Open Testing Days at Indy
No other race track in the world has a history like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It
has hosted the greatest events in motorsports since the first race held on its surface. This
is the birth place of a form of racing that has captured the imagination of both young and
old. The speedway was the brain child of Carl Fisher, a local Indianapolis business man,
who saw in 1908 the need for a track to test both man and machine in an auto race. He
first planned for a one mile oval but decided to build a two and a half mile track instead. The
first few events were less than successful. Finally, on Memorial Day, May 30, 1911 the
first Indianapolis race was run in a record eight hours and covered 500 miles. The race
was born. Now, some 87 years later, the traditions of Indy continue and the racers cover
the two and a half mile oval at more than 200 mph. All things are as they should be, man and
machine are tested each year on this famed track. Below are photographs of the recent
open testing session at Indy. Click on the icon to see the full size picture or to download
an image to your computer.
| This is one of the 1,158 Corvettes in the fleet of "official" pace cars built for the 82nd running of the Indianapolis 500. This is not the official pace car but does have the same power train.
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| Scott Sharp's car is cut loose by two crew men as they prepare for an afternoon of testing on one of the Open Testing Days. | 
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| Sam Schmidt's Best Western Gold Crown Racing Special is prepared for a mid-day testing session.
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| The Crest Racing machine of Dr. Jack Miller is pushed back to Gasoline Alley after several quick laps in the Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone racer. | 
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| The next generation of Unser's (Robby) pulls out of the pits on his way to a quick lap around the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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| Mike Groff (left of photo) talks to his chief mechanic as other crew members work to prepare the Jonathan Byrd VisionAire Bryant race car for testing. | 
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| Buddy Lazier's Hemelgarn Racing Team prepares the Delta Faucet/Coors Light racer to hit the track for testing of the Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear set up.
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