Testing IndyCar's aero kits with Tony Kanaan

Chevrolet released renderings of their road course/short oval configuration last week. Reaction has been mixed, but the overwhelming thought is to not judge the package until it, and its rival Honda, hits the track.

But to one driver, Chip Ganassi Racing's Tony Kanaan, he has a little bit more knowledge and understanding of the Chevrolet kit, as he was able to test the package in Phoenix prior to the release.

Modern looking aero kits

"It looks pretty cool. It looks extremely modern, a lot like the Formula One cars of today," said Kanaan.

When discussing the performance of the car with that configuration, Kanaan didn't have much to compare to, as the track configuration at PIR had changed since the last time a DW12 was run there.

"We had an awesome day, we did more than 500 miles that day and it felt good," Kanaan said.  

"It is hard to tell though because you don’t have a reference."

Aero parts too fragile?

One talking point from the first images of the new aero kits was the height of some of the winglets on the car and how fragile they may be under tight racing conditions. Kanaan doesn't see that as a problem.

"If you look at the Formula One cars of today, they have a lot of little winglets. You can barely do anything and they break. Those things are fragile," said Kanaan.

"In a way our cars were, in my opinion, in the past a little bit too strong. You could hit things and nothing would happen to you. You can’t do that anymore."

Time to get wheels turning

While fans, teams, driver and even the series wait for Honda to release their challenger for 2015, Kanaan says he just wants to get back on track after tasting victory already in 2015 winning the 24 Hours of Daytona's prototype class.

"I can’t wait. It's too long of an offseason. I cannot wait to be in the car," said Kanaan.

"The unknowns are great this year. There are some new rookies joining the series, we have these aero kits that we don’t know what will happen with those, hopefully we will be on the good side of it. I can’t wait. It has been too long."