What Can Drivers Adjust While Driving An INDYCAR?

[@Buc5054]

This is awesome Conor! Hoping FOX talks about some of this more in depth during practices/pre race when there is down time. I think a lot of fans don’t even realize there’s so much going on in the car.

[@ConorDaly22]

always more than is talked about!

[@arthurvillegas5586]

CD what you think of Indycar charters help or help more or not ?

[@ConorDaly22]

@@arthurvillegas5586 I think there are far more positives than negatives. We talk about it on the podcast tomorrow!

[@50caLIndycar]

As a diehard IndyCar fan, this is way more info than I ever knew. Thank you Conor! Great Video.

[@ConorDaly22]

love to hear it!

[@johnwickart]

This is the best and most complete explanation of the tools available to an Indy Car Driver. Thanks for taking the time to make this video and your delivery of this in a relaxed and confident manor makes viewing this video an enjoyable experience. Thank you !

[@ConorDaly22]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@benjaminchidwick9418]

Wow so much info in such a short video! I still don't quite understand what the weight jacker is doing mechanically to the car, but you explained everything fantastically well. This level of fan involvement is desperately needed in this sport, so thank you!

[@ConorDaly22]

Basically a hydraulic change in suspension load. The weight jacker is fully compressed when you are in maximum right front weight mode to fight over steer. Going back to the left front decompresses it, which also changes ride height and effects balance

[@chevyon37s]

Great info! I had no idea you could adjust the bars so much and independently in the car. I’d love to hear more about what changes you’re making between practice sessions

[@ConorDaly22]

no problem. I will continue to try and explain more and more

[@chadwickstephens4843]

I've always had a vauge understanding of these tools thanks to the guys in the booth, but I really appreciate you giving an in depth discussion on how exactly they are used and with pics, thanks Conor your a good dude and I hope to see you out there on the grid next year

[@ConorDaly22]

No problem, thank you!

[@Raptormn]

This exactly the kind of information I have been wanting. Thanks.

[@ConorDaly22]

no problem!

[@PaulBrundage]

Very informative, Conor! Really helps to make sense of what is happening during a race! I’m a technical nerd, so I love this stuff! Thanks!

[@ConorDaly22]

No problem! Thanks!

[@dcscdavis]

Definitely more complicated than adjusting the AC in my pickup. Thanks for sharing and good luck in Kansas!

[@ConorDaly22]

haha no problem!

[@dalepirie204]

This is a very good thing you have done and I sincerely hope a large number of motorsport fans see it. By clearly explaining the adjustments drivers have available, how and when they are used, you make the driver's job more understandable. This is the kind of thing that will draw people to Indycar because when they get an idea of the driver's workload, it makes the sport that much more interesting. Thank you!

[@ConorDaly22]

glad you think so! Thanks for watching!

[@gerardofrank976]

Thank you Conor! This is more technical information than I ever knew existed about IndyCar! You’re a great asset to the sport man, and I hope you know or feel how much we as fans appreciate you! Praying for a great 2025!

[@ConorDaly22]

Thank you! 🙏

[@seanbenim1358]

Thanks so much for this! Never seen how the bar adjustments worked, very cool. More more more stuff like this :D

[@ConorDaly22]

I will keep trying to come up with more videos like this!

[@jrs9144]

Excellent information. It shows not only do drivers have to be skilled, and fearless, but you also have to be engineering multitasking at 200 mph. Wow! It could be worse. You could still have to tap dance on the pedals while shifting a manual transmission with a shift lever. lol

[@ConorDaly22]

haha yeah times have changed for sure!

[@revazquez]

Thank you Conor!! Why hasn’t any of the TV announcers explain this before!! You have a gift of explaining things in a way that us (non racers) can understand.

[@ConorDaly22]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@eamonnleahy]

Really enjoyed this one Conor. Very clear and easy to understand

[@ConorDaly22]

Thank you! Glad to hear it

[@jaeger4540]

Great video! One item that virtually no one addresses directly is the various teams Damper programs... How big of a difference do they make to the cars? Which teams dampers seem to favor which tracks? how do smaller teams keep up? Read an article that some teams also do a lot of work on shaker tables and wind tunnels. I'm sure some teams have a comparative advantage there as well. Any chance we could get a breakdown on this stuff as well? I just found it curious that these things are almost never mentioned or discussed. Certainly not on the on-air broadcasts. Or am I reading to much into things and these are largely non-issues?

[@ConorDaly22]

Honestly that is where all the secrets are. So it’s hard to explain other than those pieces of the suspension create grip. So if you have the best dampers you produce the most grip. And there are no rules when it comes to dampers so you could spend $30M a year on a damper program if you wanted. You can buy dampers off the shelf, or you can build your own. That’s a simple way to explain it. But that’s our only area that is essentially completely open for development and what separates teams

[@lindakliethermes4137]

Awesome discussion. I’ve always tried to tell friends who don’t understand my fan-only passion that you drivers do so much more than “drive the car.” This is dizzying to even think about.

[@ConorDaly22]

Haha it’s definitely more than it looks like from the outside

[@stymiesnerdly771]

Very cool detailed explanation! Thanks 👍

[@ConorDaly22]

Thank you!

[@Richard.Hybels]

Awesome! You are getting into the Engineering and that is great. Not sure everybody understands what a roll bar is but many do. I’ll send you a Xmas card if you get Michael Cannon on to talk Engineering. I’m a big fan ever since he won 5 races in one season with AJ Dinger. I’ve never understood why after 10 years or so with same DW 12 😂every symptom does not have a known cure but I have a feeling it has to do with Tire variations between sets. Keep up the inside s*it dude. Love it. Love to hear stuff like Colton was talking about how he did some overtakes. “I knew hd would concede the corner.” Etc.

[@ConorDaly22]

Would be great to have Michael on at some point! Every single day is different on a race track. You have to tune things for every change in temperature, and you can always make the car better. You are in such a competitive series that no matter what, you never show up and just put on a setup and that’s the one! Haha

[@Ossie-r9t]

Thanks Conor never realised as a driver you have so much to do while driving at speeds of over 200+MPH Hoping your in Indycar next season!

[@ConorDaly22]

It’s definitely busy behind the wheel! Thank you!

[@Busy_Child]

Conor giving us the inside knowledge, thats why you're the man!

[@ConorDaly22]

Thank you!

[@brightline129]

Very informative! Thanks for the explanation

[@ConorDaly22]

No problem !

[@rieskame]

A deep dive on dampers would be great!

[@ConorDaly22]

I will try but honestly the details of it would be better explained by an engineer so maybe that is someone I will interview hah

[@bobgriswold5940]

Great explanation!!! Much better than the network has done in the past. Hope to see you FT next year.

[@ConorDaly22]

Thank you!

[@samisaarela74]

Like so many here allready have said, thank you for this 🙏!! Mystery tools are not so mysterious anymore 😄. I'm gonna watch this again just before '25 season for sure. Also...I assume that you will be talking about the charter system in next Speed Street ? I do understand what it means on track but is there gonna be straight financial benefit for teams what charter brings as I see so many Team Owners praising this new era. I haven't seen anything about that yet...

[@ConorDaly22]

New episode drops tomorrow stay tuned!

[@samisaarela74]

@@ConorDaly22 always 🤜🤛

[@DJDouglasWarden]

Great info, thank you!!!

[@ConorDaly22]

No problem!

[@aaronvaughn1779]

Nice job & thanks Conor! It would be cool to see you do this explanation as a walk though of the car with one of your engineers to get their thoughts as well.

[@ConorDaly22]

I will try to interview an engineer at some point. That would be cool

[@kahlenestotts4933]

Thanks for an excellent explanation of the tools. I'd like to see a video of how drivers save the tires. Is that different on road courses vs ovals? Thanks again. You're a good teacher!

[@ConorDaly22]

Saving tires almost can’t really be explained but I’ll try to think about how I could do that

[@bruces3613]

Thanks Conor! Back in the ABC days Jack Arute would educate the viewers on this.

[@ConorDaly22]

Jack is the man!

[@SteveSutherland-k5k]

Well done. That was good and your doing all that at speed. Keep up the good work, both in and out of the car.

[@ConorDaly22]

thank you!

[@howardstrickler9760]

Thank you mr Conor ? i just wish they would covered this many years ago ?

[@ConorDaly22]

I feel like TV and others have probably tried to explain things at a not as detailed level but have to do it quicker so it might not be as understood. Maybe in the future there will be more tech talk

[@Grumpy_Stiltskin]

Talk about the different wing packages, and the bottom/underneath of the car stuff.

[@ConorDaly22]

if that is something people need to know more about i will happily explain

[@noodlesnsoup]

@@ConorDaly22 Would love to hear about it! Thanks Conor

[@Tuckpana]

Nice Job Conor, thank you

[@ConorDaly22]

no problem thank you!

[@paulmccormick9976]

Love this, this is awesome!

[@ConorDaly22]

Thank you!

[@jimf5160]

Thanks, excellent explanation!

[@ConorDaly22]

Thank you!

[@lazier96]

Thanks Conor. Really appreciate your explanation of the tools. Hope you could sometime do a short video on your assessment of the hybrid system how it affects performance of the car.

[@ConorDaly22]

there isnt much to say on the hybrid yet honestly! haha but maybe I will over the winter.

[@TS0713]

Great Video! This is what fans want!

[@ConorDaly22]

glad you liked it!

[@allaboutthegyro]

The t-shirt is 11 out of 10

[@ConorDaly22]

Haha thank you

[@blakerh]

Thanks Conor! 🏁

[@ConorDaly22]

no problem!

[@johnsmith741]

Thanks!

[@ConorDaly22]

Hey thank you 🙏 really appreciate that!

[@jeremystrout23]

Would love to see a walkthru of the workload in the car during a pit stop.

[@ConorDaly22]

what do you mean by workload during a pit stop? the driver doesnt do much to be honest hah

[@ericpetrovich5377]

As one of the people that asked you about this…Awesome job! Pictured something totally different. Is the any fear that the jacker fails to lift for cornering? Ever have a situation like that? Thanks again!

[@ConorDaly22]

oh yeah there is always a risk things dont work. callum ilot at the indy 500 this year had his weight jacker stuck in full right front weight which meant a very pushy car all day long

[@IndyCar_Ken]

Great stuff CD.

[@ConorDaly22]

thank you!

[@johnsmith741]

Turn on the "Thanks" feature so viewers can donate to the channel. Awesome content, Conor.

[@ConorDaly22]

I am fairly sure it is? I will look into it. I know if I’m live you can become a member. Thank you!

[@ConorDaly22]

Found it! I will switch it on

[@stephenbritton9297]

How about an announcement that you’ll be in the 78 full time next year????

[@ConorDaly22]

We need a lot of help to make that happen. Working hard to make it possible

[@Grumpy_Stiltskin]

Great video! How does this compare to say the GT3 car you'll be driving, or in nascar stuff you've driven?

[@ConorDaly22]

cant adjust anything handling wise in any stock car or GT3 car. GT3 car we have ABS, Traction control and ABS to adjust but that isnt massive. Any stock car you have brake bias as well that's it

[@greglade]

Nice video CD ;-) How important are the tools at Road America given The carousel and turn 1?

[@ConorDaly22]

Tools will be more helpful on ovals but yeah if you’re struggling in those corners you can definitely help yourself with the bars. But you’ll need all the front grip you can get in the slower and medium speed corners

[@JeannetteDarlington]

Loved the info! From your explanation, I understand that the weight jacker adjusts the moment of intertia, but I'm still not quite sure how the anti-roll bars work. Do they change the stiffness of the chassis? That's the impression I have, but I'm not clear how that affects the under-/over-steer. Many, many years ago, I was a structural engineer, but I never dealt with cars, so I find all these tidbits of technical information utterly fascinating. Thanks!

[@ConorDaly22]

Yes there is a bar connected to the front suspension that provides rigidity. It rotates and as it gets softer you gain front grip with the front bar. The softer rear bar gives you rear grip if you need it. It’s all controlling the platform of the car and the stiffness

[@aerodynamicuppercut]

Thanks for the detailed info ! Couple of questions: what's the steering wheel rotation degrees is usually set at and is it different between road/street courses and ovals ? Also, how much travel does the brake pedal have in an Indycar ?

[@ConorDaly22]

usually different steering racks on ovals compared to road courses. entirely different steering setups essentially. even steering arms. the travel on the pedal can be tuned depending on what driver prefers. you can run different master cylinders to give more or less travel. I like an extremely stiff pedal with not a lot of travel.

[@nickmagers1]

Apart from the dampers, which I honestly don't know much about, are there other things teams can develop. I use develop loosely since this series is more or less stock. Would also love the drivers perspective on what your wishes are for the next gen car.

[@ConorDaly22]

The dampers are the biggest and most important area of development. There are no other areas of development where you can create things other teams don’t have. The gear box is a huge area of focus for teams to find speed at indy. There are lots of tricks inside the gearbox that some teams have figured out and others haven’t

[@Evan11J]

You are my guy and I Love the shirt !!!!

[@ConorDaly22]

haha thank you!

[@stevek3786]

Thanks Conor. Great video! Can you please do one on the exact process of getting reverse on the road and street courses? I see so many times when someone hits a runoff and needs reverse where the camera shows them desperately trying to get it in reverse and even hear grinding as they try. I’ve heard T Bell actually get excited when a driver manages to get it in reverse quickly like he’s gonna give them a gold star. I just can’t wrap my head around what makes this process so difficult. I’m not saying it isn’t, I just can’t picture any sort of process that makes it that way.

[@ConorDaly22]

because the car and gearbox are not designed to be in reverse essentially lol. the hybrid system now is actually how you engage reverse and it is WAY easier now. But also, when we use the clutch to leave the pits we never slip it we just drop it. slipping the clutch is very difficult so when you're having to do it to go backwards it is very easy to stall. You cant just spin the rear tires going in reverse you'll do some damage to the gearbox and potentially hit something because you cant see anything behind you. before the hybrid the gearbox is spinning one way if you're in neutral and to select reverse you had to get the car to neutral and then press the reverse button and downshift and hope the car engaged the reverse gear. very difficult to do

[@ConorDaly22]

you also have to remember everything is optimized for performance going forward and the gearbox is where so much raw speed comes from. Selecting reverse is in no way compared to selecting a reverse gear in a road car or any other car for example. race cars are not always easy to use in certain scenarios! hah

[@stevek3786]

@@ConorDaly22 that makes sense. I think I knew the hybrid controlled reverse now but forgot about that. Side note, you’re a damn champion. I just looked and you have replied to every single comment. Appreciate you and your commitment to spreading the word about IndyCar. Weekly Speed Street listener here. See you at the track in May!

[@ConorDaly22]

@@stevek3786 thank you!

[@christophergritti9873]

Kind of unrelated, but I was reading a open letter Zack Brown sent to indycar and one of the things he suggested to help grow the brand was bringing in multiple chassis manufacturers. As a driver, does the prospect of multiple manufacturers interest you? Do you like the parity indycar has achieved with its current formula or do you think there's more to be opened up to the teams and how could that impact the tools available to you during the race? Thanks man, have a great day

[@ConorDaly22]

yeah i think it would be awesome honestly. but very expensive!

[@caseman799]

My dad and I need a ELI5 for IndyCar paddle shifters. I'm pretty sure you don't have a clutch pedal, so what exactly causes the engine to stall, particularly during pit stops? A Gearbox for Dummies video would be helpful for us entry level fans.

[@ConorDaly22]

we have clutch paddles behind the wheel on either side. below the paddles for shifting. we only use clutch leaving the pit box. if it stalls its because we cant generate enough wheel spin with full power. the 1st gear is usually quite long in that situation

[@katamb55]

We need to get you a cut-away car like Larry Mac has! I thought maybe each driver had their own steering wheel.

[@ConorDaly22]

every driver has their own grips i would say but each team definitely runs a different wheel and button setup

[@Davavar]

This is great info couple of questions. For the weight jacker is only located in the rear right tire. Didn't know if that has changed. Also are the throttle shaping maps/modes in Indycar unique to each team/driver or are they preset by the series where every driver has the same throttle shaping options. Would love to hear more about the throttle shaping I know map 6 was S and map 7 was Butterfly. Curious if more have been added with the introduction of the hybrid.

[@ConorDaly22]

The weight jacker is not only located in the left rear tire, I’m sorry if that’s the way I made it seem? It’s a transfer of weight though spring load from opposite corner to opposite corner. Honestly not entirely sure what you mean by the S and butterfly names. You can tune any part of the throttle and power delivery essentially. But you don’t really have to mess with it much on ovals. Road courses you tune the power delivery to help traction. All of it is entirely customizable and with the hybrid you go from 12 engine maps to 24 engine maps. All can be whatever fuel trims or throttle pedal maps

[@Davavar]

@@ConorDaly22 Thank you for the quick response. So from your response for ovals is there a hydraulic piston in both the right rear and left rear tire? I was only familiar with the hydraulic piston weight jacker in the right rear tire.

[@ConorDaly22]

@@Davavar there is nothing in the tires at all. The hydraulic system is on the damper.

[@Davavar]

@@ConorDaly22 thank you for fast response. Found a video from RLL that shared the hydraulic piston is on the right rear dampener only. On a side note. Really hoping you get a ride nice to see a fellow hoosier in the series to root for.

[@ConorDaly22]

yes essentially that is correct there is a hydraulic system in the right rear damper that makes it all happen. thank you!

[@samswensen9819]

“Adding weight to the right front creates understeer. Because it just does” This is an aspen because of the way it is moment 😂😂😂😂

[@ConorDaly22]

It’s just a scientific fact. I’m not an engineer lol

[@samswensen9819]

@@ConorDaly22 hahaha I just thought it was funny how you said it 😂 no shade!!

[@ConorDaly22]

#racingscience 😂

[@randyharbaugh7819]

how much does the handling change over the course of the fuel load, from full coming out of the pits to nearly empty going into the pits? Tires wear especially between the softer compound and the harder compounds?

[@ConorDaly22]

heavy fuel is brutal. Car is completely different at beginning of stint compared to the end of stints. that's usually why we adjust things as the stint goes on especially on ovals. usually need to add front wing on road and street courses for the red tires because they have generally more rear grip. but on ovals in nashville there wasnt much of a balance shift just a shift in wear rate

[@randyharbaugh7819]

@@ConorDaly22 Conor, thanks for the response. I don't think people can appreciate that the weight of the fuel impacts the handling and performance as much as it does.

[@EdWolfram]

Thanks for the insight. Where do the large attachments plug in..... Go get those truck boys in that #44 polkadot wagon.

[@ConorDaly22]

haha those have to be ready as soon as you jump in!

[@STC987]

Just the thought of figuring out what adjustments to make while approaching 240mph gives me a panic attack!!

[@ConorDaly22]

its more work than it looks like!