The annual Indianapolis\u202f500 Open Test returned to the iconic 2.5\u2011mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on April\u202f23\u201324, 2025, offering teams their first real taste of \u201cThe Greatest Spectacle in Racing\u201d under new hybrid and turbo boost regulations. After an initial internet outage delayed Wednesday\u2019s sessions, 34 drivers\u2014including rookies and veterans completing refresher tests\u2014logged more than 5,800 laps over two days as they fine\u2011tuned setups ahead of May\u2019s Month of May races.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scott Dixon topped the speed charts in the first day\u2019s final hour, clocking a late flyer of 225.182\u202fmph in his No.\u202f9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to edge defending two\u2011time champ Josef Newgarden and Takuma Sato. Marcus Armstrong and Colton Herta rounded out the top five, underscoring Honda\u2019s strength as nine of the fastest ten laps came on Honda power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Technical gremlins appeared early: Jack Harvey and Santino Ferrucci each brought out brief cautions with mechanical stoppages, while Graham Rahal brushed the Turn\u202f3 SAFER Barrier with 13 minutes remaining, damaging his suspension but avoiding a more serious incident. Rookie orientation saw Louis Foster, Jacob Abel and Robert\u202fShwartzman clear their rookie tests, and veterans such as Kyle\u202fLarson, Marco Andretti and Callum Ilott complete refresher laps. By day\u2019s end, the field had covered 2,805 laps as teams gathered crucial data on hybrid deployment and aero balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Morning \u201cHigh\u202fBoost\u201d Session:<\/strong> With turbo boost turned up to Fast Friday and qualifying levels, Scott McLaughlin blistered the oval at 232.686\u202fmph in his No.\u202f3 Team Penske Chevrolet\u2014the fastest lap of the entire test. Will Power and Felix Rosenqvist also broke the 232\u202fmph barrier, while Takuma Sato and Kyle Larson each suffered heavy Turn\u202f1 crashes; both drivers were uninjured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Afternoon \u201cRace Trim\u201d Session:<\/strong> Dropping boost to race\u2011spec levels, \u00c1lex Palou topped the charts at 223.993\u202fmph in his No.\u202f10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, followed closely by Rosenqvist and Kyle\u202fKirkwood. The only on\u2011track issues were fuel\u2011starvation offs by Rinus\u202fVeeKay and Jacob\u202fAbel, but no cautions were needed. Teams also used the final minutes to practice hot pit stops. Combined, the two days of testing covered 5,804 laps\u2014approximately 14,510 miles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wednesday\u2019s session validated the potency of Honda\u2019s package under race\u2011trim conditions, while Chevrolet\u2019s rebound on Thursday showcased the impact of elevated boost on qualifying runs. Drivers noted that the new hybrid integration adds an extra layer of strategy, demanding precise muscle\u2011memory runs under varying boost levels and careful management of tire wear on IMS\u2019s famously abrasive surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the open test in the books, attention now turns to the Children\u2019s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park on May\u202f4, followed by the Sonsio Grand Prix on the IMS road course (May\u202f10) and the 109th Indianapolis\u202f500 on May\u202f25. Teams will analyze this week\u2019s data to refine aero setups, hybrid deployment strategies and pit\u2011stop routines as the intensity of Month of May racing ramps up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The annual Indianapolis\u202f500 Open Test returned to the iconic 2.5\u2011mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on April\u202f23\u201324, 2025, offering teams their first real taste of \u201cThe Greatest Spectacle in Racing\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[81,155,156,48,87,157],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1919,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1917\/revisions\/1919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Technical Takeaways<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s Next<\/h3>\n\n\n\n