Latest news with #Indy500OpenTest
Indianapolis Star
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
The Inside Line IndyCar Podcast: Indianapolis 500 test recap
In this episode of The Inside Line, IndyStar motorsports reporter Nathan Brown and co-host Joey Barnes comb through the timing sheets from the two days of the Indy 500 Open Test and talk through their initial takeaways from how the field is shaping up for the Month of May, including: the latest edition of the Honda vs. Chevy battle, the early front-running teams and drivers, who looked rather pedestrian during testing and who they're keeping an eye on for possible Bump Day considerations.
Indianapolis Star
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
'Using it is really critical': How IndyCar drivers say hybrid could effect 2025 Indy 500
IndyCar drivers say running in a pack third in line or farther back will be even more difficult with the added weight of the hybrid in this year's Indy 500. That added weight, though, will create more opportunities for drivers to make mistakes, which when combined with 60 extra horsepower, could allow for passes that we haven't seen lately. INDIANAPOLIS – As 33 drivers wrack their brains, pour over data and video, and figure out how to out-scheme Josef Newgarden 's last-lap mastery ahead of the 109 th Indianapolis 500, the art of passing – or better yet, not being passed – has morphed into an entirely new art form with IndyCar 's addition of hybrid technology 10 months ago. And with two largely uninterrupted, sunny, balmy days of on-track action for this week's Indy 500 Open Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, drivers say strategies are starting to come into focus. What hasn't changed is this: maneuvering a power-steering-less Indy car at speeds upwards of 230 mile per hour in race trim in the middle of a pack while on a knife's edge remains a Herculean feat requiring smarts, pinpoint precision and the ultimate combination of strength and endurance. And with roughly 100 pounds more in the rear of the car – making it that much harder to turn and find a proper balance for – everything's been ratcheted up a notch. The difficulty to pass for cars sitting third in line, or farther back has gotten even tougher, drivers have generally said. But the added difficulty in mastering steering in this era of an Indy car through 800 corners for next month's Indy 500 for the first time with the hybrid will inevitably create some new opportunities for mistakes. And that means there may be more opportunities to pounce. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. 'I would say the weight makes it tougher to drive, and so then I think it's not easier to pass with the weight we now have. But it's tougher to drive, so it's a lot easier to see people do mistakes,' two-time defending series champion and 2025 points leader Alex Palou said Thursday evening after pacing the final session of testing. 'I think the past two or three years, it was super easy where if you were comfortable with your car, you'd just stay there. Don't go 100%, and you wait for the car in front of you to do a mistake, and then you go (try and pass)." 'The car's going to be a lot less forgiving' Pato O'Ward, who's twice finished runner-up in the 500 the last three years (2022 and 2024) while also crashing out battling for 2 nd -place in the closing laps (2023), was adamant that the helpless feeling of running third, fourth or fifth in a pack will, at times, feel even worse than in years past. But like Palou, he said after what he saw during testing this week, it's important to be on the lookout for mistakes ahead – ones that he would've rarely expected to see among front-runners in previous years. Because the 60 extra horsepower they have at their disposal might now give drivers a better chance to pass in those situations. '(With the additional weight), you get take-off understeer in order to follow (the car ahead), and it's heightened that much more. It's so much more aggressive and comes sooner, so there's some less sitting and waiting, whereas last year, you could kinda maintain, and if someone made a mistake, maybe you could get a run,' O'Ward told IndyStar Thursday. 'But with that said, having that extra power of the hybrid, you can get an opportunity. 'If the guy in front of you has a run (on the driver in front of him), then you'll never get a chance. But if he gets a little spooked, you can get a run and probably get by him. But the car's going to be a lot less forgiving.' The art of waiting and staying patient – when and for how long – will remain important, Andretti Global driver Marcus Ericsson said, particularly in a pack scenario where you might be sitting third and watching the two cars battle for position and use up their hybrid system's charge. If the 3 rd -place driver can stay within reach and pounce once the others have completed their brief battle and are 'regen-ing,' that's another theoretical passing opportunity that hasn't existed previously. Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenqvist told IndyStar he was 'shocked' at the length of time it takes the car's hybrid system to fully recharge while having to manually work the system. Since the system's rollout midway through last year, teams and drivers seem to have almost exclusively set the hybrid system to run automatically on road and street courses since it recharges with braking. Mastering the system on a superspeedway, where the brakes aren't ever touched beyond entering pitlane and under extreme duress, requires thinking 'a half-lap ahead,' Rosenqvist said, to scheme up a chance in the draft to lose a little speed without a penalty and then find a proper place to use it to one's advantage. 'If you're behind on it, it takes a long time to regen back up and have a go at someone,' Rosenqvist told IndyStar, noting that the added weight of the hybrid feels akin to having an additional full tank of fuel onboard. Hybrid execution in closing laps could decide this year's Indy 500 winner But barring sizable mistakes from the two drivers at the front in the closing lap or two, odds are drivers will still want to be in one of those spots. How to manage that and precisely what spot you want to be in and when is still a work in progress. Juncos Hollinger Racing driver Conor Daly told IndyStar on Thursday that even with the additional weight in the car, one doesn't need to deploy their extra hybrid power in order to execute a pass on the 1 st -place car – unless, of course, the leader is using it to defend. But unlike push-to-pass, which a leader can use again and again, lap after lap down the stretch to try and hold onto a lead on a road or street course, once a leader depletes their extra boost over a couple seconds to try and maintain their lead, they become a sitting duck just like years' past – even more so if the car behind combines a solid tow with their hybrid power to slingshot around and take the lead. 'Running with your hybrid fully charged is obviously the most efficient thing to do, so if you do deploy it to get the lead, and then you have no energy, you then become vulnerable, so that's something really interesting,' Daly told IndyStar. '(The hybrid boost) gives you enough that if you're in the lead, maybe you can keep the lead for one lap, but then you obviously need to recharge, and you're probably going to get passed,' Palou added. Indy 500 open test: Indianapolis 500 open test speeds, fastest laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway It stands to reason that there still remain arguments for wanting to both be running in front at the white flag, or laying back in 2 nd -place, waiting to pounce, even with the addition of the hybrid. If you're out front with a fully-charged hybrid, could that be enough, while also trying to lose the trailing car in the draft, to successfully fend off a last-lap charge by using ones hybrid boost to force the 2 nd -place car to deplete their own, and then bet on your ability to win a drag race to the checkered flag already with a slight lead? If you're leading with an empty hybrid tank, do you almost hand over the lead via a manual regen, only to use that built up burst to try to win a drag race to the line, knowing how Newgarden has twice proven a leading car faces tough odds to avoid a last-lap pass the previous two years? Or do you want to be behind, willing to trust that the combination of a tow and 60 extra horsepower could be the best weapon anyone could ask for? Those are the calculations teams will be intensely scheming over the next 30 days, all in hopes they get to test their theories in the closing laps come race day. 'I will just say this, I think hybrid utilization here (in the Indy 500) will be the most impactful of anywhere we've gone,' Newgarden said. 'It's gonna be critical to use the hybrid correctly in race-running, compared to any other race. Most other places we run, (using the hybrid) is a process thing, where you know where it's most efficient, and you're doing it every lap. 'Here, you can use the hybrid any way you want, and using it is really critical. And when you use it, it makes a big difference, so I think that will add a different complexion.'
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
NASCAR's Kyle Larson Explains Crash During Indianapolis 500 Open Test
Kyle Larson's crashed Indy car getting towed back to Gasoline Alley at the Indianapolis Motor ... More Speedway during the Indy 500 Open Test on April 24, 2025. NASCAR star Kyle Larson's Indianapolis 500 experience now includes what it feels like to smack the wall in an IndyCar crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion from Hendrick Motorsports crashed his No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet during the high-speed qualification simulation session on Thursday, April 24. He sensed something was amiss on his car as he began his green flag session when he felt the car get 'tight' entering Turn 1. He backed off the throttle, but by then, he lost control of the front end of his race car and was on for a wild ride. Larson made hard contact with the SAFER Barrier at the exit of Turn 1. It continued across the short chute on the South end of the race course and made secondary contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2. Larson was able to climb from the car without assistance from the AMR IndyCar Safety Team and was examined and released from the IU Health Emergency Medical Center in the infield of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Safety workers tend to Kyle Larson's crashed Indy car in Turn 2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway ... More during the Indy 500 Open Test on April 24, 2025. Larson felt fine afterwards, but the Arrow McLaren IndyCar team decided to load up the wrecked car for the race shop rather than rebuild it and send him back on the 2.5-mile oval for Thursday afternoon's full field session. Larson is a true racer, and this was the first time he had ever crashed in an Indy car. He was a rookie in last year's Indianapolis 500 and had a fairly flawless Month of May that earned his Rookie of the Year Honors. But Larson also needed to understand the dynamics of an Indy car crash and he experienced that Thursday morning. 'Honestly, you hate to tear up a really expensive car, but at the same point, I'm happy that I got it out of the way,' Larson said after he was released was the infield hospital. 'It didn't feel too different than hitting the wall in a similar fashion in NASCAR. 'Obviously, there could be much bigger wrecks than that in Indy, but I'm happy that it didn't feel too bad.' Larson spoke with his IndyCar crew about the crash and met with the engineers before he left the Indianapolis Motor Speedway shortly after 12 noon Eastern Time to fly back to Hendrick Motorsports in Concord, North Carolina. He will turn his focus to Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway when he returns to the more familiar No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. Reflecting on his IndyCar crash, Larson sensed something didn't feel right shortly before he lost control of the car. 'I had that same feeling that I had to start runs yesterday, like the tires, I don't know, just don't come in and my balance was a little too tight,' Larson explained. 'Like I said, I think just the faster speeds (in the higher boost qualifying sim session) just magnified all of that. 'I don't think there's anything I could have done, but maybe bail coming to the green, but it's hard to do that. 'I was just super tight. Just a lot of understeer. I could feel it kind of coming to our green lap, and then just as soon as I turned into Turn One, my foot was kind of fluttering from wide open, because you know, I could tell that I was tight and then smashed the wall. I bailed a while before I hit the wall, but once you lose the front, you are just along for the ride.' That ride included the initial hit in Turn 1 followed by the rebound impact further down the track in Turn 2. 'You're just kind of on the brakes and this low car is just riding on the pavement so you're just along for the ride sliding,' Larson continued. 'The second hit, it didn't hurt or anything but like you can see the wall coming so you're kind of like 'Oh man, I don't know what this is going to feel like.' Kyle Larson shortly before he left the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, April 24, 2025. 'It's just unfortunate, but I don't really know how these things work too, like we'll get it repaired and get to make some more runs later today or not. 'It just kind of is what it is. Hopefully we can all learn from it and just tune on our balance more.' Larson believed the impact felt pretty close to how it feels in a NASCAR crash, although the cars are dramatically different. 'It just felt normal,' Larson said. 'I've never hit the wall before in an Indy car so as I was knowing that I was going to hit the wall, 'Man, all right, here we go. We'll see if it feels way worse than hitting a wall in NASCAR.' 'But it felt very similar. 'But again, there are way bigger crashes here than what that was, it could hurt way more than what that was, but yeah, it felt normal.' Larson agreed with the team's decision to end his test session early instead of thrashing to repair the car. It probably wouldn't have been finished until very late in the afternoon session and with a near full week of practice for the 109th Indianapolis 500in May, there remains more opportunity fine-tune the setup. 'I would rather just make sure the car is like 100 percent before we go out and trick ourselves on anything or anything like that,' Larson said. 'I tend to move on and forget about things pretty quickly, so I don't think even getting into the wall will affect the mental side of things, as we come back in May. 'I feel fine. Got my hands off the wheel, I knew to do that.' Just a few minutes after Larson spoke outside of the infield care center, two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato crashed his No. 75 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing into the South Chute with a loud thud. Sato spent much more time in the IU Health Emergency Medical Center, but he was also released by the IndyCar Medical Staff. As for Larson, he found value, even in a crash, that he will take with him into this second Indianapolis 500 when he returns in May. 'If I was to hit the wall in a similar way, I know what to expect, but there's also a lot harder ways to crash here at the Speedway in an Indy car so hopefully I don't encounter that,' Larson said. 'But I'm honestly a little bit happy that to now hit the wall one and know what it feels like and to know everything was safe because like the seat, the seat inserts, the seat position all that's way different than what I have a NASCAR. 'In NASCAR, it feels like everything like surrounds you more the seat and all that where this, you're kind of like floating a bit more in the seat, so I wasn't sure what it would be like if I hit the wall.' And now, NASCAR's Kyle Larson knows what it feels like to crash an Indy car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Kyle Larson
Indianapolis Star
21-04-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
Arrow McLaren releases 2025 Indy 500 liveries for Pato O'Ward, Nolan Siegel, Christian Lundgaard
As the team chases McLaren Racing's fourth Indianapolis 500 victory -- and first since 1974 -- Arrow McLaren's three full-time drivers will race coordinated one-off liveries for next month's Indy 500. The designs for the cars of Pato O'Ward, Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard align with the greater McLaren Racing campaign for this season, 'Never Stop Racing', which rolled out at the Formula 1 team's 2025 season livery launch in London earlier this year. The campaign is meant to point toward the idea that "racing doesn't only exist from green to checkered flag -- it's always on," according to a team release. With the three largely white bodies of the car, the team's designs for this year's liveries is meant to symbolize "a blank canvas for Arrow McLaren entering the Month of May and the opportunity to write new stories with renewed passion and determination to race at the front of the grid." Each car -- black on the No. 5 of O'Ward; blue for the No. 6 of Siegel; and papaya for the No. 7 of Lundgaard -- features splashes of "bespoke camouflage" accenting each car. 'The Indianapolis 500 is the biggest stage in racing, and our liveries this year reflect that in every detail," Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan said in a team release. "The design is more than just a new look – it represents the precision, performance and passion that fuel McLaren Racing. Through our Never Stop Racing campaign, these liveries capture the endless spirit of competition that drives us forward, no matter what.' Though not uniformly tied to the campaign with its design, the No. 17 Chevy livery of Kyle Larson, who will make his second attempt at 'The Double' in a partnership with Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports next month, features a predominantly white body with blue and papaya accents that helps coordinate it with Arrow McLaren's other three cars. All four cars will be on-track for the first time later this week in the field-wide Indy 500 Open Test at IMS Wednesday and Thursday. On-track action for the Month of May kicks off with the opening day of practice May 13, leading up to qualifying weekend (May 17-18) and the 109th edition of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing May 25.
