Three diverse oval racetracks are on the schedule the next three weekends, starting with the Firestone 550 on June 9 under the lights on the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway.
A week later, it’s the Milwaukee IndyFest on the Milwaukee Mile. Then it’s the Iowa Corn Indy 250 on the .875-mile Iowa Speedway, also a night race, on June 23.
“We’re in the middle of a really tough stretch regardless of the types of tracks we go to,” said Ed Carpenter, owner/driver of the Chevrolet-powered No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka car. “There’s so much to learn still with the new car, especially on ovals. It’s a big challenge and it’s all about who’s getting it figured out the fastest. There’s an opportunity for anyone to go into one of these races and get a big win.
"I think there will be some good side-by-side racing at Texas. It will be exciting for the fans and the drivers. It should be a very good show. I'm not worried about 'pack' racing there."
Click it: Weekend schedule | Entrant list
Two days after the Indianapolis 500, Carpenter was among 19 drivers to get a feel for the new car on the Milwaukee oval. He’ll join 18 others to test at Iowa Speedway on June 12 (Panther Racing’s JR Hildebrand, Panther/DRR's Oriol Servia and Dragon Racing's Katherine Legge will test June 13), and he participated in the 11-car Open Test at Texas Motor Speedway on May 7.
“I’m definitely lucky to be getting time at all these places,” he said. “I feel good about Texas but still have a little work to do to get the car where we want it at Milwaukee. I’m excited to get to Iowa; I think that’s going to be a good race for us.”
Separate tests were conducted in February and May at Texas to set the baseline and confirm the aero package for the high-banked oval. Scott Dixon was quickest of 11 car/driver combinations during the May Open Test at 24.6644 seconds (212.371 mph).
“Comparing it to the old car, we’re not that far off (on lap times),” INDYCAR vice president of technology Will Phillips said. “We’re running as much as 70 horsepower less than the old car, so the efficiency of the car is significantly improved.”
INDYCAR last week issued a technical bulletin for the Texas aero package to distinguish it from the one used on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval (the initial oval race of the season):
Musts
• Rear wing mainplane between minus 5 degree and minus 10.5 degrees
• Standard speedway rear wing endplate
• Standard rear wheel guard
Optional
• Two-thirds radiator inlet shutter
Can’t use
• Rear wheel infils
• Sidepod top deck
• U’wing strakes and sidewalls
Front and rear wickers are an area teams can experiment with during the 12:30-1:45 p.m. (local) pre-qualifying practice session to add or remove downforce.
Dixon, driver of the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, appreciated the range of options on the car afforded by the sanctioning body.
“Instead of coming here with a 10-degree rear flap that created more pack racing and people didn’t have the options to try to separate themselves and create different strategies or be fast for 20 laps but have to lift later on in the stint, there are options,” said Dixon, who won the 2008 race at Texas on the way to his second series championship. “It will be difficult to drive for a race stint, which I think is good.
“Having the car in a situation where you can take a lot of downforce off it’s pretty difficult and qualifying could actually be difficult for a change. At Texas, that’s pretty big.”
Qualifications are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (local). Follow practice and qualifying with real-time Timing & Scoring and the IMS Radio Network call on www.indycar.com. NBC Sports Network’s qualifications show is at 7:30 p.m. (ET).