Here's a good view of the rear of the transaxle. As you can see, the transaxle is the mounting point for the base of the rear wing, and is designed so that gear ratio changes can be made relatively easily. The red "box" on the end of the transaxle is the IRL-mandated crash attenuator, which absorbs force (and thereby dissipates energy) in tail-first crashes.

With the sidepods off the car, you can see how the ducting routes air to one of the many coolers found on the car. The ducts are fairly small, but lots of space isn't needed at 200 mph! By the way, if you like carbon fiber, you need to see a modern Indycar naked. The stuff's everywhere.

The engine/transaxle assembly bolts to the back of the carbon fiber tub at this bulkhead. The engine and trans is a stressed member, which means they carry the loads from the rear suspension. In the upper right-hand area you can see the rear coil-over shock and spring assembly.

In the middle of the cam cover (valve cover to us muscle car types), notice the special plug-wire retainers used to keep the wires securely fastened to the spark plugs. There are no second chances in Indycar racing, so having a plug wire come off will end your day.

This closeup shows the rear hub and brake assemblies. The carbon rotor slides over the hub, which is bolted to the rear suspension control arms and the axle. The large nut on the end of the hub secures the wheel to the hub, while the drive pins slip into provisions in the wheel and transmit the motion from the axle to the wheel. Cool stuff, huh?

This is a great view of the front suspension without the hub or brakes attached. What you have here are steel upper and lower control arms ("A-frames"), along with a steering link and a suspension pushrod. The pushrod is connected to a rocker arm mounted inboard, which then compresses the spring and shock assembly. The arms, link and pushrod are nickel-plated for a nice appearance. LP Racing does a fantastic job of preparing these cars, theirs are always some of the nicest in the garage area. That says a lot about their ability and attention to detail.

Two things are important in this left-side shot of the car with the side-pod cover removed. First and most obvious is the radiator, which is fed cooling air from the ducts in front. Second, notice how efficient the packaging is. There is no wasted space anywhere on an Indycar. Every square inch of the car is taken up by some component or another.

The driver grabs the steering wheel and hangs on for dear life! Actually, we just wanted to show you what the cockpit looks like "assembled".

And here's shot with the steering wheel and some of the other stuff out of the way. Notice the gear shifting mechanism - it's cable operated. The transaxle gears are sequential, which means the only shifter motion is forward or backward. Pulling back on the lever upshifts the tranny, while pushing forward downshifts, kind of like a motorcycle.

Remember when we mentioned packaging earlier? The engine management computer is situated in the sidepod also, where it remains relatively cool.

The rear suspension attaches directly to the transaxle, as shown here. The upper control arms are easy to spot, as is the suspension pushrod, the rocker arm, and the coil-over shock assembly. The axle runs from the transaxle to the center of the rear wheel, and the rear-most rod running to the rear wheel is a toe-control link.

Indycars aren't equipped with on-board starters. The engines are cranked by sliding a shaft into the back of the transmission, which then spins the engine over when the remote starter is engaged.

The left side of the cockpit is home to many more gadgets. Every square inch holds something on these race cars.

A stack of carbon brake rotors sit patiently next to a fueling hose. I don't know what a carbon brake rotor costs, but I'd imagine they don't exactly give them away.

To keep from scaring wimps like us in the garage area, teams slide these makeshift mufflers over the open headers when firing the cars up in the garage area.

The slip-on mufflers keep the noise down to merely ear-splitting.

This mechanic is fiddling with who-knows-what inside the airbox prior to lighting the motor off. Notice the blanket over the rear wing, which keeps the team's wing settings a secret.

The LP Racing crew practices some tire changes on pit road prior to the race itself.

A peek inside the airbox on this car reveals the short trumpets that lead to the intake ports of the cylinder head. An air cleaner covers this normally, and a large scoop leads to the air intake area above the driver's head.

The Firestone gumballs on the right side of the car are slightly larger in diameter than those on the left - on oval tracks at least. This makes the car want to naturally turn left and is known as tire stagger.