‘Wrestling A Bear’: Differences between INDYCAR, NASCAR, and Formula 1 cars

The differences between a NASCAR Cup Series car and an INDYCAR car are pretty obvious.

The stock car looks a little bit like the car folks can drive on the street. Its wheels don’t stick out beyond the fenders. The open-wheel car — with wheels that do stick out — looks much different and has a higher-pitched sound, thanks to its turbocharged engine versus a NASCAR engine that is normally aspirated.

A stock car, when set up correctly, is one that often feels as if it is supposed to wiggle on a driver and potentially wreck. The best drivers get it to that brink.

The open-wheel car is run on the brink but maybe not to the point where the driver is uncomfortable as it would be in the stock car. Because once these cars snap around, there isn’t much saving them.

Now the difference between an INDYCAR and a Formula 1 car? That’s a little more nuanced.

So we asked McLaren driver (and defending winner of the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg) Pato O’Ward, who tested a Formula 1 car in December and is ready to make his 90th INDYCAR start this weekend.

“Two different beasts,” O’Ward said. “Formula 1 is very neck-heavy just because of the lateral Gs and longitudinal Gs. I would say INDYCAR is extremely upper-body heavy because no power steering.

“You’re kind of like wrestling a bear with the INDYCAR. F1 acts a bit more gentle.”

Here are a few more specifics about each of the cars:

NASCAR: A Cup car at Indianapolis goes 180 mph and at some other tracks can eclipse 200 mph. It is a normally aspirated 358-cubic inch engine that races at 670 horsepower. It has a wheelbase of 110 inches, a width of 78.6 inches and height of 50.4 inches and weighs 3,200 pounds without the driver. The series runs primarily on ovals, with five permanent road courses and one street course. 

INDYCAR: The cars reach 240 mph at Indianapolis with their twin-turobcharged 2.2-liter, V-6 hybrid engine that generates 650-700 horsepower. And drivers can obtain an additional 120 horsepower with the push-to-pass and hybrid systems (that 120 hp is if they are activated at the same time). It runs on ethanol (NASCAR and F1 both use unleaded fuel). The wheelbase is 117.5-121.5 inches and it weighs 1,635-1,785 pounds without the driver, depending on the course. It is 75.75-76.5 inches wide with a height of 40 inches. INDYCAR competes primarily on street and road courses with a handful of ovals.

FORMULA 1: These cars run 230 mph but run only on street or road courses. Their turbocharged 1.6-liter V-6 engine produces 1,000 horsepower (800 from the engine and about 160 from its hybrid recovery system). The wheelbase is much bigger than the other cars as it is 142 inches. The cars weigh 1,752 pounds without the driver, with a height of 37.4 inches and width of 78.74 inches.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and IndyCar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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