and width is kept strict at an approximate 90” and 43” and no modifications of any kind are allowed on the car chassis while the wing width is 28 1/2” while for the wing angle, the distance from the ground to bottom edge of the wing is measured and compared to the distance of the ground and upper edge of the wing and a minimum distance of 7 ½” is necessary (Berger, 2001). The seat cannot be moved from its original position at all and the tires of the car must be in accordance to the rules with the maximum rear tire circumference not exceeding 35”, even in the case of rain tires. Two spare tires must be kept at all times to change the front tires. PSI caps are not allowed on the tires either and the RIMS must run front on front and rear on rear with the calculations of 5x5 for front and 6x6 for rear. The bearings and rear axle must comply with standards and the engine must be run as manufactured with RPM 3600 and approximately 500 and above horsepower. The fuel must be regular and absolutely no additives are permitted under any circumstances with mirrors being allowed only for display and must be taped or removed when on the race track (Park, 2002). In 1909 the Indianapolis track was made of tar and crushed rocks but accidents and calamities caused the manufacturers to have second thoughts about their race tracks and as a result, the road was laid over with 3.2 million bricks over mortar, providing a steady and somewhat less frictional track, leading to safer, if not the safest, races. The brick track lasted well into the mid 40’s and finally gave out in 1946, but served a lot of races and endured ruthless speeds in its lifetime. PAST TO PRESENT The history of racing of the INDY 500 has its own charm. In the first Indy 500 race, Ray Harroun’s average speed was 74.59 mph. Even when the first national championship driver exceeded the 100mph mark, it took another four year for that honor to be achieved in the INDY even though at that time, Indianapolis had the only paved track to boast of. Even in 1945, when the Indianapolis was put up for sale, it was the only paved track to be boasted of. All around, races were held on horse racing dirt tracks or highly banked wooden board tracks, speeds faster than 140mph possible on the wooden tracks only (Park, 2002). Manufacturers started building cars especially for the INDY. Some major changes took place in car designs to allow faster speeds and safer races. Front wheel drive car was replaced by rear wheel drive in 1950-51 and the dawn of the next year brought the first roadster, where the chassis was widened to allow the drive shaft to run beside the driver, the engine found itself tilted to lower the centre of gravity. Years later, in 1963, a major innovation was introduced in the name of the Lotus 25, modified for INDY racing. Jim Clark averaged 150 mph for 500 miles in 1965 under new changes where the centre of gravity was lowered even more for faster turns monocoque construction which added rigidity and reduced weight. The next year, the first turbo engine was introduced and provided more power by forcing air mechanically through the engine. The first turbocharger car, driven by Bobby Unser won the 500 in 1968. By now, the changes in car designs had reached the tires and the tires were getting wider and to provide down force for a better traction, Mario Andretti used ‘wings’ in the ’69 INDY. As a result, the first wedge shaped McLarens was designed with a side radiator and debuted in 1971. This time, dirt races were removed from the official championship in the INDY and the next year saw the first official 200mph INDY qualifying lap with an Offenhauser engine. The ‘Ground Effect’, however, was first used by the Chaparral-Cosworth car in 1980 (Berger, 2001). It had a tunnel like shaped bottom that created low pressure under the car and then let the atmospheric pressure push the car to the ground, greatly increasing stability and traction. This helps in improvement of system suspension, creating a comfortable ride. Use of the ground effect required understanding and application of the physical properties of fluids. The first flag to flag live coverage of a race was also done featuring the Michigan 500 of 1981 and was televised by NBC-TV. Small accidents and deaths in the INDY races brought forward the need for safety and the importance of using lesser and lesser materials that brought more harm than good. In the case of fuel, gasoline was replaced by Methanol after two lives were lost to fires caused by accidents during the race and were fuelled by the presence and flammability of gasoline. Methanol found advantage in not fueling or catching fire and crew members could easily put out fires the engine caught by pouring water over it. It was also advantageous considering it could run at extremely high compression rates (Berger, 2001). Although the decision came decades after racing itself became a sport, it had since then been in constant use because of its advantage. However it was replaced in 2006 in the 500 by 10% Ethanol and 90% Methanol, but then again replaced the next year by 100% Ethanol- which has an octane number of 100-115-as the fuel choice for the Indy. Using ethanol as fuel has multiple advantages; it keeps the fuel system clean because it has zero gummy deposits and it is the highest performing fuel on the market and keeps the high compression engines running smoothly and it does not freeze in winter climates, instead it acts as an anti-freeze and thus cuts the need for separate additives (Park, 2002). Modern trends Changes in the INDY 500 have also led to a lot of speculation and stories to be generated about it. An example is the 500 race of 1997, which is the first year of controversy for the 500 and was also the final INDY 500 sanctioned by the United States Auto Club. The race scheduled for May 25, was delayed because of rain for 26th May when it was resumed but the laps 16-200 were again delayed for 27th May when the green flag was flown with the white flag on the last lap leading participants Goodyear and Luyendyk to believe the race would end under caution and this confusion allowed Arie Luyendyk to win the race by seven tenths of a second. This event has given rise to speculation that Arie was chosen to be the winner through what Darwin described as the famous theory of Natural Selection. This would of course, be of interest and belief only to the staunch Darwin believers and since the theory itself is still debated by scientists, it is too early to say whether a hand of fate blessed Arie too much (Park, 2002). Recent studies have shown that by applying Darwinian proposals to racing cars, speed can be increased even more and time for the laps can be cut by tenth of a second. In a world where a hundredth of a second marks a huge difference of winner and loser, this new discovery has generated much interest where it is possible to shave off .88 of a second per lap which in the world of racing determines the fate. To aid them, the researchers configured 68 parameters which ended up affecting the suspension, engine, tire and brake pressure, fuel consumption and steering control. Numerous experiments were performed using race simulations and finally the drawn results showed the difference that could be achieved in time by cutting it down from 1 minute 27.005 seconds to 1 minute 21.050 seconds; the optimal lap time improved by almost seven percent (Park, 2002). Furthermore, the effects of high speeding are being researched to determine the effects of high speeding on the human body, the human mind and the human psychology. This research will help in being able to create a better environment and better comfort for the drivers. Experiments and studies have also shown that the engine of a car makes several sounds of different pitches just like a musical instrument and it is possible to determine the engine’s performance and the driver’s technique if those sounds are identified and followed. And this technique of identification can also be applied to other technical instruments. This technique, if mastered, can change the scenario of the racing world. Through this, there will be a sharp increase in the competitive spirit of the sport and cheating in the game can be cut down considerably. Works Cited: Park, R. (2002). Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud. Oxford University Press. Berger, M. L. (2001). The Automobile in American History and Culture: A Reference Guide. Greenwood Press. Reed, T. (2005). Indy: The Race and Ritual of the Indianapolis 500. Potomac Books Inc. Read More