Austin Dillon tests at Mid-Ohio ahead of the Car Course’s NASCAR debut in 2013 – NASCAR news
The 22-year-old NASCAR Nationwide driver Austin Dillon got a taste of driving at Mid-Ohio, the race course which will be hosting Nationwide Children’s Hospital 200 on August 17 next year. 2013 Children’s Hospital 200 will be the first NASCAR event to be
held at Mid-Ohio.
The Mid-Ohio test was aimed at two things. To get information about the performance of Chevrolet Camaro, the car that Dillon will be driving in 2013, on 13 turns of the Mid-Ohio road course and to get some seat time for Dillon.
“We came over here mainly to understand the basic characteristic of what we need in a Nationwide Series car on this track,” racing veteran Max Papis said. “It’s something I really pushed Richard Childress Racing to do, especially for Austin to get acquainted
to the track and learn his way around.”
Mid-Ohio, the 2.4-mile road course in Lexington awaits the Nationwide Series drivers scheduled to race at Mid-Ohio in August next year. According to Jesse Ghiorzi, Mid-Ohio spokesman, with only 12 more days to go until the start of 2013, Dillon became the
first and may very well be the last driver to have made a test run in Lexington because NASCAR drivers are not allowed to do test runs at tracks which are on the current year’s schedule.
Ghiorzi further added that Mid-Ohio may make an exception from NASCAR’s rule that disallows drivers from making in-year test runs at on-schedule tracks for the current year because 2013 will be the first year a NASCAR race is being held at Mid-Ohio. If that
happens, the tests could include multiple cars which in turn would make it easier for drivers to get a feel of the 13 turns and 150-foot elevation changes at the Mid-Ohio race course.
It is a common fact that every track has its own conditions and the challenges that each track presents for the drivers is different than the other.
According to the Mid-Ohio spokesman, “Any kind of road course can have different types of turns, speeds and elevations,” Ghiorzi said. “They all are a little bit different.”
So it will be in the best interest of the sport if in-year tests are allowed by NASCAR at Mid-Ohio.
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