Drivers react after testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers finished up a two-day test session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday in preparation for the Brickyard 400 on July 24.

Among the drivers who participated in the test include Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Paul Menard, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Brian Scott, Chris Buescher, Kyle Larson, Clint Bowyer, David Ragan and Trevor Bayne. 

Only one team from each Sprint Cup organization is permitted to take part in the sessions.   

Kenseth was optimistic based on what he initially felt inside his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.   

"I was just out there running by myself, but it seems OK," said Kenseth. "It's pretty much what you'd expect. There was a lot of fall off (with the tires) with not a lot of cars on the track. So when you have fall off like that, new tires mean a lot, and I think that's always good for the racing."

After the high drag package at Indy was widely unpopular after last year's Brickyard 400, Kenseth says the lower downforce package will be a big improvement.   

"The higher drag package we tried last year here (Indianapolis) and Michigan made it hard to get close to cars," Kenseth said. "It actually made the cars really, really loose. We don't have those effects this year nearly as much with this lower downforce package. It seems like the cars are much more stable in traffic, especially when you get farther back in the pack."

Menard, driver of the No. 27 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet, agreed with Kenseth.   

"I always enjoy racing at Indianapolis, but the rules package we had last year could have definitely been better," Menard said. "It was little bit of a shot in the dark. It had low reviews with the drivers. I think internal cockpit temperatures we at least 10-15 degrees hotter, so we were getting cooked and the cars were totally unstable in traffic."   

And the 2011 Brickyard 400 winner loves racing at Indy so much, he even has big plans for the driveway of his future home.   

"I have to get a picture of the yard of bricks because I'm going to build a house here in the next few years and I want to put a yard of bricks in my driveway," Menard said. "I have to get the specs of it write and how many bricks it is specifically to make it right."   

Menard also liked the way the car felt during the test session.  

"The car felt normal," Menard said. "Now we go back to what we know and what we've been running all year. Last weekend, we tried something at Kentucky that has promise. This 2016 package is solid. The cars are more stable around each other than what we've seen in the past. I look forward to a good race." 

Kenseth will be competing in his 16th Brickyard 400 and has yet to cross the yard of bricks first, but he has come close multiple times with seven top-five finishes at the historic track.   

"We've had a couple really good runs here," Kenseth said. "There have been a couple of them were I thought for sure we had the car to win the race, but just didn't have things go right. We've just had some weird things happen."   

Kenseth also noted how difficult it is to pass at Indy.   

"This is one of the most challenging race tracks to pass at and always has been," added Kenseth. "I don't believe 100 years ago it was built to have stock cars racing around here going two-wide. It's a difficult track to race because the groove is quite narrow."   

Menard backed up Kenseth's observation.   

"It wasn't built for stock cars," he said. "It was built for Indy cars. It's always challenge and it's always been a challenge to pass at single-groove race tracks."   

Wednesday's session ran from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m., skipping an hour-long lunch break due to the threat of severe weather around original scheduled end time of 5 p.m.

As you can see by Kevin Harvick's tweet below, that was a very wise decision.

Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, speaks to the media during a test session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 12, 2016.