Track News

Gearing Up: Indy 500 Open Test Providing May Preview This Week

1 HOUR AGO

All Action Streaming Live on INDYCAR YouTube Channel

Nine former winners of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and the rest of the top NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers competing in the 110th Running begin their pursuit of a place on the Borg-Warner Trophy with this week’s Open Test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The two-day test is set for Tuesday and Wednesday, with free available admission and seating in the Southeast Vista in Turn 2 and the Turn 2 mounds via Tunnel 3. Free parking will be available in Lot 3P.

SEE: Open Test Entry List

The on-track action begins each day at 10 a.m. ET. On Tuesday, race veterans will have a two-hour session (10 a.m.-noon) followed by rookies and those taking oval refresher tests from noon to 2 p.m. Following that, all drivers can be on the track through 6 p.m.

Wednesday’s session features all drivers from 10 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. ET.

All sessions will be streamed live on the INDYCAR YouTube channel. Allen Bestwick will be the host, with James Hinchcliffe serving as analyst Tuesday and Georgia Henneberry reporting from the pits both days.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou is foremost on the list of drivers to watch as he is the reigning “500” and series champion. He also has won the past two series races – on a road course and a street circuit – and three of the season’s first five races to build a 17-point lead over Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood. Overall, Palou has won 11 of the past 22 races, including a pair on ovals last year (Indy and at Iowa Speedway).

Palou earned his first “500” victory last year in dramatic fashion, overtaking 2022 champion and former teammate Marcus Ericsson with a bold move approaching Turn 1 on Lap 187 of 200. Ericsson blamed himself for leaving too much room to the inside, which practically begged Palou to go for it. Palou did and was never headed.

Ericsson, who is Kirkwood’s teammate, has been one of the best performers at the Speedway in recent years, losing a chance at consecutive wins in 2023 when Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden passed him on the last lap. Ericsson has led 60 laps over the past four years.

Indianapolis 500 testing

Ericsson and Newgarden are both hoping to make amends for penalties incurred last year. Newgarden and then-teammate Will Power had to start the race on the last row for infractions discovered in qualifying. Newgarden, a two-time Indy winner, was powering through the field in pursuit of an event-first three-peat when his car suffered a mechanical issue just after he got to sixth place. The cars of Ericsson and Kirkwood were stripped of their second- and sixth-place finishes after post-race inspection.

Power hasn’t had strong results in recent Indys, but he is another driver with a legitimate chance to earn another likeness on the Borg-Warner Trophy (he won in 2018). A win this time would be with Andretti Global, which won the race with Dan Wheldon (2005), Dario Franchitti (2007), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2014), Alexander Rossi (2016) and Takuma Sato (2017). This will be Power’s first chance to race in the “500” with a team other than Team Penske since his rookie year in 2008 with KV Racing Technology.

Sato is back in the field to chase a third Indy win. As is the case with his 2020 victory and last year’s front-row start, he will drive for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He led a race-high 51 laps last year with RLL. Only 10 drivers have won three or more “500s,” the most recent to join that group was Franchitti in 2012.

Hunter-Reay has joined Arrow McLaren, which should be a boost to Pato O’Ward, who has been one of the best at the Speedway in recent years. Either driver could win this year’s race as Hunter-Reay showed last year when he led 49 laps and appeared on his way to victory with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing until the car ran out of fuel coming to the final pit stop as the leader.

It has been 18 years since Scott Dixon won the “500,” but his five poles in the event illustrate how fast he has been with CGR over the years. ECR also seems to regularly have fast cars at the Speedway, which bodes well for Rossi and last year’s Milwaukee winner, Christian Rasmussen, who finished sixth last year at Indy. Rossi led 14 laps last year before retiring early with mechanical failure.

And then there’s the only four-time winner in the field, and it’s a safe bet that Helio Castroneves will have something to say about the outcome of this year’s race in his Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian machine.

Four drivers will be prepping for their first chance to start an Indy 500: Mick Schumacher (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports), Caio Collet (AJ Foyt Racing) and Dennis Hauger (Dale Coyne Racing).

This test is being held later in April than in some years, which means it’s closer to the start of official practice Tuesday, May 12. Thus, it will be interesting to see the approach the various teams take. Some will focus on making long runs to test tires and fuel while others will do more qualifying simulations.

There are storylines aplenty, and INDYCAR.com will spend the weeks leading up to the race detailing them. For now, it’s time to get to work. It begins Tuesday.