Simulating INDYCAR's Unknown: Inside Drivers' Prep For New Street Courses

In Driver's Eye with James Hinchcliffe , the six-time INDYCAR winner will bring you inside the mind of a racer while breaking down the nuts and bolts of the sport for fans.

As INDYCAR continues its mad dash to the season's checkered flag, the next two stops on the calendar represent a unique challenge: brand-new street circuits.

Now, this concept isn’t new for the teams and drivers in the series.

It’s not even new this year, after we went to Arlington, Texas, for the first time back in March.

But having this many in a season — and two back-to-back in Markham, Ontario, and Washington, D.C. — is certainly outside the norm.

So naturally, you might want to know: How does a driver prepare for a brand-new, temporary street circuit? The answer is the Driver In The Loop simulator, or the DIL.

The DIL is a frequently used and massively helpful tool for drivers and engineers alike in preparation for any race.

But it has extra importance when coming to a new, temporary track.

Why do I keep emphasizing the "temporary" part? Because if you’re going to a track that is new for you, but not brand new, there are other things you can look at to prepare.

Drivers will look at on-board videos from other motorsports series that have raced there.

Engineers can look at data sets from a completely different race car, then use offsets they know — based on how that type of car performs against an INDYCAR at a track that they have both been on — to try and determine rough performance parameters.

But when it’s a brand-new track, the DIL simulations are the best — really, the only — tool you’ve got.

Chip Ganassi Racing and Alex Palou recently posted a video online of him doing some sim laps around the upcoming D.C. venue that gives you a sense of what this is like for the driver.

Behind the wheel, it provides drivers with a general literal and figurative feel for what to expect when they won't be on the track until race weekend.