Final practice, air demonstrations and music acts round out schedule Friday, May 24 at IMS. Read More>
Two departure times provide more flexibility for fans who want to commute to the track on their bike on Race Day. Read More>
This partnership represents the first time a major athlete's sponsorship has been decided by a vote using blockchain technology. Read More>
View images from the shortened first day of the Indianapolis 500 Open test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. View Photos>
View images from the once-in-a-lifetime Total Solar Eclipse event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. View Photos>
Josef Newgarden unveils the 2024 Indianapolis 500 Ticket View Photos>
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway prides itself on its fire rescue and medical response teams that arrive to the scene of an accident within seconds. But how do they get that good? On Behind the Bricks, IMS President Doug Boles takes you through the annual Motorsports Safety Training at IMS, which features specific training scenarios for INDYCAR, NASCAR, IMSA and more to make sure every driver at IMS is safe. Watch Video>
On this episode of Doug and Drivers, 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson sits down with Doug Boles to talk about the pain of coming so close to scoring back-to-back wins, how he wanted to compete on ovals after his Formula 1 career and the transition to Andretti Global. Watch Video>
Why does Scott McLaughlin move his hands around so much in the car? What "button" is he pushing? What's the pressure of the iconic Yellow Submarine like? We cover that and so much more with Scott McLaughlin on the latest Doug and Drivers. Watch Video>
March 25, 2017 | By Mark Robinson, INDYCAR
Warm spring temperatures provided an optimal platform for 11 Verizon IndyCar Series cars to turn laps today on the hallowed 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as they prepare for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil in little more than two months. Drivers for Chip Ganassi Racing, Rahal Letterman Racing and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports participated on a manufacturers test day for Honda. Team Penske used the chance as a team test day for its four full-season drivers. Since it was a private test day, no official times were released. Despite winds that picked up in the afternoon and limited running, there was no place the 11 drivers would rather be. “It’s always cool to be at this place,” said Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner who drives the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “It’s fantastic to be back at the speedway and May is just around the corner. “We were lucky enough to win in 2008, but once you win you just want that second one much, much more. There’s nothing like this place.” View IMS IndyCar Test Photo Gallery
Dixon was joined at the test by teammates Max Chilton, Charlie Kimball and Tony Kanaan. The 2013 Indy 500 winner, Kanaan has his sights set on making his 16th start in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on May 28. But it never gets old. “It’s everything,” the 42-year-old fan favorite said of each time he returns to IMS. “This is why I grew up wanting to race, this is why I wanted to be here and this is why I insisted after all the disappointments to try to win this race over and over and over again. “Every time you come here, by the time you drive through the tunnel in your car, it’s an unbelievable feeling that I don’t think it would be fair for me to try to describe because I don’t think it will do it justice.” The Honda testing contingent was filled out by James Hinchcliffe and Mikhail Aleshin from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and Graham Rahal from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Rahal will have a teammate, Oriol Servia, in May, but was the lone test driver for RLL today. “We’re a one-car team and we’ve got to try and make the most of it,” said Rahal, driver of the No. 15 Honda. “I wish Oriol was here running. It would have been nice having him here running for the test as well just to get some more data, but he’s not. “We’re always trying to overcome the same battle but it is what it is. We just have to stick to our game plan and try to do what we need to do to be at our best.” Team Penske drivers Helio Castroneves, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power turned laps in their Chevrolet-powered cars. The team test day gives the Penske group the chance to double up on Indy testing since the quartet will return for a Chevrolet manufacturer day April 1. Team Penske has more Indy 500 wins (16) than any team in history but is determined to improve on 2016, when Power’s 10th-place finish was the best among its drivers. Newgarden is new to the team this year, but echoed the thoughts of most drivers today when discussing the gusting winds and how to prepare for them. “It’s understanding the balance shifts that the wind provides but also the unpredictability,” he said. “You get these gusts sometimes when the wind hits the car in different directions that you don’t suspect and the car reacts in a way that you wouldn’t suspect as a driver. It’s trying to understand that and just be on your toes so that when the car does move one way of the other, not knowing where it’s going to go, you can react and keep it off the fence.” Despite the gusting winds, there were no incidents on the day. Three more private tests are scheduled in the next two weeks. Andretti Autosport and Ed Carpenter Racing are scheduled to test March 28 at Sebring International Raceway in Florida. The April 1 Chevrolet test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway includes Team Penske, AJ Foyt Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing. Honda has scheduled another manufacturer test April 4 at Sonoma Raceway for all 13 of its full-season cars. Visit www.IMS.com to purchase tickets for the fourth annual INDYCAR Grand Prix on May 12-13 and the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 28, and for more information on the entire Month of May schedule at IMS. Kids 15 and under are free to all 2017 racing events at IMS when accompanied by an adult General Admission ticket-holder.