This weekend sees the IndyCar season get underway, at last! Here, I’ll go through some of the language used on commentary or by fellow enthusiasts, so you can all familiarise (or refamiliarise) yourself before we get underway!
Oval
A race on an oblong circle shaped circuit - see Indianapolis, Iowa Speedway, Milwaukee Mile.
Street
A race held on city streets, similar to F1 running at Baku - see St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Exhibition Place.
Road
A race on a purpose built ‘road’ course circuit - Barber Motorsports Park, Laguna Seca, Portland International Raceway.
Pit Road
More commonly known as a pit lane in European racing.
Tyres
Primary black: used on all tracks
Alternate red: Road tracks only
Alternate green: street courses only
Rain: I don’t believe I should have to explain this one, but for use in the rain. Ovals do NOT race in the rain at all.
Rolling start
Like in F1 post Safety Car, but for race starts. The series used standing starts sporadically until 2014, when a start line stall for Sebastian Saavedra at Indianapolis caused a huge startline wreck with Mikhail Aleshin and Carlos Munoz, including some debris striking the Mayor of Indianapolis, and the series moved to rolling starts.
Hybrid
There are two engine manufacturers for IndyCar; Honda and Chevrolet(aka “Chevy”), who each have built hybrid engines that came into use in mid-2024. A 2.2 litre, twin turbocharged engine with 900 brake horsepower it uses a hybrid system to harvest energy to go back into the car. These cars now have onboard starters for use in case of stalling, as opposed to it’s predecessor engine.
Push-to-pass
An overtaking aid drivers can use in race. For St.Pete and selected other race, drivers are each allowed 150 seconds of push-to-pass, which can be deployed for a maximum of 15 seconds at a time. For other races those
numbers increase to 200 seconds, for a maximum of 20 seconds. It is not used on ovals.
Charter
A new feature for 2025: teams can enter to any race(with the exception of the Indy 500) a guaranteed start for a ‘guest’ driver.
Straightaway
A long straight.
Pace car
A safety car.
Flags
Green: “green green green green green” = Go!
Yellow: slow down!
Full course yellow: pace car on track, slow down more!
Red: Stop, return to pit road.
White: final lap starts
Checkered: race over!
Drafting
Most common on ovals or circuits with long straights, this is cars running close behind another car with cleaner air created to run in, aids with overtaking. Similar to ‘tow’, seen at the likes of Monza in F1.
Spotter
A spotter works with a driver, coaching through corners, advising of where other cars and warning of dangers ahead or around them.
Lastly…
AMR Safety Team
The AMR Safety Team is a dedicated professional team of quick response personnel who attend each race with a minimum of 18 crew including a trauma doctor, an orthopaedic doctor, firefighters and nurses, who work alongside race marshals to ensure safety is the best it can be, and drivers are attended in a timely and efficient manner. Without them and the marshals, we cannot race and we all are very thankful for their hard work, professionalism and organisation.
📸 Image credits: NTT IndyCar Series, Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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