The 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season gets underway next weekend with the Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding on the streets of St Petersburg in Florida.
The NTT IndyCar Series is an American open-wheel racing category with race tracks consisting of ovals, road courses, and street circuits.
The series also has the biggest single-day sporting event in the world with the Indianapolis 500 which takes place on Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
In 2022, the IndyCar Series consists of Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske, Dale Coyne Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Andretti Autosport, Juncos Racing, Meyer Shank Racing, AJ Foyt Racing, and Arrow McLaren SP.
Firestone is the official tire supplier to the NTT IndyCar Series supply the teams with three compounds of tires, the Primary (black side walled tire), the Alternate (red side walled tire), and the Wet (Gray side-walled tire which is the grooved tire that drivers use).
On some race tracks that IndyCar visits, drivers experience between four and five times the force of gravity on their bodies which amounts to what astronauts experience when a shuttle takes off.
The NTT IndyCar Series is unique in that there is just one chassis used in the sport which is built by Italian manufacturer Dallara who have a production facility in America.
The series uses a number of flags during racing, the green flag means the race is underway and the chequered flag signals the end of the race, the caution or yellow flag means that there has been an accident or debris on the track.
The NTT IndyCar Series has a dedicated safety team called the AMR Safety Team who travels to each race with the sport with dedicated safety trucks that go to each event.
The series helped to develop the SAFER barrier which is used to protect drivers as it is fitted around tracks.
The series also recently introduced the Aeroscreen cockpit safety device to help protect the driver from serious injury or death. The device was developed with the assistance of PPG and Red Bull Advanced Technology in the United Kingdom along with Dallara.
The NTT IndyCar Series is currently running two days of ‘Spring Training’ testing at Sebring Internationa Raceway and this what an IndyCar looks like at speed.
The Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding takes place from February 25-27 and for more information or to book your tickets visit – http://gpstpete.com
For more information on the series visit the IndyCar website.