Penske has maintained his race team on the CART series, while Andretti has severed his ties with the same open-wheeled circuit that made his uncle, Mario, and cousin, Michael, famous. Foyt, will continue to run teams in Indy Racing League and Winston Cup this year. All of a sudden, stock cars are appealing to a different crowd. Gordon drove a partial season in a stock car for Felix Sabates in 1997, winning Atlanta s pole position, before moving back to the familiar ground of IndyCar racing. Getting out there with the Earnhardts and the Gordons and the Labontes and the Rudds and the Wallaces and so on is good racing, fun racing.
Stock cars rely heavily on the draft.
That's when two or more cars run quicker in a line than a single car because the group can better divide the aerodynamic resistance. Basically the lead car punches a hole in the air and the trailing cars help push the lead car through the hole. During the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500, it will be common for as many as 20 cars to run in the lead pack, a creation of both the aerodynamic draft and sheer competition. That will be something entirely new for drivers who rely on clean air to keep their IndyCars glued to the raceway. We did a little bit of it in IROC, but with IndyCars it's totally different.