Sebring was the scene of Kaminsky’s maiden voyage in a Dallara IL-15, the current chassis for the Indy Lights Series presented by Cooper Tires. Using a 1.7-mile track configuration that divides the complete Sebring circuit into two, the venue is a perfect opportunity to test newcomers to Indy Lights with plenty of bumps, surface changes, and daring corners. While the short Sebring circuit is often used for January pre-season testing, Kaminsky’s first laps came in the middle of the Florida summer. Ninety-six degrees Fahrenheit heat and minimal cloud cover created an intense, physically demanding day for the seven drivers taking part in the one-day test. 

Colin joined Abel Motorsports for the day, piloting the #61 car alongside series runner Jacob Abel. Led by Abel, the team is in the midst of its first season in Indy Lights. With abundant experience in Indy Pro 2000 and other open-wheel series, the team is enjoying a solid debut at the top of the Road to Indy ladder.

Seven drivers were in attendance for the event, including the Andretti Racing quartet of Matthew Brabham, Hunter McElrea, Christian Rasmussen, and Sting Ray Robb, Kaminsky’s aforementioned teammate for the day, Jacob Abel, and Force Indy’s Ernie Francis Junior. After nearly two months absent from competition in the Indy Pro 2000 series, the test event offered Kaminsky an exceptional opportunity to evaluate the performance of the turbocharged Dallara IL-15 and a competitive field of drivers at the Indy Lights level.  

Kaminsky earned the Iron Man status throughout the test, turning 136 laps and 231 miles in scorching hot Florida weather, the most of any driver. In two sessions in the morning hours, Kaminsky was an impressive fourth quickest on the time sheets. After getting more acclimated to the car, the team worked in the afternoon to make sizable setup changes to adjust the vehicle’s performance for Colin. He would end the day sixth quickest with a best lap just 0.51 of a second off of the fastest lap of the test. More remarkably, in his first day with the car, Kaminsky finished just 0.09 seconds behind race winner Christian Rasmussen, and beat out series regular Ernie Francis Jr. by a couple of hundredths. 

At a test event, where teams often test different setups and performance items, lap times often fluctuate vastly. Nevertheless, ending the day a half second behind multi-year series veterans and just 0.39 seconds behind the quickest rookie, Hunter McElrea, is a positive takeaway and a glimpse of what could be possible in the future for Kaminsky if given the opportunity in the Indy Lights series.