"If You Think Driving On An Oval Is Easy You're An Idiot"

"If You Think Driving On An Oval Is Easy You're An Idiot"

Alex Lloyd:

It didn’t take long, however, for my initial view to be squashed like a Namibian wildebeest’s eyeball. My first few laps at Chicagoland Speedway in a 190-mph Indy Lights car showcased two key facts of oval racing: 190 mph is batshit crazy. And those walls seem awfully close.

Since then I have been fortunate to have driven 230-mph IndyCars on ovals, and one thing is for sure — the batshit-ness never fades. Even an oval that is “flat-out” the whole way around is never easy. The cars react to the slightest of wind gusts. Every bump attempts to hurl the back end into a spin. Your machine is always on the absolute limit of adhesion. The turbulence following another car is like when Maverick crosses Ice Man’s wake in Top Gun — the car shakes violently and your helmet feels like it will rip your head off.