The Harlem Shake phenomenon continues to grow. Now, IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay has gotten in on the fun.

During an appearance last night on WSVN-TV's "7SportsXtra," the Andretti Autosport driver joined the Miami Dolphins' mascot and a few other interesting characters in the popular dance. RHR and the rest of the Andretti drivers (James Hinchcliffe, Marco Andretti, and EJ Viso) are set to test on Wednesday at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway.

You can check out the madness inside Channel 7's newsroom here; Hunter-Reay's on the top row in the pirate hat.

This comes on the heels of Josef Newgarden and Co. transforming the Yard of Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway into a dance stage for their own Harlem Shake.

IZOD IndyCar Series teams and drivers will be quite busy in the second half of February.

Dragon Racing, which has been dealing with controversy after the departure of Katherine Legge, will begin a three-day run of IndyCar testing at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway tomorrow with drivers Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Saavedra.

On Tuesday, a bigger group of teams will turn laps on the Sebring road course. Most of that contingent will be part of a Honda manufacturer test, with a few Chevrolet-powered squads mixed in. Wednesday will see Andretti Autosport's foursome and highly touted rookie Tristan Vautier of Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports go to work in Florida.

Sonoma Raceway will also host a one-day test session on Feb. 27 that is slated to have nine drivers take part. The test is open to the public and admission is free.

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SEBRING TESTING

Feb. 18

Dragon Racing (Sebastien Bourdais/Sebastian Saavedra)

Feb. 19

Chip Ganassi Racing (Dario Franchitti/Scott Dixon/Charlie Kimball)

Rahal Letterman Lanigan (Graham Rahal)

Barracuda Racing (Alex Tagliani)

Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (Josef Newgarden)

A.J. Foyt Racing (Takuma Sato)

Dale Coyne Racing (Justin Wilson)

KV Racing Technology (Simona de Silvestro/Tony Kanaan)

Team Penske (Will Power/Helio Castroneves/AJ Allmendinger)

Panther DRR (Oriol Servia)

Feb. 20

Andretti Autosport (Ryan Hunter-Reay/James Hinchcliffe/Marco Andretti/EJ Viso)

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (Tristan Vautier)

SONOMA TESTING

Feb. 27

KV Racing Technology (Kanaan/De Silvestro)

Panther DRR (Servia)

Dragon Racing (Bourdais/Saavedra)

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (Vautier/Simon Pagenaud)

Ed Carpenter Racing (Ed Carpenter)

Panther Racing (JR Hildebrand)

The 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship is getting closer and closer.

Today, track construction of the 1.8-mile Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg street circuit began as the first concrete barriers were put into position. Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais was part of the audience at the ceremony.

The course will take 35 days to create through the effort of roughly 250 workers. More than 20,000 feet of steel-reinforced concrete barriers, 44,000 feet of fencing, and over 12,000 tires will be used in the construction process.

St. Petersburg will host the season-opening race weekend on March 22-24.

PHOTO CREDIT: Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg/Kathleen Stelmach, Torchia Communications

It took INDYCAR nine years to put the Dallara IR03/07 to bed. Who knows how long it'll be before its Firestone Indy Lights chassis from Dallara -- which made its debut in 2002 -- takes its final lap.

A new car for INDYCAR's top developmental series had been slated for 2014, but yesterday, the sanctioning body announced that the initiative would be delayed until after that season.

"We want our teams, drivers and manufacturers to be competitive and successful, and if that means taking a step back to create a stronger series to support the economics of this long-term capital investment, as well as a formula that we believe will allow our drivers to transition between Pro Mazda and the IZOD IndyCar Series, then we're willing to make sure the introduction is timed properly," said Lights director Tony George, Jr. in a statement.

With the introduction of the turbocharged and more nuanced Dallara DW12 in the IZOD IndyCar Series, the normally aspirated Lights chassis needs a serious overhaul to remain a proper training tool for INDYCAR's stars of tomorrow. Instead, they'll have to continue working on their racecraft in a machine that's 11 years old.

Never mind all the important technical differences between the DW12 and the 2002 Lights machine; the latter is simply too old to keep getting work.

In 2002, a gallon of gas was roughly about $1.40. George W. Bush was in the middle of his first term as President. Radio stations had begun forcing Nickelback down our throats.

Times have changed, and so have the needs of INDYCAR's developmental drivers. They need to hone their skills in a car closer to the DW12 rather than one that's closer to an obsolete machine.

As for the IZOD IndyCar Series, they have their own equipment issues to figure out. The aerokit saga that seemed ready to be resolved may have hit yet another snag. In yesterday's Indianapolis Star, reporter Curt Cavin wrote that not all the manufacturers may be ready to see the kits debut in 2014. In Cavin's words:

"No one was willing to go on the record Thursday, but it seems clear the manufacturers are on completely different sides of the discussion. One might be ready for them next season, the other clearly is not. Read: Log jam."

Truth be told, I'm burned out on this particular matter. If it happens, great. Outside of multiple chassis, the fans have wanted cars with different styles of bodywork. But if it doesn't, at least the base DW12 has proven its worth in terms of producing a great on-track product on its own.

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The Cavin link above also has some news on Dale Coyne Racing's second drive that is up for grabs. Apparently, a split program may be in the cards for that particular entry and that Ana Beatriz is in the running to drive all the oval races there.

Beatriz competed at Sao Paulo and Indianapolis last season in a collaboration between Andretti Autosport and Conquest Racing. Before that, she ran 16 of 17 races in the 2011 season with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing.

As for Ryan Briscoe, it appears as if he's looking more at sports car opportunities and perhaps part-time work in IndyCar later this season. While the situation has already been talked about, it doesn't make it any less annoying to watch.

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And if you feel the same way, perhaps this video will cheer you up:

Yep, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has officially joined in on the Harlem Shake phenomenon. And yep, that's Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing pilot Josef Newgarden dancing like a nutcase, surrounded by other people dancing around like nutcases. Someone should wake that IMS 'yellow shirt' official up, because he's missing a party.

Katherine Legge had to persevere a lot in 2012.

As part of TRUECar's female racing initiative, the former Champ Car driver worked her way back into IndyCar last season with Dragon Racing as teammate to Sebastien Bourdais. Unfortunately, the team was saddled with woeful Lotus engines and only managed to join the Chevrolet camp after suing the British manufacturer.

Once inside the Bowtie Brigade, more issues emerged as Dragon was forced to become a one-car operation. Instead of having her own drive, Legge found herself relegated to oval duty for the remainder of the year while Bourdais took care of the road courses.

Now, Legge no longer has a ride at all. TRUECar has decided to stick with Dragon and Colombia's Sebastian Saavedra has taken her spot as the team's second driver. As for TRUECar's initiative -- which had the tagline "Women Empowered" -- who knows what will happen with that.

The episode has incited some controversy, and Legge herself admitted last night on her Twitter page, @katherinelegge, that she was "feeling pretty sick to [her] stomach" about it (she also said that she would issue a statement "shortly").

Situations like this never cease to feel troubling, no matter how many times we see it unfold in IndyCar. Legge isn't likely to win a championship, but she had the potential to at least be in the mid-pack group with a decent car/engine combo.

It appears that potential will remain untapped, and now we'll have to wait and see what her next move will be. I'm also interested in hearing more about TRUECar and Penske's side of this story.

UPDATE: Here come the lawyers.

In a statement released this morning, Katherine Legge said that she will take legal action following the loss of her drive at Dragon Racing. She states that she received a letter of termination on Jan. 18 and that inquiries into the reasons for said termination have gone unanswered by the team.

Legge even goes as far as to mention her former team owner Jay Penske's embarrassing incident last summer on Nantucket, in which he and brother Mark were arrested for an alleged break-in at the Nantucket Yacht Club. Two women also claimed they were pushed by the Penske brothers, and that one of the men urinated on one of the women's boots.

In October, both Penskes were placed on pre-trial probation for one year in Nantucket District Court.

“Jay Penske’s actions in Nantucket then really hurt my ability to find additional and personal sponsors, and it was highly embarrassing, especially with the message that we were trying to portray," said Legge in the statement, which is part of a story from SPEEDTV.com's Marshall Pruett.

UPDATE 2: Dragon Racing has released a statement this afternoon on the situation, which can be found via The Indianapolis Star's Curt Cavin.

Despite seven victories and 27 podium finishes across a five-year span with his former squad at Team Penske, Ryan Briscoe remains rideless for the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series championship.

With Dragon Racing's second seat going to Colombia's Sebastian Saavedra -- an up-and-comer with just 19 IndyCar starts to his credit -- Briscoe's chances of staying on the circuit full-time would appear to be dwindling even further.

There's still some hope for the Australian, but it may be the last hope he's got. Honda-powered Dale Coyne Racing has yet to announce its driver roster for the No. 18 and 19 machines.

Everyone expects DCR regular and 2012 race winner Justin Wilson in one of them, so that leaves one spot left there. Wilson and Briscoe would make a mean duo, and if Honda backed them up with solid powerplants, DCR would be capable of punching above its weight once again.

Still, it's a bit of a surprise to see a driver of Briscoe's caliber still scrapping for a drive at this point in the off-season.

Actually, no. It's not. Just look at the last two drivers that have been hired full-time in IndyCar.

E.J. Viso (now with Andretti Autosport) and Saavedra have proven that they can race in IndyCar, but it's also true that they both have extensive sponsorship to help them out. No shame in that, obviously.

But do either one of them have the same resume that Briscoe carries? The answer is no. Once again, it all appears to come down to money.

It's a gas, isn't it?

Sebastian (with an 'a') Saavedra is set to return to full-time IZOD IndyCar Series competition as driver of the No. 6 TRUECar Dragon Racing Chevrolet, joining four-time Champ Car World Series champion Sebastien (with an 'e') Bourdais in team owner Jay Penske's stable.

The Colombian native, who will replace Britain's Katherine Legge as the team's second driver, finished fourth in last season's Firestone Indy Lights championship. In addition, he ran three races for Andretti Autosport on the IndyCar side (Indianapolis, Sonoma and Fontana).

Saavedra competed in 14 IZOD IndyCar Series races for Conquest Racing in 2011.

With Indianapolis Motor Speedway aiming for significant upgrades in the near-future -- which could possibly include a new lighting system to allow night racing at the Brickyard -- there's been a lot of buzz about its NASCAR event, the Brickyard 400, eventually moving to a night-time format.

Lights would also open up the possibility of the Indianapolis 500 being shifted from its traditional day-time start as well. But in an interview with ESPN.com's David Newton, IMS chief operating officer and vice president of communications Doug Boles indicated that the Speedway wasn't thinking about the idea:

"The Indianapolis 500 has a long history of starting at 11 [a.m.] or noon,'' Boles said in the interview. "I would see that as continuing to be the start time.''

Boles also told Newton that while a lighting system is "on that list" of potential IMS upgrades, the prospect is not yet a concrete one.

The Speedway has officially supported new Indiana state legislation that would create a "motorsports investment district" around the 2.5-mile oval. The new district would collect multiple forms of taxes from that area and put the money towards improvements at the track.

Besides a lighting system, other potential upgrades that have been mentioned by the Speedway include high-definition video and LED boards, grandstand renovations, and infrastructure work. The proposed legislation, if passed, would land IMS at least $70 million to make those improvements.

Indiana state senator Michael Young, a Republican, was slated to introduce the legislation in the state's General Assembly today.

"Man, they really want to save the Brickyard 400."

That was my first thought when I saw news of Indianapolis Motor Speedway trying to get the state of Indiana to help them fund up to $100 million in upgrades to the famed facility -- upgrades that could include high-definition video boards, grandstand renovations, and -- you guessed it -- lights for night racing.

Every summer, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drops in on the Speedway for one of its biggest events of the season. Unfortunately, the oppressive Hoosier heat is also there to greet them, as well as the fans that choose to tough it out and head back home looking like cooked lobsters.

That particular factor has helped play a role in the Brickyard 400's notable attendance woes, which the Speedway has attempted to combat by making it the main event of a 'Super Weekend' that also features the Nationwide Series and GRAND-AM road racing. So, should the track ever get hold of a lighting system, one would assume the NASCAR contingent would be the main beneficiaries.

A night-time version could revitalize the stock car festivities at IMS (even if it fails to liven up the on-track product).

And the Indianapolis 500? "Ha," you might say. "The greatest race in the world...At night?!? Are you mad? It's tradition to run it in the day!"

Considering all the changes that have been made to the race in recent years, from changing start times to new qualification formats, who's to say that an Indy 500 under the lights won't go down one day?

If the proposed legislation in Indiana -- which involves the creation of a "motorsports investment district" to collect taxes in an area around the Speedway that will help pay for the aforementioned upgrades -- goes through, the possibility of shifting the '500' to a night race will be there if some of that money goes toward lights.

It would eventually prove irresistable. It's too interesting of an idea, and it stands a chance to be a very lucrative one, too.

And let's not forget, Indiana can be pretty darn hot in May, as well.

Traditionalists may be outraged at first, but perhaps enjoying the '500' in cooler conditions would change their tune a bit.

As expected, E.J. Viso has now been confirmed as the fourth driver at Andretti Autosport for the 2013 championship. Viso will pilot the No. 5 Team Venezuela PDVSA Chevrolet alongside series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe and Marco Andretti.

Viso's program will be a collaboration between Andretti and HVM Racing, the team that Viso raced with in the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Here's the full press release from the Andretti camp:

Indianapolis, IN (Feb. 7, 2013) - IndyCar's Andretti Autosport has signed Team Venezuela driver E.J. Viso to pilot a fourth entry in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series. Viso will drive the No. 5 Team Venezuela PDVSA Chevrolet joining Andretti's full-season efforts of reigning series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe and Marco Andretti. The entry is a result of an off-season collaboration between HVM Racing and Andretti resulting in a joint entry supporting Team Venezuela for the upcoming IndyCar season.

The unique three-way deal represents a win-win-win scenario with Andretti Autosport returning to its traditional four-car fulltime lineup, Viso joining the championship-defending team and HVM Racing securing an arrangement that provides for continuation of its business in IndyCar as an incubation to a potential return in 2014 for the Indianapolis-based team owned by Keith Wiggins.

"I could not ask for more than to get the opportunity to drive for a championship team while representing my country," said 27-year-old Viso. "After five years in the series I believe I have found the right environment and look forward to having Ryan, James and Marco as teammates. I'm very proud to be able to move into the 2013 season with this new relationship; it's a dream come true."

Now entering his sixth season with the IndyCar Series, Viso began his racing career via go karts at the age of five, capturing five Winter National Karting Championships. At just 15 he joined the world of Formula Car racing and captured victory at 19 out of 22 events in his debut year. Viso went on to win the Formula 3 British Championship and became the youngest driver in the Formula 3000 International the following year.

The racing veteran continued his climb into the motorsports world by joining the IndyCar Series where he has recorded six Firestone Fast Six appearances, 16 top-10 finishes, and has led a total of 52 laps during his five years racing in North America's elite championship.

A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Viso is deeply rooted in his heritage and a well-respected ambassador to his country. He will represent Team Venezuela as their premiere racer and only Latino-born driver currently competing full time in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Dedicated to the development and support of their native-born racing talents, Team Venezuela has been formed by native Venezuelan and long-time racing supporter Vicente Tralci.

"I have been following E.J.'s career for quite some time and was able to help him get his start in racing 22 years ago," said Tralci. It's an honor to be able to bring this opportunity to him and to pair with Andretti Autosport. It has always been our dream to be partnered with a team of such high reputation or results.

The No. 5 Chevy entry will also be supported by Venezuelan-owned petroleum company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA).

Viso's entry will mark the return of a four-car stable for Indianapolis-based Andretti Autosport, who decided to focus on a three-car effort following the 2011 season. The four-time champions, led by racing legend Michael Andretti, will once again be the largest team operating under the INDYCAR umbrella, committed to fielding four full-time IndyCar entries (five entries for the 2013 Indianapolis 500 with the addition of Carlos Munoz), two Firestone Indy Lights entries, two Pro Mazda Championship entries and entries in the USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda. Andretti Autosport also remains the only team to compete at each step on the Mazda Road to Indy ladder.

"We are happy to welcome E.J. (Viso) to the team and to again be running four cars," said Andretti. "He has shown speed in his early years as a driver which we view as very promising, and his personality will lend well to the overall chemistry of the drivers and crew. I'd like to thank Keith (Wiggins) and HVM for their assistance in this project."