Texas: Too fast and too tough?

Most teams that tested at Texas over the past couple of months ran in the mid-220 mph bracket, so many observers were surprised by the 233mph laps registered Friday by Kenny Brack and Tony Kanaan.

A bigger concern for drivers is the physical beating they will take in Sunday's 600-kilometer race, to be run over 267 laps of the high-banked, 1.5-mile oval.

"It's very physical," remarked Team Penske's Helio Castroneves. "I did a long run this afternoon, and the G-forces are unbelievable, especially in Turn 1. We're pulling 5 Gs all the way through Turns 1 and 2, and for sure I'm going to be doing some work on my head restraint for Sunday."

"This track is not physical like a road or street course in terms of constantly using your strength to turn the car, but the loads are pretty high," commented Cristiano da Matta. "Here it's the G-forces. We¹re pulling 5 Gs in the corners and the steering gets pretty heavy."

"This is like a roller coaster," added owner/driver Adrian Fernandez. "You get dizzy, and it's a lot more physical than I thought it would be. The track is also extremely bumpy, and that wears you out. It's definitely going to be harder here on a driver than normal."

Paul Tracy said the speeds and the G-forces are only half the battle. "It seems like everything is happening a lot quicker here because you get from corner to corner so fast," he noted. "It's bumpier than Michigan or Fontana, but because it's half a mile shorter, everything is happening really quickly.

"A lot of guys were complaining in the run-up to the race, but I take everything at face value," Tracy added. "I didn't have the opportunity to see the track myself beforehand, but I knew it would be fast. I'm very happy with the way today went. The bottom line is that we're here to put on a race, so let's get on with it."