Rahal And Kimball Test Updated Oval-Spec Dallaras

Ganassi Racing’s one-day test on the Auto Club Speedway oval in southern California got off to an slow start when rain pushed Wednesday’s planned activities back to Thursday, but the team pronounced itself pleased with the updated Dallara DW12-Honda oval package.

The Ganassi team, along with Team Penske, tested at the 2.0-mile Fontana facility last November and worked through a number of information gathering exercises to help INDYCAR and Dallara find directions on how best to fix the car’s Superspeedway handing and aerodynamic deficiencies.

With the fruits of those efforts on the cars of Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball for Ganassi’s second visit to ACS, the remedies produced by Dallara left everyone involved in feeling extremely positive about the car.

“I’m not the kind of guy to sugarcoat things," Rahal told SPEED.com. “And as you’ve seen, that sometimes gets me in trouble, but I’ll be brutally honest here: The car was just a lot of fun to drive and I didn’t expect that. This was my first time driving the car on an oval and I’d heard everything the other drivers had said about it being evil to drive, but it just wasn’t like that. I’d feel comfortable racing the car tomorrow and I think the fans would get to watch a helluva race."

Like Rahal, Kimball also got his first taste of the 2012 car and engine package on an oval, and had the same sense of relief regarding its improved handling characteristics. More at Speed.com