Indianapolis 500 drivers have
productive day of testing after technical issues cause late start
[April 24, 2025]
By MICHAEL MAROT
Two-time defending Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden waited
nearly three hours to start turning test laps Wednesday.
Colton Herta took advantage of the delayed start to hit some extra
balls on the Brickyard golf course — in his fire suit. Kyle Larson,
the 2021 Cup champion, 2020 Indy pole winner Marco Andretti and
two-time Indy winner Takuma Sato, delayed their refresher courses
until mid-afternoon.
Eventually, everything worked out.
All four Indianapolis 500 newcomers have passed the rookie
orientation program, each veteran who needed the refresher course
was cleared and 2008 Indy winner Scott Dixon overcame the 2-hour,
45-minute delay for an internet connectivity issue to post the
fastest lap of the day at 225.182 mph on Indianapolis Motor
Speedway's historic 2.5-mile oval.
“How can you not love being here? I really love it a lot more after
the last two years,” said Newgarden, who was second-fastest at
225.125. “For most everybody here, it's putting basically a new car
on the track and hoping it goes fast. It doesn't mean everything's
going to be smooth sailing, but hopefully it goes well the next few
weeks.”
The day certainly didn't start well for Newgarden or the other 31
IndyCar drivers. They wanted to see how the hybrid system and
changing weight distribution would impact racing and tires the
series fastest track.
Instead, they waited for the internet connectivity issue to be
resolved.
The original schedule called for series regulars to start their
first two-hour session at 10 a.m., followed by another two-hour
window for rookies and refresher course drivers before opening the
track to everyone for four hours, ending at 6 p.m.
Track officials adapted by shortening the first and third test
sessions while still allowing the full two-hour slot for rookies and
the veteran IndyCar non-regulars, extending testing until 7 p.m. as
a smattering of disappointed fans sat patiently in the infield
grandstand and in the seats on the outside of Turn 2. Finally, at
12:45 p.m., the green flag came out as the schedule was revised.
At least that was a sufficient solution on a perfect racing day —
sunny, temperatures in the 70s and relatively tame winds for a
session reigning Brickyard 400 winner Kyle Larson acknowledged he
needed.
"It feels a little different, not quite the same balance I had last
year,” the 2021 Cup champ said. “Overall, I felt comfortable but
still felt rusty on small, little things, like hitting the buttons.
Good to get all that out of the way today and hopefully we'll be
better tomorrow.”
Larson is attempting racing's Memorial Day weekend double for the
second straight year — completing all 1,100 miles of racing at Indy
and Charlotte on the same day. He said he's undecided about giving
it a shot again in 2026 while noting this may be his last IndyCar
for the foreseeable future.
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The main gate of Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis is
shown Nov. 4, 2019. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)
The series has had trouble establishing radio and data
communications between the series new production truck and IndyCar
teams, which has been a recurring theme through the first three
races this season. New broadcast partner Fox also has had trouble
receiving the necessary data for its telecasts.
But series officials issued a statement Wednesday night saying the
connectivity issue was unrelated.
“This morning, IndyCar identified a connectivity issue with the
series' upgraded software, which temporarily limited the series'
timing and scoring and communication capabilities,” the statement
read. “While there was a delay to the start of the two-day Indy 500
open test, corrective measures were implemented and the test resumed
without further delays. IndyCar will continue to analyze and monitor
the software to avoid any delays in the future.”
Still, it was unusual.
“That was the first one, but I’m glad they fixed it,” four-time Indy
winner Helio Castroneves said when asked whether he'd ever waited
through a delay because of connectivity problem. “It didn’t hurt the
program, so far from what I understand.”
Things didn't go perfectly on the track, either.
Within the first hour, the cars of Jack Harvey and Santino Ferrucci
both stopped on the track, bringing additional stoppages. Larson
thought something was wrong with his car, too, and Graham Rahal's
car appeared to tap the wall near the end of testing.
Series officials will crank up the boost for drivers Thursday,
producing faster speeds on the second and final day of this week's
testing.
Indianapolis will host its annual IndyCar road race May 10.
Indianapolis 500 qualifying will be held May 17-18, and the Greatest
Spectacle in Racing is set for May 25.
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