The temperatures are rising into the mid-90s’ under a clear blue sky, but according to Michelin engineers, the 3.27 mile Virginia International Raceway circuit is still reasonably cool for this afternoon’s Oak Tree Grand Prix, the ninth stop on the ten race 2013 American Le Mans Series season.

The track surface, now in its 13th season, has grayed so that it reflects rather than absorbs sunlight. The grip level is also low, so tire wear is not a significant issue, according to Ken Payne, motorsports technical director, Michelin North America.

“The highest track temperature we’ve seen in practice was only 106 degrees yesterday afternoon when the ambient temperature was 95 degrees,” said Robbie Holley, Michelin race tire engineer with the defending race champion Muscle Milk Pickett Racing Honda team.

At the start of the race at 2:15pm, Michelin engineers reported track temperatures of 116 degrees with ambient at 94 degrees

“Most of our Michelin technical partner teams qualified on their “medium” range option tires,” said Payne. “We design our tires for certain temperature ranges, so it will be interesting to see if anyone changes or starts mixing and matching tires on the first round of pit stops,” said Payne.

Track temperatures and grip levels will certainly be much higher next fall as the circuit will be completely repaved at the end of the 2013 season.