IndyCar aero kit partially to blame for another Pocono wreck

IndyCar has their head where the sun doesn't shine if it does not think it's aero kit results in drivers taking unnecessary risks

Has IndyCar screwed the pooch with its latest Superspeedway aero kit? It would seem so.

There is one aspect of these wrecks that is seemingly going undiscussed, yet aside of driver error, it is arguably the number one reason why these wrecks happened. That is the introduction of the Superspeedway aero kit that has made it so hard to pass drivers take unnecessary risks on starts and restarts.

The only superspeedway race prior to last year’s race at Pocono Raceway during which the aero kit was used was the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and passing was at a premium throughout this race.

Unlike in previous years where drafting was common, lead changes happened once every few laps and nobody could break away from the pack, it took tons of planning and near perfect execution just to run a car down throughout the 102nd running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing", much less actually advance one position.

In a way, this is what drivers and fans wanted – to create less running in packs and to truly separate the best drivers and the best cars from the rest of the field.

Watch what you wish for!

As a result of the fact that the Pocono 500 race had minimal practice, like last years, and with drivers telling AR1.com after practice they could not pass despite Pocono's ultra long front straight, drivers tried to capitalize on the field being bunched up on the opening green flag lap. That led to overaggressive driving at the start, and with minimal practice time, it led to a massive wreck for the 2nd year in a row.

While this year’s Indy 500 featured a much closer finish than last year’s and more lead changes over the course of the final few laps, the race itself was very similar. There was not a ton of drafting, and the first on-track pass for the lead didn’t take place until roughly three quarters of the race were in the books.

Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was involved in both wrecks at Pocono, believes that this is a direct result of the inferior IndyCar aero kit. Here is what he had to say, according to RACER.

“It is so important to gain positions at the start, because it is a track position race. It’s not like it used to be here, where if you had a good car you could knife through it. I came from the back three times one here and went all the way to the front. You can’t do that right now, so I think a lot of guys felt the pressure to gain some spots at the beginning…and it all hand-grenaded."

Fans are so eager to blame to track for these kinds of incidents, but in reality, that should be the least of their concerns. It’s a knee-jerk, “high road" reaction that anyone who knows nothing about IndyCar feels they can take to sound half-educated about the series.

From 2013 to 2017, there was absolutely nothing wrong with this race. Justin Wilson was killed in 2015. But Wilson happened to be hit in the helmet with a piece of debris, a fluke accident that truly could’ve happened anywhere.

To this day, when people use Wilson’s death to illustrate why the track isn’t safe, it’s like they’re Googling who died at what track and assuming that he was killed in a massive wreck for no reason other than to further their anti-Pocono agenda. It’s disgraceful. In part from Asher Fair/Fan-Sided