Taking a test day at Milwaukee Mile

MILWAUKEE - Shhhh. . . .

Don't tell anyone. Especially the folks at the Milwaukee Mile. They're trying to sell tickets for their June 2-3 Indy Racing League weekend. But it's possible, quite possible, that the main event was won on Thursday.

Yep, a month early. With the biggest race of the year still to go.

Such is the value of a clause in Indy Racing League rules that permits extra, independent testing for IndyCar Series teams that also field a car in the Indy Pro Series development division.

Andretti Green Racing used one of those days last year with Dario Franchitti and Jonathan Klein at the Mile, and the extra work unquestionably paid off in Tony Kanaan's victory in the ABC Supply / A.J. Foyt 225.

So here were Scott Dixon, the 2003 champion, and IPS driver Chris Festa taking turns at the wheel on a cool, sunny Thursday that could easily match race-day conditions.

"It's a shame that we're the only car that turned up," Dixon said during a lunchtime break. "If we had AGR here, it'd have been a good benchmark for our team . . . to know whether we were fast enough or consistent enough for the race here.

"For all of us, anybody in the IndyCar series, when you can get a test day, you've got to take it. Milwaukee's probably on the top of our list because we've struggled here."

That may be an understatement.

For as strong as Chip Ganassi Racing has been on the big tracks, the 1{-mile ovals and the road courses, it has been equally flummoxed at the flat, unforgiving Mile.

In its 17-year history in CART and the IRL, Ganassi has won five titles and 52 races, but just two of those victories (Jimmy Vasser in 1998 Juan Pablo Montoya in 2000) came at the Mile. In the three-year IRL era, alone, crash damage at the track has inflicted a seven-figure dent into Ganassi's bottom line.

So Dixon came to work on speed. Festa came to work on progressing toward the IndyCar Series. And Dan Wheldon, the 2005 champion, came along as an adviser.

"Certainly any time that you can get on a track where you're not comfortable from a set-up standpoint, it's important," Wheldon said.

Just ask Andretti Green.

Take it to court

Scott Wimmer has sued Bill Davis Racing, seeking $1.2 million owed for his salary for the 2006 Nextel Cup season. The suit alleges that the team missed a deadline in 2005 to inform Wimmer that he would not be retained.

"It's unfortunate that we had to go with some legal action, but I've pretty much moved on from that deal and I'm trying to rebuild my career at Richard Childress Racing," Wimmer said Thursday from Richmond, Va.

"I hope we can get it settled in the next month or so. It's up to the lawyers."

Wimmer, a 31-year-old Wausau native, spent his first five season in NASCAR driving for Davis.

For safety's sake

In light of the death of Eric Medlen because of extreme vibration after a tire failure, the National Hot Rod Association will change several cockpit requirements over the next month.

Extra padding will be required in the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes, a helmet shroud must be added to Funny Cars and a seven-point restraint system will be required instead of the current five-point harness in both top divisions.

What's next?

Wheldon's foray into NASCAR has gotten no further than the seat-fitting stage, but he'll probably test for Ganassi sometime after Indy.

Ideally, the Brit would complete a year like 2005, when he won both Indy and the title, and then make the switch. The allure, Wheldon said, is the challenge of racing something so completely different.

"I like it when people talk bad about me; that motivates me," Wheldon said. "I like to prove people wrong."

Buckle down, boss

It doesn't take much to amuse the Andretti Green drivers, so you can imagine the humor they find in the fact that Michael Andretti, their mostly retired, 44-year-old team co-owner and a veteran of 15 Indys, will participate in a refresher session for the second straight May alongside the rookies.

"If you keep doing bad stuff to your boss, the paychecks are going to start not to come," Kanaan said. "So, Michael, if you're listening, no, man, there's no rookie stripes. I think you're great.

"But behind his back, yeah. He's a rookie. He's getting old. He needs that extra few laps to get used to the speed again."

Next . . .

Veteran crew chief Matt Borland became the latest fall guy for Michael Waltrip's foundering Nextel Cup program. Borland, who won 12 races with Ryan Newman, was fired as Dale Jarrett's crew chief. He will be replaced by Jason Burdett, who previously worked with Jarrett at Robert Yates Racing.

Brighter tomorrows

A better-than-expected run at Phoenix offered promise to Matt Kenseth and his team. Maybe they're gaining on NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow.

"I feel a lot better now about our COT program than I did a month ago, but I'm sure we aren't the only ones singing that tune," crew chief Robbie Reiser said. "Plus, we still have a little ways to go in order to compete against some of the guys who seem to have this thing figured out."

Making progress

Five races into his sophomore season, Westby native Dexter Bean ranks third in ARCA points and takes a three-race string of top-10 finishes into Winchester Speedway in Indiana this weekend.

"What a difference a year makes," Bean said. "The biggest thing is the team wants to win. With the momentum that we have right now, I don't think that's out of the question for this weekend."

Cool-down laps

John Andretti will fill in for Kyle Petty for four races and prospect Chad McCumbee for one this summer while Petty works on TNT NASCAR broadcasts. . . .

Phil Giebler, another in a long line of promising, young, American open-wheel drivers, is set to make his IndyCar debut in the 500 as a Playa del Racing entry.