INDYCAR Drivers Conduct Test at Iowa Speedway on Wednesday
| A nice 'puff' piece press release on testing at Iowa Speedway. What were the drivers going to say, Iowa sucks? F1 provides lap times for all its tests. IndyCar puts out 'puff' pieces. |
With less than two weeks away from the Iowa Corn 300, those visiting Iowa Speedway on Wednesday heard a familiar roar. Nineteen Verizon IndyCar Series drivers representing nine teams conducted a team test at “The Fastest Short Track on the Planet" in advance of the 10th running of the annual INDYCAR classic.
Stars of the Verizon IndyCar Series – past, present and future – including last year’s Iowa Speedway winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, participated in the team test. The drivers and teams gathered critical testing information to help their efforts for the Iowa Corn 300. All of the teams were represented including Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske, Andretti Autosport, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Ed Carpenter Racing, KVSH Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, A.J. Foyt Enterprises and Dale Coyne Racing.
The team test was free and open to the public. Fans watched the test session from their cars or brought their own lawn chairs to enjoy the warm and sunny day from RV Hill – an area that overlooks the backstretch.
Iowa Speedway’s second high-powered race weekend kicks off on Saturday, July 9 with the ARCA Racing Series 150 presented by Casey’s General Stores. The Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 will take center stage at 4 p.m. CT on Sunday, July 10 and will be broadcast live on NBCSN.
Iowa Speedway Verizon IndyCar Series Test Quote Board:
Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Autosport
On being back at Iowa Speedway after consecutive wins:
“It’s always great to be back at Iowa. I really enjoy this race track and it’s certainly one of my favorites. We have a long list of things to get through today, but with four cars and Andretti Autosport, hopefully we’ll start picking through that, hopefully if the rain lets up."
On how he’s found success in past years:
“It’s such a small track with the high banks like this, it doesn’t take much to get it right. There’s a small window to get it right. It seems like in past years we’ve hit that. All you need is to be able to carry a little bit more throttle than the guy in front of you. It’s getting over the bumps and being able to run both high and low."
Alexander Rossi – Andretti Autosport
On first impressions of Iowa Speedway:
“I think the track is great. Ovals are very new to me this year, so still trying to figure out the idiosyncrasies of each one, but the initial impressions were very good. I had a lot of fun this morning. Hopefully we can get back out there soon."
On what it’s been like since winning the Indy 500:
“It’s gotten a lot busier and a lot more attention. Being the 100th running, there was a huge following of the event. There was a lot of follow up, which was positive. We’ll continue to push that forward for the next 12 months. Generally, I’m still trying focus on the trackside stuff and being the best that I can be."
Helio Castroneves – Team Penske
On what it’s been like running some of the fastest laps ever at Iowa Speedway:
“The Hitachi car seems to be out of the box very fast again. As you touched the subject, I haven’t won here yet – always pole position or always in the front. But hopefully this year is going to be different. The reason I say that is there’s a lot of difference scenarios, not being a night race. … It’s be great to capture our first win here and first of the season."
James Hinchcliffe – Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
On what it’s like coming back to Iowa Speedway building on past success:
“Certainly after missing last year, it’s good to be back. I have a lot of great memories here at Iowa. I love this track. When I first came here during Indy Lights in 2009, it was right from the get-go one of my favorite ovals to come race on. And like you said 2013 treated us pretty well. It was nice to get one of those big green trophies to stick in the trophy cabinet. Ryan [Hunter-Reay] has been bragging about how many he has. We’ve going to have to try pretty hard to maybe steal one back from him."
Sebastian Bourdais – KVSH Racing
On how the Verizon IndyCar Series differs from other racing series:
“The versatility. It’s really what I cherish about this series. To be able to go from a street course to a road course to a short oval to superspeedway – high banking, low banking, no banking – you really have to be a complete driver and master everything if you want to win the championship. That’s what separates the series from anything else."