Edmonton track will separate the men from the girls

Will drivers like Danica Patrick and Darren Manning fade in the physically difficult race on Saturday? They better hope for a lot of cautions to rest their arms.

Steve Snoddy/IRL

Paul Tracy, a three-year veteran of Edmonton’s airport-street course, said Saturday’s 95-lap race will go to the strongest.

Tracy said the 14-turn circuit over bumps and hard-left-hard-right corners on the 1.96-mile (3.1-kilometre) course always takes its toll on the weak.

“Definitely it’s the most physical track you can do in North America," said Tracy.

“Everybody’s going to tell you they’re in great shape, but in the last Champ Car races, you see the guys that were going fast at the end and you see the ones that were hanging on just to get to the end."

He said he and Oriol Servia last year started at the back of the field but moved up as the sun beat down and the laps mounted.

“At the end of the race we were catching up guys that were getting tired and that’s going to be the case (on Saturday).

“This track is tough, tough as it gets."

Australian Will Power said the track pounds the tires like no other course on the IndyCar circuit this year.

“Here over a stint, after 10 laps, (the tires) really start to go off, so when you’re driving that car you’re really on the wheel, which makes it even harder to not make a mistake." Edmonton Sun