IndyCar test session at Fontana open to public

IndyCar drivers will hold a test session Wednesday evening at Auto Club Speedway to prepare for their night race at the sprawling Fontana track Sept. 15.

The test, which is open to the public, is scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. and the cars’ speeds are expected to top 200 mph.

Drivers scheduled to attend include Will Power, Helio Castroneves, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dario Franchitti, the reigning Izod IndyCar Series champion who also won his third Indianapolis 500 this year.

They will be preparing for the MAVTV 500, a 500-mile race on the two-mile Auto Club Speedway oval that will be the series’ season finale and decide the driver championship.

Power, an Australian who drives for Team Penske, currently leads the title standings by 17 points over Hunter-Reay of the Andretti Autosport team.

The public will be allowed to watch the test from the open-air terrace suites above pit road on the infield of Auto Club Speedway. Pit road itself and the garage area will not be accessible.

There are three ways to gain admission to the test: Present an already purchased ticket to the MAVTV 500, buy a ticket to the race (they start at $30) or make a $10 donation per adult to the Auto Club Speedway Foundation at the tunnel entrance leading to the infield.

Children 12 and under are free if they first join the speedway’s Lefty’s Kids Club, which also is free, on the track’s website.

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