If you go: Race of Champions, Saturday-Sunday, Marlins Park

What: Competition to determine the world’s greatest race car driver and the fastest nation. Twenty top drivers from various racing circuits will participate, including Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, Le Mans, MotoGP and Rally X. Saturday and Sunday. Marlins Park. Available at raceofchampions.com. Single-day start at $18. Two-day packages start at $27. Parking passes are $25/day. SATURDAY — INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION

3-6 p.m., MotorTrendOnDemand.com. Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Formula 1); Travis Pastrana (U.S., action sports); Helio Castroneves (Brazil, IndyCar); Scott Speed (U.S., Rallycross) or Alexander Rossi (U.S., IndyCar) to be decided by race-off.

Juan-Pablo Montoya (Colombia, IndyCar); Petter Solberg (Norway, Rallycross); Felipe Massa (Brazil, Formula 1); Pascal Wehrlein (Germany, Formula 1).

Jenson Button (Great Britain, Formula 1); Kyle Busch (U.S., NASCAR); Tony Kanaan (Brazil, IndyCar); James Hinchcliffe (Canada, IndyCar).

Tom Kristensen (Denmark, 24 Hours of Le Mans); Kurt Busch (U.S., NASCAR); David Coulthard (Great Britain, Formula 1); Ryan Hunter Reay (U.S., IndyCar). SUNDAY — ROC NATIONS CUP American vs. the World, with drivers paired in team racing in Ryder Cup-style competition. Noon-2 p.m., CBS Sports Network. going to be the same for everyone,” Hunter-Reay said.

Eight types of cars will be used in the match races, with drivers switching cars from race to race. The two drivers in any race will be in identical cars.

Thus the focus is on how the drivers handle the variables of the cars and the track, which is referred to as a figure 8 but bears more of a resemblance to a lopsided butterfly, with wing-like loops on either side of a shared straightaway to conform to the contours of the baseball field.

Drivers begin in the middle and head onto separate loops, one larger than the other, before switching over on the straightaway to complete the opposite loop. Pastrana and Kyle Busch were the first to test the track on Thursday.

“The short loop is faster but you come onto the startfinish straight with much more speed from the longer loop,” Pastrana said. “So at the final corner you think, ‘Yeah I’ve got it.’ Then they come flying past you … but on a track like this we can expect the races to be very tight.”

Pastrana is the most intriguing presence in the field, a 2.0 Evel Knievel who made his mark in Freestyle Motocross as a teenager.

He won nine gold medals at the X Games, the Olympics of extreme sports. Now 33, Pastrana has become accomplished in car racing. He has four Rally America titles to his credit and has competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

The roof at Marlins Park will be closed both days, but the windows facing downtown Miami will be open. Who will excel under the dome is anyone’s guess.

Castroneves, who said he hadn’t been to Marlins Park before this week, is drawing on the experience of another competition for the adaptability this unique event demands. He is one of two veterans of “Dancing With the Stars” in the field — Castroneves was the celebrity winner in 2007; James Hinchcliffe a recent runner-up.

“One car might fit a driving style for one driver and another car might fit another driver,” Castroneves said. “I have won dance competitions. You’ve got to be quick on your feet, and that’s what I’m looking for.”