Matt DiBenedetto promises ‘pretty physical racing’ for NASCAR’s 2020 experiment at Indy

“There is no doubt going to be some pretty physical racing,” Matt DiBenedetto said after testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

After being the first NASCAR driver to test out Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course for the XFINITY Series race in July, Matt DiBenedetto is actually jealous of the drivers who will compete on it. By testing Wednesday on two different versions of the course — 12-turn and 14-turn layouts — DiBenedetto became ineligible to race in the second-tier series’ inaugural event.

NASCAR races at the iconic Brickyard are usually on the 2.5-mile oval. However, not long after Roger Penske officially became the track’s owner earlier this month, he announced that, while the premier Cup Series will stay on the oval, the XFINITY Series will move to the road course in the infield for the July 4th race weekend. It will be NASCAR’s first time with the two series running on different tracks at the same location over the same weekend.

And DiBenedetto — who is taking over the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford in the Cup Series this season — told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Thursday that he’s bummed he can’t participate in the actual Indiana 250 race.

He said:

“It was cool and something I can say the rest of my life that I was the first guy out there in a stock car testing the road course at Indy. So it was a day that I’ll never forget. …

“All the good things that we can ask for in a road course are all combined in that one place, and it was so much fun. And it was neat to validate that I thought it was going to put on a really good show and then getting out there was even more so like, wow, I’m jealous of these XFINITY getting to race there. I’m excited I’m doing the test, but kinda mad I’m negated from being able to race in this thing because it was so frickin’ cool.”

In addition to answering some questions about safety and providing tire data, the test is supposed to help NASCAR determine whether to use the 12-turn or 14-turn course. Either way, the XFINITY drivers will go clockwise instead of the four left turns the oval offers.

More about the course options, via NASCAR:

The 12-turn layout (2.28 miles) uses the oval’s first turn as a sweeping right-hander before the frontstretch; the 14-turn configuration (2.41 miles) bypasses the oval’s Turn 1 with a sharp infield chicane.

NASCAR only visits a handful of other road courses, and DiBenedetto said during a press conference at the track Wednesday that in varying ways, Indy’s road course resembles Sonoma Raceway, Watkins Glen International and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

He said that his favorite part about the course is that there are so many passing opportunities, which is something he’s sure drivers will like. Fans probably will too.

Explaining some of the details from his track test, DiBenedetto continued, via ASAP Sports:

“So the cool thing is what we love as road racers is heavy braking zones. Clearly, the end of the front straightaway here, you have a very heavy braking zone. You also have another long back straightaway getting into turn seven, which is a heavy braking zone. And then on the 14-turn course, you have another braking zone coming into 12, 13, and 14. When you come up onto the short chute, get on the brakes, get on there.

“There’s high-speed stuff. There’s low-speed stuff. So it’s pretty much everything we could ask for from a competitor’s standpoint for raceability. Also, the little chicane back there coming on the back straightaway is really technical. I’m still figuring out my approach to that. There’s a lot of different elements to the race track that makes it exciting. …

“The good part is there is no doubt going to be some pretty physical racing because there’s a lot of areas not only to try and out-brake and pass, but actually set up in the prior corner, to set up for those passing zones and things like that. There’s some low-speed stuff where people might just use their bumper and knock them out of the way, whatever. So there’s opportunities for all of that.”

Running the XFINITY race on IMS’ road course is just one of the many changes and experiments (for NASCAR and IndyCar) expected under Penske’s ownership. And if it goes well…

“Who knows? Next year, we might run the Cup cars on the road course and run Xfinity on the oval,” Penske told the IndyStar.

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