It’s vital that your car is set up right and you’re happy with the handling before each race. 
There’s no point in having the fastest car on the track if the handling is unpredictable. 
It’s more important that you have a car you feel comfortable with. 
The only way you’re going to get this right is to take the time to practice before each race.
All IndyCar™ Series tracks are oval, which might lead you to believe that they all drive the same, right? 
Well not at all -- they’re all completely different. 
You need to set up your car for each race if you’re serious about competing at the highest level.
dummy
You could run with less downforce, which would increase your speed on the straightaways, 
but then you’d have to slow down more for the turns. 
So overall it’s quicker to take the turns faster and sacrifice a little speed on the straightaways.
So what’s downforce? Basically, downforce is what helps stick your car to the track at higher speeds; 
it’s produced as your car cuts through the air. 
The aerodynamic shape of your car and the settings for your front and rear wings 
are a deciding factor in how much downforce is produced. 
The process works in a similar way to that of an airplane’s wing, 
but instead of a lifting force being produced, a pushing-down force is produced.
You can increase or decrease how much downforce will be produced by adjusting the angle of your front and rear wings back in the garage.
But be aware that at some tracks there is a minimum and maximum wing angle restriction, 
so you have to work within these constraints. 
And remember that while downforce is a good thing to help maintain grip, 
a by-product is drag, which slows your car down.
Again, it’s a balance, the only way you’re going to get it right is to practice and make adjustments before the race. 
Your pit crew also is able to adjust your front wing during pit stops, but in a similar way to the weight jacker, 
this should only be used to fine-tune your car’s handling as it deteriorates throughout the race.
Another important reason for getting your setup right is your tyres. 
Your tyres are the most important part of your car, so you want to ensure that they last as long as possible. 
There’s nothing worse than wearing your tyres down too quickly and wrestling with your car’s handling until the next pit stop.
To get the maximum performance from each tyre, you need the temperature across each tyre surface to be even,
as this means that the whole tyre surface is coming into contact with the track, 
which means that the load on the tyre and the wear are consistent. 
This will give you a much more predictable and controllable ride.
The best way to test your tyre temperatures is to run a few practice laps and then head back to the garage. 
Here you’ll find the temperature data for all your tyres. Use these readings to make your setup decisions – 
for instance, if the left side of the tyre is hotter than the right, 
then you should adjust the camber, which is the tilt, or angle, of the wheel in relation to the track. 
It is used to help maintain an even contact between the tyre surface and the road. 
This is the first step in helping to keep the temperature across the surface of the tyre even.
Take a look at this example. To balance the temperature across this tyre, we’d need to add more positive camber. 
If the opposite was true, with the right side of the tyre being hotter than the left, we’d have to add more negative camber.
You will know when your camber is right when the temperature reading for the tyre is symmetrical, 
however, you still may not have an even temperature. If this is the case, then you may need to adjust the tyre pressure.
Say the outer edges of your tyre are hotter than the center; 
This indicates that the tyre is ‘sagging,’ which means that the air pressure is too low, so add more pressure.
And if the temperature of the center of your tyre is hotter than the outer edges, 
then your tyre is ‘bowing,’ which means it’s overinflated, so just reduce the tyre pressure.
The last thing you should know is overall tyre temperature. The hotter you run your tyres, the more grip you will get.
But the downside is that they will wear down faster. 
You could, of course, run them cooler to extend tyre life, but the down side is that your tyres will not grip as much. 
Again it’s a fine balance and a personal preference based on your racing style and pit stop strategy.
Dummy
OK, this car has been deliberately tuned down to produce a slower lap time than normal. 
Take it out for a couple of practice laps and then head for the garage. 
It’s up to you to find out what’s wrong with it and improve the setup so that you can beat the lap time. 
I’m not going to tell you what to do; You need to figure that out for yourself. 
The only clue I’ll give you is that it’s best to change only a few settings at a time. 
Don’t steam in there and change everything at once, as it will be difficult to work out which setting affects what. 
Once you feel you’re ready to give it a go, take the car out onto the track. 
If you beat the slower lap time, you pass the test. Simple!
Three, two, one, GO!
A performance like that isn’t going to get you anywhere fast. Hang in there, you’ll get it!
That was close, but you’re still not fast enough.
You just beat the time so that’s a bronze.
Good time. That’s the silver medal.
Excellent performance, you’ve set that car up really well. Gold medal!
First up, did you know that there are different types of front and rear wings that can be attached to the car? 
There’s the low-downforce configuration for racing on a super speedway
and the high-downforce configuration for racing on a short oval.
On a super speedway, the cars run flat out, so too much downforce is a hindrance – 
whereas on a short oval you need the increased downforce to get through the turns quicker. It’s a fine balancing act: