IndyCar Series driver Scott Sharp and Indy Pro Series driver Joey Scarallo were the guests on the Indy Racing League teleconference today.
Sharp discussed the IndyCar Series upcoming inaugural race at Iowa Speedway.
Q. Heading to Iowa Speedway, you mentioned you have tested there. Give us a little more detail on what the track is like and what type of racing we should expect to see this weekend.
SCOTT SHARP: I’m excited. I really am. I like the short tracks to begin with, and Richmond is one of my favorite tracks. I always enjoy going to Phoenix.
Iowa is different. It’s short track in distance, but it’s not going to race like a short track. I really think it’s going to race like one of our big tracks. Like one of the mile and a half tracks. It just seems like the banking, there’s a lot of grip there, whether it’s the banking, the new pavement, whatever it might be.
Drafting is going to be huge, which for the most part on the short oval it isn’t. You’re looking at grip and trying to keep consistency in the car. I think going to Iowa, we’re going to have a big freight train type race. I don’t think it’s going to be hard for our cars to be flat out. Maybe in turbulence it will. But certainly not leading up to the qualifying.
I think it’s just going to as a difference it’s going to turn into it’s going to be the fastest probably short oval that we’re on. And I think with the way the banking that grows the higher you run I think that’s going to be very interesting to see just how quick that makes the outside groove and how raceable that groove becomes.
And I’m excited. I think it’s going to be quite a show for all the fans that are going to come out.
Scarallo discussed his transition back into open-wheel racing from several years racing Trans-Ams.
Q. Tell us about the transition to the Indy Pro Series from what you’ve been used to the last couple of years.
JOEY SCARALLO: Yeah, it’s been about as big a transition as you can possibly imagine. I mean obviously doing some open wheel stuff, I wasn’t too worried about having such a huge transition getting back into an open wheel car this year, but it’s certainly been a bit larger, bigger step than what I thought.
I think certainly coupled with the fact that the team is a new team running in the Indy Pro Series there’s certainly a big curve there for the guys to learn how to set up the car for each track.
There’s no data to fall back on from last year. And then there’s also the curve for me and then working with new engineers. I mean you constantly hear people talk about that, just the driver getting along with the engineer and how to maximize what that given driver needs for the car.
So I mean the car is a completely, completely different I mean I really enjoyed my stint in Trans-Am. Right now the Trans-Am series isn’t around anymore.
But to be honest, I always wanted to get back into an open wheel car anyway. So it’s certainly a welcome change. And I’m enjoying it. I mean the results so far up until this point haven’t been exactly what we wanted yet, which is a bit difficult at times.
We almost won the championship the last year I ran in Trans-Am. And certainly this first part of the year it’s been a common struggle. It’s been a bit tough. But I think we’re going to have a good second half to the year. I’m looking forward to it. I think things are starting to come together for us.
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