The results of the first five races of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season and the following 11 rounds will be shelved for two weeks, as all attention turns to preparations for the 109th Indianapolis 500.
Practice week is here and with 34 entries, everyone will be competing to beat one car to make the race. Some will have their eyes turned to the front of the grid and setting the tone for the rest of May leading to race day on May 25.
It will be a key time for everyone to make sure their cars are the most suitable for the week ahead. It will also be key to get through this week without any trouble. One accident can turn a midfield team into a bubble risk. Contenders can become pretenders.
Some teams have a clue where they stand after the two-day test at the end of April, but now is show time and the click is ticking on how the legacy will shake out.
What is the schedule?
Practice begins on Tuesday May 13 with a two-hour session for all 34 cars at noon. ET. After that session, the track will be open for Tony Kanaan to complete his refresher program from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., if needed. After the refresher program is complete, all 34 entries will be able to return to practice, which will end at 6:00 p.m.
Over the next three days, practice will run for six hours starting at noon each day. On Friday May 16, the qualification draw will take place after practice at 6:15 p.m.
On Saturday May 17, there will be a one-hour practice beginning at 8:30 a.m. for all cars. Qualifying will begin at 11:00 a.m. and run until 5:50 p.m.
The fastest 12 cars at the end of Saturday will advance to the Fast 12 session on Sunday. The 13th through 30th qualifiers will be locked into the race and have their starting position secured for the 109th Indianapolis 500. The slowest four qualifiers will run int he Last Chance Qualifying session.
Sunday May 19 will begin with a one-hour practice for the top 12 qualifiers starting at noon. The Last Chance Qualifiers will have a one-hour practice at 1:00 p.m. Qualifying resumes at 4:05 p.m. for the Fast 12 session. Each team will get one qualifying run. The fastest six teams will advance to the Fast Six to determine pole position and the first two rows for the Indianapolis 500.
At 5:15 p.m., the Last Chance Qualifying session will take place. The four entries will have one hour and can make as many attempts as possible. The slowest car at the end of that session will fail to qualify.
The Fast Six session will begin at 6:25 p.m. with each entry again having one qualifying run.
On Monday May 19, a two-hour practice session will be held at 1:00 p.m.
What is the forecast?
The week starts with a little bit of a shaky forecast.
Tuesday begins with a chance of isolated thunderstorms and a 38% chance of precipitation. The highs will be around 75º F with a 5 mph wind from the Southeast.
Wednesday and Thursday are both looking to be partly cloudy days with the chance of precipitation dropping to 15%. While winds will remain about 7 mph from the South Southwest on Wednesday, the wind will pick up on Thursday, blowing at around 15 mph from the South Southeast. Along with the increase in winds will come an increase in temperature. Wednesday calls for a high of 79º F with Thursday jumping up to 87º F.
Friday practice will see the temperature remain in the mid-80s, with a high of 86º F on a mostly sunny day and the chance of precipitation hangs around 23%. Winds will remain at 13 mph from the Southwest. Temperatures will drop a little on Saturday. The high will be 81º F with the winds increasing slightly to 17 mph from the West Southwest. The chance of rain drops to 15%.
For Sunday's qualification day, partly cloudy skies should return and the temperature should drop to around 74º F. Winds will decrease to 9 mph from the West Northwest. There is a 15% chance of rain.
The post-qualifying practice day on Monday will see another partly cloudy day and temperatures down to 72º F.
Explain the Tony Kanaan Refresher
Kanaan is the standby substitute driver in case Kyle Larson must leave Indianapolis before Larson gets a chance to start the Indianapolis 500. Kanaan must still complete a refresher program before he would be allowed to run in the race.
Prior to last month's test, IndyCar set out a reminder out the substitute driver procedure, and it stated any replacement driver must complete the refresher on the first day of practice. The reminder also said once the refresher program was completed, the replacement driver would not be permitted to running any additional laps during the session.
Two hours has been allotted for Kanaan's refresher, but Kanaan should not need all that time to complete the two-stage, 30-lap program.
The Rookie Class
There are four rookies entered in this year's race, one of which is back for his second attempt to make the race.
Nolan Siegel made a qualifying attempt for last year's race. Unfortunately, a qualifying accident in the Last Chance Qualifying session sealed Siegel's fate and he was unable to make the 108th Indianapolis 500 with Dale Coyne Racing. Siegel is back for the 109th race with Arrow McLaren.
The other three rookies are all new to the Indianapolis 500.
The 2025 Indy Lights champion Louis Foster will be driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the #45 Honda. Jacob Abel was second to Foster in Indy Lights last year, and Abel is in the #51 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing. Robert Shwartzman comes over after a year in the FIA World Endurance Championship to drive the #83 Chevrolet for Prema, a team that is also attempting its first Indianapolis 500.
All four drivers are full-time participants in the IndyCar Series.
Who is not there?
Six drivers from the 108th Indianapolis 500 are not in the plans for the 109th race.
The best finisher of the non-returning drivers is Romain Grosjean, who was 19th with Juncos Hollinger Racing. Grosjean will have an outside shot of competing in the race as he has been signed as a reserve driver for Prema.
The next best finisher from last year not here this year is another Juncos Hollinger Racing driver. Agustín Canapino was 22nd in last year's race, but the Argentine is not back for his third Indianapolis 500.
The remaining four drivers all failed to finish last year's Indianapolis 500. In fact, none of those drivers completed more than 27 laps. Linus Lundqvist was out due to an accident in 28th. Katherine Legge suffered a mechanical issue after only 22 laps. Tom Blomqvist made his Indianapolis 500 debut last year, but he sadly is remembered for not completing a lap. A spin in turn one on the opening ended Blomqvist's day and it took out Pietro Fittipaldi as well, who is also not returning for 2025.
Along with the four rookies, the two returning veterans are Jack Harvey, who was sidelined for the Indianapolis 500 when Nolan Siegel was placed in the #18 Dale Coyne Racing entry, and David Malukas is back after missing last year's race due to his wrist injury.
How is Kyle Larson and Takuma Sato Speed After Testing Accidents?
The biggest stories from the two-day test at the end of April were the two accidents. On Kyle Larson's second lap of the qualifying simulation session, his first proper flying lap, held on April 24, Larson hit the wall exiting turn one and his damage chassis skidded into the barrier in turn two as well.
Sato had completed eight laps in the qualifying simulation session, and he had run the fastest no-tow lap of the session at 232.565 mph. That lap would stand for the second-fastest of the day. On his ninth lap, Sato lost the back end of his car in the middle of turn one and he hit the barrier.
Larson's car was salvageable but Sato's car was written off and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing had to order a new car from Dallara.
On the first day of testing, Larson had run fast enough for 11th-quickest at 223.430 mph. Sato was third-fastest on the first day of testing at 225.069 mph. He was one of three drivers to break the 225-mph barrier on the first day of testing.
Last year, accidents proved to be costly to qualifying efforts. There were three incidents of note in practice week last year. Linus Lundqvist had a spin on Thursday morning in turn two and Marcus Ericsson had a spin exiting turn four. During Friday practice, Nolan Siegel had an accident in turn two.
Lundqvist was able to qualify 27th. Ericsson and Siegel both had to participate in the Last Chance Qualifying session on Sunday. Ericsson took 32nd on the grid. Siegel failed to make the race.
What trends should we know for the Fast 12 and the race?
If you top the no-tow report on any day, you are likely going to make the Fast 12. Since 2016, only twice has a driver topped a no tow report and not started in the top 12. Jack Harvey was the first in 2020, who topped the no tow report in Thursday practice that year. Last year, Colton Herta topped the no-tow times on Thursday, but he fell a spot shy of the Fast 12 and started 13th.
Last year, the Tuesday practice was cut short after only 23 minutes, not enough time for any no-tow laps to register. Takuma Sato and Josef Newgarden were the fastest no-tow drivers on Wednesday and Friday. They ended up starting tenth and third respectively.
Scott McLaughlin only registered no-tow laps on Thursday and Friday, but his average over those two days was fourth on the no-tow report, and McLaughlin went on to win pole position.
Nine of the Fast 12 participants ranked in the top 12 of average no-tow report position over the three practice days. It is difficult for drivers to register on laps leading up to Fast Friday. Friday practice is the one place where nearly every driver will get a clean run. It is also the only practice days where everyone is competing with the 150-Kilopascal (kPa) level of boost that will be used in qualifying.
Last year, nine of the top 12 in the no-tow report from Friday practice made the Fast 12. Eleven of Fast 12 ranked in the top 15 on Friday's no-tow report. The exception, and surprise of qualifying, was Ryan Hunter-Reay, who made the Fast 12 despite not being faster than 18th on the no-tow report leading into qualifying.
Seven of the top ten cars in average overall practice result made the Fast 12 last year while ten of the Fast 12 ranked in the top 14. Herta had the best average though and did not make it. The other two drivers ranked 18th (Kyle Larson) and 22nd (Rinus VeeKay) on average overall practice result.
The fastest drivers overall each day were Scott Dixon (Tuesday), Scott McLaughlin (Wednesday), Patricio O'Ward (Thursday) and Colton Herta (Friday).
Only once in the last 12 years has an Indianapolis 500 winner topped a pre-qualifying practice session. That was Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2014, who topped the Monday pre-qualifying practice day.
Over the four days, Josef Newgarden ranked 28th in the abbreviated Tuesday practice but then ranked fourth, fifth and third over the next three days.
Who should be nervous about bumping?
It is the usual suspects.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has had a last row starter in the last three Indianapolis 500s. Though the team showed promising pace in testing beyond Sato, until we get through at least Friday practice with all of its cars far from the bubble, RLLR will be in the conversation.
Prema is new and it did well in testing, but it was not blisteringly quick with either Robert Shwartzman or Callum Ilott, who is back for his fourth Indianapolis 500 start. Prema is a full-time team, but new teams to the Speedway do race a battle to make the race. Abel Motorsports did make it on first attempt in 2023 with R.C. Enerson, but he qualified 29th. In 2021, Enerson made his first "500" attempt and fell short with the new Top Gun Racing. In that same year, Simona de Silvestro made it as the 33rd-starter for Paretta Autosport.
Dale Coyne Racing has also been a bottom feeder the last two years at the Speedway. In 2023, it had both its cars in the Last Chance Qualifying session. Both made the race. Last year, Nolan Siegel was the lone car bumped from the field. Add to the Coyne concerns Jacob Abel, who was toward the bottom on each test day last month.
What will this race mean for the championship?
With Palou up 97 points through five races, it feels like the championship is over with 12 races to run. The door is very much open for someone to beat Palou, but with an average finish of 1.2 through five races, it will be rather difficult to defeat the Catalan driver.
If Palou were to finish second in the next seven races with no bonus points, it would require second in the championship, Kyle Kirkwood, to win all seven of those races with the maximum 54 points for pole position and most laps led to take the championship lead, and even then Kirkwood would only have a one-point lead with five races remaining (529 to 528).
No driver has come close to the level necessary to dethrone Palou from his championship perch. Not only would it require Palou hitting a historic rough patch but it would also require another driver to go on a personal tear they have never achieved before for there to be a change at the top of the championship.
If there is any hope in Indianapolis, it comes from the extra points available in qualifying. Pole position pays 12 points with each spot in the top 12 paying one fewer descending point. Combine victory with pole position and the most laps led in the Indianapolis 500 and a driver could walkaway with 65 points from this race. Theoretically, a driver could take 60 points out of Palou's lead in this one race. That would require Palou scoring the minimum five points, which would mean Palou finishing 25th or worse.
There is also the unthinkable possibility that a driver could make up a full 65 points to Palou with a maximum points victory and Palou failing to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. A truly insane, yet possible, turn of events.
