The multiple-bay garage at Auto Club Speedway was vacant three hours after the MAVTV 500 except for the CFH Racing crew revitalizing the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet, which sustained a hard hit during the 250-mile race.
There’s an off weekend before the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest, but the car will get a workout July 1 at Iowa Speedway as Luca Filippi will turn his first laps on an oval racetrack.
“He’s been on us pretty hard to do a test and he’s been doing a really good job and showing the potential that we knew he had,” said team co-owner/driver Ed Carpenter, who will set up the car for the entrant’s road/street course competitor. “At this point in the schedule there’s an opportunity to go give an evaluation as we’re looking ahead to next year and what our option might be.
“It just seemed like a good thing to do to have him show us what he can do on an oval.”
According to Rule 6.2.2.of the Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook, entrants are allocated two team test days for the purpose of testing a rookie driver. Filippi has competed in 16 Verizon IndyCar Series road/street races dating to 2013, with a best finish of second to teammate Josef Newgarden at Toronto on June 14.
“Oval racing is a big part of American motorsports, so if you want to be part of that, then you have to try at least and see how it’s like,” said Filippi, who turns 30 on Aug. 9. “I normally like high-speed corners and I normally like to actually make changes on the car toward the limit. So I think I could be sensitive enough to set up cars for ovals.”
Matthew Brabham, 21, of Boca Raton, Fla., who has competed in 17 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires races the past two seasons for Andretti Autosport, also will be on the .894-mile, variably-banked Iowa Speedway oval that hosts the Verizon IndyCar Series, Indy Lights and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires on July 17-18.
According to Rule 6.2.3 of the Verizon IndyCar Series rulebook, entrants are allocated two team test days for the purpose of testing a current Indy Lights driver. On-track time may be split with a team driver, but a team driver may not use more than 50 percent of the available track time. Marco Andretti will set up the No. 27 Honda for the 2013 Pro Mazda champion and work through some aerodynamic testing.
“I’m absolutely thrilled. I’ve dreamed about driving Indy car my whole life ever since they started racing the Gold Coast and going to the racetrack as a kid,” said Brabham, who was reared in Australia. “I am focused on (the test) and we’ll see how it goes. There is a lot of stuff Andretti Autosport wants to go through and I want to be a beneficial person to the team. I’m definitely ready.”
Also this week, all three rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy are testing at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Indy Lights, Pro Mazda and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda revisit the facility for races in early August.
Indy Lights championship points leader Jack Harvey of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian posted the quickest lap time June 29 on the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course.
