With the Indianapolis 500 coming up this weekend, the IndyCar Series has released a great tool for race fans that own the Apple iPhone. Here is the official MidwestSportsFans.com review of the application that is now available in the iTunes App Store. I downloaded it wirelessly directly to my device and the $.99 price tag seems well worth it, for it’s rich content and the ability to have 24 hour access to the news and reports from the stars of the IndyCar Series.
The Loading screen:
I was impressed with the loading time of the application. From click to the home screen it took less than 2 seconds to load the application.
Home:
From here, which is really ground zero for the application, you can see access to the other tabs at the bottom. The Breaking News section is a mobile version of IndyCar.com right on your iPhone. Using the iPhone’s ability to scroll down through dragging your finger on the screen it will bring into view: recent activities, next race and tv schedule, weather forecast, etc.
Video:
The video section will be updated as activity warrants it, and I was impressed with the variation and production quality of these video clips. The picture clarity will depend on whether you are an Edge, 3G or 
WiFi user. On my 3G iPhone, there was only a three second load time for me to start watching the “Hunter-Reay makes the field” video show above. The clarity of video and sound was normal when compared to viewing YouTube videos on the device and using the AT&T 3G network.
Leaderboard:
Here in my opinion, is where those $.99 cents will be an absolute steal. Using state of the art technology, the IndyCar Series will not only show you real time positions during the race, they will also show you the gap in seconds updated continuously. The tradeoff here, is that it WILL KILL your iPhone battery, so be sure to use it only in short spurts. Whether you’re at the track, or stuck in a car and running errands, you will know in real time where your favorite driver is, and what the field looks like. Notice the Track Map icon?
Track Map:
Though specific details are sketchy here, I assume this is where you will see the Gap in a visual representation. Without there being a race to actually watch yet, I cannot be sure of this but from the layout it makes sense. If that doesn’t happen here, worse case scenario is that you can view the map of the course during the race. Sunday, the 93rd Running of the Indianapolis 500, will be the applications debut with live racing action.
Standings:
The standings tab is pretty self-explanatory. This tab will show you the current standings for the IndyCar Series. Want more information on a particular driver? Just tap the cursor out to the far right.
Driver Information:
This is where you can see the quality of the application itself. Driver info, team information, and a drivers biography. Using the iPhones touch screen, scroll down to read more about each of the drivers that compete in the IndyCar Series. Want to learn more about a team mate? Click on the name, for ex. Danica Patrick…and it takes you to her specific page.
Summary:
In this race fan’s opinion this application hits an absolute home run. Fans of IndyCar racing will love it’s flexible features and unending content that will be pushed out from the IndyCar servers. The price tag is certainly easily swallowed after looking through the pages and information contained inside this powerful handheld application. The looks are stunning, the touch control works flawlessly, and there is little lag time switching between the pages. I am EXTREMELY excited this application has made it’s way to my iPhone and I think you will be too.
Check back tomorrow for more of our continuing Indy 500 preview as we get ever closer to the 93rd Running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
