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Fast Cars
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Program Overview
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"Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!" So goes the starting call at an
automobile race. Although the announcement has remained basically the same,
auto racing has changed significantly since it began in 1895. In those days,
the average speed was only 15 miles per hour. Today, cars in the Indianapolis
500 reach speeds of more than 220 miles per hour. With the aid of computers,
cutting-edge materials, aerodynamics, and advanced mechanics, engineers design
cars to move at these new rates.
This program follows four drivers as they prepare for the 1993 Indianapolis
500. One of them is Bobby Rahal, the 1992 IndyCar champion. For the 1993 race,
Rahal decided to design his own car. Thorugh a careful process of testing,
retesting, and changing each component of the car, Rahal and his team hoped to
build a winner. In the end, the car did not perform as well as the team had
planned and Rahal did not qualify. However, the results gained from the testing
process will help the team prepare for the next race.
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