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Liz -
She really can't be THAT old !!!
(No, don't hit me !)
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I assume you are refering to the "easy" claim ?
Please bear in mind that I speak in a relative sense - entering ANY corner at 220+ is not EASY ! Even Piquet had to admit that Turn 1 took a lot of balls at first - he never seen anything remotely like it in F1 ! Cheever remarked that when he first want there he finally had to put his left foot over his right to keep the right foot from lifting off all by itself - it wouldn't obey his brain at all !
While Indy is danged fast, especially for as shallow as the banking is, it has never been know as a "technical" track in comparison to say Nazareth, Milwaukee, or Phoenix. It is VERY technical as far as maintaining a fast, consistant setup as the conditions change, but not from the driver skill viewpoint. A good engineer is almost more important than the driver ! (How else can you explain the likes of Jack Miller ? He couldn't get within 5 seconds of the next guy at Toronto in a Lights car!)
As a for instance - a couple of years ago a friend was helping the Ongias effort there & got to ask Danny what the IRL car felt like compared to a CART car. He said that the IRL car was "over gripped, underpowered" & very easy to drive at whatever speed the setup will allow. Their original setup would only give them an easy-to-drive 215 - but forget anything more. They got a 220 setup from Menard (Menard wouldn't cough up a 222, even with pressure from Goodyear & Tony G. !). and Danny immeadiately went 220, and declared that the car was even more comfortable at 220 than it had been at 215 !
As well hyped & as big a name as the 500 race is (was?), it in reality is not a tough test or good comparison of driver skills.
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