Two-day Firestone tire test to occur Tuesday, Wednesday at IMS

Six drivers will test several compounds and specifications of Firestone’s IndyCar tire at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this Tuesday and Wednesday, both days from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. All but one of them are out of realistic contention for the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series title.

Simon Pagenaud, Justin Wilson and Dario Franchitti will be Honda’s representatives with the three Chevrolet reps Will Power, Marco Andretti and current Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan. Pagenaud is third in points, 70 back of Helio Castroneves with three races remaining in the season.

“It’s more a sense of continuous improvement, which is something that Firestone has been based on," Firestone Racing chief engineer Dale Harrigle told IndyCar.com. “Tire performance was good this May and we think we can make it a little better."

From an optics standpoint, it will be nice to see IndyCars going their usual, counter-clockwise direction around the IMS 2.5-mile oval, after last week’s test at the IMS road course to evaluate the potential of a race there next year.

And here’s the best part: it’s open to the public, at the South Terrace Grandstand and Turn 2 viewer mounds. Sept. 12 is a designated rain date