INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, July 3, 2013) – INDYCAR announced today that it will implement three-wide starts for the IZOD IndyCar Series races at Pocono Raceway and Auto Club Speedway, reinstating a “Triple Crown” tradition.
“After having the opportunity to test at Pocono and a successful event at Auto Club Speedway last season, we were able to analyze track data and compare to our current start procedure for the Indianapolis 500,” said Beaux Barfield, race director, INDYCAR. “Given the speeds of our starts, the location of accelerations zones, the spacing between rows and the length of the frontstraights at each track, we have decided to move forward with a three-wide lineup for the initial starts.”
Three-wide starts have been utilized annually for the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race since 1921, and were implemented at Pocono Raceway and Ontario (Calif.) Speedway during the 1970s and ’80s for the tracks’ Triple Crown legs.
The addition this year of the Fuzzy’s Triple Crown renews the tradition of the three superspeedway races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono and Ontario from 1971-1980 and from 1981-89 at Indianapolis, Pocono and Michigan International Speedway.
The Pocono INDYCAR 400 Fueled by Sunoco on Sunday, July 7, is the middle leg of the Fuzzy’s Triple Crown. Cumulative two-lap qualifications on the 2.5-mile tri-oval are scheduled for 1:15 p.m. (ET) Saturday, July 6.
All restarts at both Pocono Raceway and the season-closing MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday, Oct. 19, will be single-file formation.
