Pit Pass: IndyCar experimenting with LED lighting system on cars

IndyCar teams won't work alone in the official testing period that begins Friday. The Indianapolis-based sanctioning body will be testing, too.

IndyCar's focus will be a light-emitting diode system that displays the running order of each car from the car. The Tudor United Sports Car Championship uses a similar, albeit smaller, system to communicate running order to spectators.

IndyCar president Derrick Walker said Dallara is making what is described as a 9-by-4 inch picture frame that will be mounted on the roll hoop of each car. Ideally, the system that's tied to official timing and scoring will be ready for use in the Indianapolis 500 in May.

The system could serve multiple functions, Walker said. The car number can change color to signify caution on the track. A pulsation of the number might mean the car is running low on fuel. Dashes might indicate the driver's use of the overtaking mechanism.

"It's all there to help the fans better understand what is going on," Walker said.

As an owner of a sports car team, Walker can vouch for the effectiveness of such a system. After a race in which his team finished fourth, Walker remembers being back at the transporter when the system switched the number to 3. Seconds later, a series official arrived to say the third-place car had been dropped in the order due to a penalty.

Later, a review of a protest reversed the decision. Before Walker learned of the decision, timing and scoring had changed the car number back to 4.

Dungey leads Supercross to Indy

One-time Supercross champion Ryan Dungey will aim for the first three-race winning streak of his career Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Dungey won in Atlanta and Daytona Beach, giving him four wins in 10 races this season. The 2010 series champion leads Trey Canard by 40 points. The maximum points that can be scored in a weekend is 25.

Dungey won last year's Indianapolis race to end Ryan Villopoto's run of four consecutive event wins here. Villopoto, the four-time series champion, is racing in the European-based Motocross World Championship this year.

Two-time Supercross champion Chad Reed joins Dungey in this field.

Practice and qualifying begins at noon Saturday. The main event begins with festivities at 6:30 p.m. The first race is at 7:06 p.m. on Fox Sports 2.

Lemasters, Clidinst pass

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway media center lost two stalwarts this week.

On Monday, former Muncie Star sports editor and columnist Ron Lemasters, 76, died. The Ben Davis High School and Franklin College graduate had worked in the IMS News Bureau since 2000. He also wrote for National Speed Sport News.

Tuesday, Bob Clidinst Jr., 80, died. His father once was an Indianapolis 500 chief mechanic. Clidinst was best known for building tiny race car bodies for electric cars, but he worked 58 years in the IMS media center as the archivist.

Local sponsor returns

One of the cool local Indianapolis 500 sponsors of the 1950s will be back on an Indy car this season. Lebanon-based D-A Lubricant will be an associate sponsor of Graham Rahal's car at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and a primary in the April 12 race at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, La.

Bob Sweikert finished sixth in the D-A Lubricant Special in 1956, the year after winning the race. Other drivers had the sponsor, too, before then-owner Tom Binford ended the program citing a conflict of interest since he co-founded USAC, the sanctioning body of the day.

Etc.

IndyCar's official testing period begins Friday, but the bulk of the cars will make their aero-kit debuts Saturday at NOLA outside New Orleans. The open test is Monday and Tuesday at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. Teams can test until a few days before the season-opening event, March 27-29 in St. Petersburg, Fla. ... Simona De Silvestro has signed with Andretti Autosport for the St. Petersburg race, but it will be at least a week before she tests as the team awaits more parts.

Follow Star reporter Curt Cavin on Twitter at @curtcavin.