We've all seen counter-clockwise tracks. They're the one that race horses run on in the US.

Can these track be turned around? Can they be made into clockwise track? I think it's how race horses run on a track in Great Britain.

Can cars (Indy cars, stock cars, dirt track cars etc.) race on them "backwards"?

Slow Eddie - 02 June 2008 09:00 PM

We've all seen counter-clockwise tracks. They're the one that race horses run on in the US.

Can these track be turned around? Can they be made into clockwise track? I think it's how race horses run on a track in Great Britain.

Can cars (Indy cars, stock cars, dirt track cars etc.) race on them "backwards"?

It's not the track that's the problem, it's the cars. Cup cars are all designed to favor left turns. Indy and Cup cars have their fuel nozzles on the left side. When they race at Watkins Glen both series have to retro fit cars just so they can pit there.

What difference would it make if they went the wrong way anyways?

jcmark611 - 02 June 2008 09:50 PM

Slow Eddie - 02 June 2008 09:00 PM

We've all seen counter-clockwise tracks. They're the one that race horses run on in the US.

Can these track be turned around? Can they be made into clockwise track? I think it's how race horses run on a track in Great Britain.

Can cars (Indy cars, stock cars, dirt track cars etc.) race on them "backwards"?

It's not the track that's the problem, it's the cars. Cup cars are all designed to favor left turns. Indy and Cup cars have their fuel nozzles on the left side. When they race at Watkins Glen both series have to retro fit cars just so they can pit there.

What difference would it make if they went the wrong way anyways?

exactly, people would still complain that they were going in "circles"...

jcmark611 - 02 June 2008 09:50 PM

It's not the track that's the problem, it's the cars. Cup cars are all designed to favor left turns. Indy and Cup cars have their fuel nozzles on the left side. When they race at Watkins Glen both series have to retro fit cars just so they can pit there.

Cup cars fuel receptacles can be moved to the right side (Watkins Glen), while IndyCars have fuel receptacles on both sides of the car. The side not being used should be covered when not in use (Can you say A.J. Foyt IV at Indy?). The reason? Certain tracks actually do run in a clockwise direction. Some current tracks on the IRL schedule that do include St. Pete, Watkins Glen & Belle Isle. Other tracks that have been on the Champ Car schedule, and might return to the IRL, that run clockwise, and therefore precipitate fuel receptacles on the right side of the car, include Toronto and Elkhart Lake.

It all depends upon which side of the equator you want to race on.

In NASCAR, the driver sits in the car on the left side. Running backwards, the driver would then sit in the car nearest to the outside wall. Bad thing for safety.

Slow Eddie - 02 June 2008 09:00 PM

We've all seen counter-clockwise tracks. They're the one that race horses run on in the US.

Can these track be turned around? Can they be made into clockwise track? I think it's how race horses run on a track in Great Britain.

Can cars (Indy cars, stock cars, dirt track cars etc.) race on them "backwards"?

I can forsee a safety problem there. The inside walls are usually built so that exiting safety vehicles pull out traveling with traffic. This way they are shielded from danger. If the cars were going the opposite direction and someone spun, the results could be catostrophic.