First things firstsource: indycar.com / Dave Lewandowski Before fans and the media attach a 2008 race date to Daytona International Speedway, the IndyCar Series will proceed with due diligence and perform a compatibility test Sept. 26-27 on a modified road course at the facility. Telemetry data and driver debriefings from nine hour of action on the 2.73-mile, 10-turn circuit will go a long way in determining if it will be added as a warm-weather testing venue. IndyCar Series officials will examine venue-relating items such as transitions onto the banking, side loads and tire wear. The course utilizes Turns 3 and 4 (31 degrees of banking in corners; 18 degrees on frontstretch) of the superspeedway in addition to portions of infield motorcycle circuit. Check it out: Spectators are welcome to watch testing (10 a.m.-noon and 1:30-4:30 p.m. Sept. 26; 10 a.m.-noon and 1-3 p.m. Sept. 27) with the purchase of a Daytona International Speedway track tour. "You look at safety. We want to look at speeds," said John Lewis, vice president of league development for the Indy Racing League, the sanctioning body of the IndyCar Series. "With Daytona, which is unique from some of our other racetracks, obviously banking is going to be a pretty big concern. We're going to look at what straightaway speeds are going to be, how the cars transition from the flat to the banking. "We're purposely using this 2.73-mile road circuit to do exactly what we need from a test. It's going to have some high speed on the banks in (Turn) 3 and 4. It's also going to have a lot of downshifting, upshifting, cornering loads, cooling, braking zones, so on and so forth through the infield." Input will come from a star-studded driver lineup that represents the past six IndyCar Series championships. Reigning IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 champion Sam Hornish Jr. will be joined by Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon, Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan, and Panther Racing's Vitor Meira.
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