By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor
AVONDALE, Ariz. – While the buzz of NASCAR’s Cup Series swirled around them Sunday, a dedicated group of racers worked hard in a serene corner of the Phoenix Raceway infield.
Mechanics from several NTT IndyCar Series teams wrenched on their cars that raced Saturday in the Good Ranchers 250 race on the one-mile oval. Their main task: converting the cars to a street course configuration in preparation for the coming weekend’s race in Arlington, Texas.
The work began as soon as the cars rolled back to the speedway’s IndyCar paddock after Saturday’s race.
Crews removed bodywork and cleaned off 250 miles of grime, then dug into the innards to change from a left-turn-only setup to left and right.
The conversion involves very little component replacement – only about a half dozen parts are swapped from the oval setup. The biggest amount of work was to adjust suspension settings and balance the cars for street course racing.
There also was cosmetic work being done. Some cars’ bodywork was being re-wrapped into the liveries that will race at Texas, while others simply were being cleaned of the rubber and debris marks they picked up during Saturday’s race.
Crews from Ed Carpenter Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Meyer Shank Racing, Juncos Hollinger Racing and Dale Coyne Racing quietly went about their work while NASCAR’s Cup Series teams roared to life for the Straight Talk 500.
Normally, IndyCar transporters would leave immediately after a race and go back to team headquarters in Indianapolis. But, with Saturday’s race being in the western U.S. and a tight timetable to get the cars and equipment to Texas, many teams stayed at the track in Phoenix to perform the conversion and necessary repairs.
They hoped to wrap up their work by mid afternoon and have the transporters on the road before the NASCAR race ended.
The Texas race will be the third in three weekends in a busy opening stretch for the IndyCar teams, who raced March 1 at St. Petersburg, FL, then Phoenix on Saturday. And that came after a two-day test at Phoenix just eight days before they had to be in St. Petersburg.
After the Texas race, the teams get a break before racing March 29 at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, then back on the West Coast for the April 19 race at Long Beach, CA.
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