Last night I had the opportunity to walk the Barber track with Indycarnation. TSO’s Steve Wittich led the tour. As a bonus, driver R C Enerson provided insights on how to drive the track. It was quite an educational hour.

Some things I learned:

The different tires used by support series all interact differently with Indycar’s Firestone tires. Pirelli has the most adverse effect on the Indycar tires.

Drivers can feel the cracks and patches on the track surface sometimes.

The car’s air is disturbed less when a competitor is more than 10 car lengths ahead. The drivers still feel a tow, however.

Turn 5 is the best and ususally only passing zone on this track.

Missing the entry to one turn can cause a driver to not get the next few turns wrong as well.

Some photos: