NASCAR met Indy on Wednesday at Talladega Superspeedway and Barber Motorsports Park as Jamie McMurray and Scott Dixon swapped rides for the afternoon. McMurray took Dixon's 09 Target Honda out for laps at Barber, while Dixon wheeled the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet at 'Dega.
"When I drove for Chip Ganassi from 2002 to 2005, honestly I don't think I even saw an IndyCar," McMurray said. "Never had the opportunity. When I came back here, I told Chip that if there was ever a chance, I'd really like to drive one of those somewhere. I didn't really expect all the media and everyone else to be here on my adventure."
Both drivers took their laps, and had some fine one-liners. For instance, Dixon on making the jump to NASCAR: "Well, there's no $5 million prize in NASCAR, so no, I'm not going." (He was kidding, later saying he was "intrigued" by the possibility.)
McMurray on driving an Indy Car: "I thought the hardest part [would be] just being in the open, and being exposed without a windshield. But that didn't bother me at all. I actually enjoyed being out in the open and not having to look through a visor and a windshield."
Dixon on the size of Talladega: "This place is massive. I spoke before about how Indy is large as well, but I think the sheer size of this and how it's spread out, when you go out there, you feel really lonely by yourself. It would have been nice to maybe have a few other cars out here and maybe take the restrictor plate off and see the full power of these kinds of cars on a track like this."
Oh, and Dixon added this gem, on how fast the Indy Cars could go at 'Dega: "In this configuration, with the big wings, you'd probably do 170 to 180. But with speedway wings, you'd probably do about 230. Maybe even more than that. Maybe 240 or more."
Make that happen. Just, you know, with empty grandstands.
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