Competitor Breaks Down, Turn By Turn, What Makes The Indianapolis 500 so Grueling

To make a great IndyCar driver, there is a lot invested in perfection. To the casual bystander, it might look like drivers just hop behind the wheel and go. However, drivers and their teams alike delve a lot deeper into making sure that they achieve greatness. It’s a lot more than going out there and winging it.

In fact, executing in a race involves millions of different movements. The small adjustments before, during, and after races will ensure that a driver has a better chance of being successful. The crazy part is that these adjustments will change depending on competition and the racing surface alike. No two tracks provide the same challenge.

When it comes to racing at a simple circle track, one would think that it’s smooth sailing. With only four turns that are easily memorized, a driver finds their best line and sticks to it, right? As it turns out, things are just a little bit more complicated than that.

In this feature from Business Insider, they take a walk through one of the world’s most popular races. With the help of the 2016 Indy 500 winner, Alexander Rossi, we learn a bit about what makes the race so challenging. Rumbling around the track for 500 miles at speeds that reach 220 mph is rather intense. When considering that the finishing margin could come down to fractions of a second, every single adjustment accounts.

In this one, Rossi guides us through what it takes to win. There is so much considered here that it’s simply mind-blowing. In fact, we’re convinced that what Rossi tells us here is even a simplified version of what actually happens. In the video below, we learn about the approach to such a race including everything from mind games to tire temperature and even considerations of race-long strategy.

There’s a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to executing on race day.