David Lindquist

david.lindquist@indystar.com

Electronic dance music star Joel "Deadmau5" Zimmerman makes his living by assembling percussion, beats and rhythms for a worldwide audience.

On Wednesday, he banged around in a different way at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

As the passenger in a two-seat Indy Racing Experience car driven by James Hinchcliffe, Deadmau5 marveled at being jostled during tight turns on the track's road course.

"My kneecaps are still on," he said after exiting the car. "He's hitting these brake points at the last possible millisecond, and he's hitting them hard."

Deadmau5, pronounced "dead mouse," and Hinchcliffe both hail from Toronto, and the musician is a sincere enthusiast when it comes to motorsports. For recent song "Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer," Deadmau5 sampled audio of his Ferrari 458 Italia while revving down Toronto's Lake Shore Boulevard.

During his just-for-fun visit to IMS, Deadmau5 got a taste of what Hinchcliffe and other drivers experience on the track's road course.

Wet conditions ruled out a ride on the Indianapolis 500 oval, but rain tires are OK on the 14-turn course used during this year's inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis (which Hinchcliffe mentioned that he only partly remembers because of a concussion sustained after flying debris hit his helmet).

Conor Daly, who drove in the 2013 Indy 500, watched Hinchcliffe and Deadmau5 execute their handful of laps.

"You don't get the grip and speed as much," Daly said of the soggy track. "But it's more fun for the driver, because it's arms and elbows crossed up a little bit."

Daly said he and Deadmau5 — who performed at the 2013 Grammy Awards, 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and headlined the 2011 edition of Chicago's Lollapalooza festival — have been Twitter acquaintances for some time.

EDM fan Daly encouraged Deadmau5 to attend this summer's Hondy Indy Toronto double-header event in July. That's where the musician took his first two-seat ride, and the Verizon IndyCar Series gifted him the helmet he wore on Wednesday: a stylish black matte model accented by glossy "Deadmau5" logos.

In Indianapolis, Deadmau5 quizzed Hinchcliffe about the steering-wheel paddle shift system in race cars, and Hinchcliffe warned that the weather could translate into sideways action on the track.

As Deadmau5 was belted into the car, he joked, "Wait, I have to pee."

Hinchcliffe — recently signed as the No. 77 driver for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, the IndyCar entity founded by Sam Schmidt — won three races during the 2013 season.

Deadmau5 said it's true that rock stars want to be athletes and athletes want to be rock stars. But no actual role reversal is in the immediate future.

"We just made a promise to each other: He wouldn't be entering any kind of DJ world in the next two years, and I won't be on the Indy (circuit) for two years," Deadmau5 said.

The musician said the adrenaline rush found in each world is similar, to a point.

"It's comparable," Deadmau5 said. "Me screwing up in front of 20,000 people is kind of comedic and OK. (Hinchcliffe) screwing up, even in front of no people ..."

"Painful and expensive," Hinchcliffe said to complete the thought.

Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.