It may be less than one mile around but one Indy car driver says the Iowa Speedway acts more like a super speedway than a short track. Ed Carpenter finished sixth in last year’s inaugural Iowa Corn Indy 250 and says the facility is extremely fast.
Carpenter says new asphalt always has a "ton of grip" and makes the cars fast. He says it’s a nice smooth track and they race flat out and really close and similar to the racing in Texas. Carpenter is having a solid season but is still looking for his first win. He has five top ten finishes in the first seven races.
He says they’ve had some good finishes, and bad luck that has held them back, but he says they’ve been getting in the top five consistently and he feels they will eventually get their first win.
A.J. Foyt the fourth was 12th at Iowa a year ago after being involved in a crash. He expects a much cleaner race this year after only eight cars managed to finish in 2007. Foyt says the track was new and it was tough to pass, so everyone was trying to pass on the re-starts and that’s why there were so many crashes. Foyt believes people will be more experienced this time around and there will be fewer crashes.
Foyt says the Iowa Speedway is demanding on the drivers because it is so small and there’s a lot of G forces that take the energy out of you.