IndyCar might have another off weekend before its next race, but this weekend there will be action from Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the open test will be held over two days. We will possibly see 33 teams begin their preparations ahead of this year's race.
We will have a handful of rookies completing their orientation program and a few veterans receiving a refresher. Then there will be plenty of time for all drivers to take to the track as they each have a checklist whether that be to focus on qualifying simulations or begin preparing for the each race.
Schedule
The two-day test begins at 10:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday April 28. Every team will get a chance to run an instillation lap before the focus will turn to the veterans running until noon. Rookie Orientation Practice and the Refresher Programs will begin at noon, and that session will run for two hours. The track will be open to all teams from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
On Wednesday April 29, testing will resume at 10:00 a.m. with a two-hour session. There will be a one-hour break before a four-hour session to close out the test. The final hour of the test will allow hot pit stops.
Who must run Rookie Orientation and the refresher program?
There are four rookies entered for this year's Indianapolis 500: Caio Collet, Dennis Hauger, Mick Schumacher and Jacob Abel. While Abel did attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 last year, because he did not make the race, Abel will need to complete Rookie Orientation again this year.
Rookie Orientation is a three-phase process. The first phase requires ten laps between 205-210 mph. Phase two is 15 laps between 210-215 mph. The final phase is 15 laps at 215 mph or faster.
Five additional drivers will need to complete the Refresher Program, and all five of those drivers are one-off entries. For five of those drivers, they have not competed in IndyCar since last year's Indianapolis 500. Those drivers are Ed Carpenter, Hélio Castroneves, Jack Harvey, and Ryan Hunter-Reay, who has moved to Arrow McLaren after running with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in 2025. Hunter-Reay's entry will be run in partnership between McLaren and Legacy Motor Club, which competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series with co-owner Jimmie Johnson.
Katherine Legge will also need to complete a refresher, as she was announced to run the #11 Chevrolet for HMD Motorsports in partnership with A.J. Foyt Racing. She last appeared at Indianapolis in 2024.
Though he has not appeared in a race since last year's Indianapolis 500, Takuma Sato will not need to complete a refresher program as he ran at the Speedway in October testing brake and damper components as the Honda representative alongside Alexander Rossi representing Chevrolet.
For the refresher program, a driver must complete the final two phases of Rookie Orientation, 15 laps between 210-215 mph and 15 laps at 215 mph or faster.
Does Any of this Matter?
Only 33 cars are going to be entered in this year's Indianapolis 500, which means the bottom of the time chart will not matter. No one is looking to beat at least one or two cars just to feel safe making the race. There might not be bumping or the threat of missing the race, but a lot can be gained from this year.
Prior to last year, Josef Newgarden had been the fastest car in four consecutive years at the open test. Newgarden won two of those. He was second last year on the first test day behind Scott Dixon.
Last year saw teams get to run the qualifying boost levels in the morning session on day two of the test. While Scott McLaughlin was fastest in that session and Will Power was third, Takuma Sato was second, and Sato wound up qualifying second.
The top six drivers from the qualifying boost session last year made the Fast 12, and eight of the top 12 from that morning session made the Fast 12. This includes all three Penske cars, two of which were relegated to the back of the grid for being found with an illegally modified attenuator on the pit lane of the Fast 12 session on Sunday afternoon.
However, our eventual pole-sitter for the 109th Indianapolis 500, Robert Shwartzman, was only 25th during the qualifying boost session during the test. In fact, Shwartzman ranked 29th and 31st in the two race boost level sessions in last year's test.
In the afternoon session on day two last year, the boost levels returned to regular race levels. The fastest driver in that session was Álex Palou, who wound up winning the Indianapolis 500.
What Should We Keep an Eye On?
Last year, Palou was the fastest at the end of Saturday qualifying with McLaughlin and Newgarden behind him. Then it was Patricio O'Ward with Scott Dixon in fifth. In 2024, Team Penske swept the front row with an Arrow McLaren starting fourth (Alexander Rossi).
Are we going to see the same teams at the top? Sato was the surprise last year with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and it was Sato's second consecutive year putting RLLR in the Fast 12. He started tenth in 2024.
In each of the last two years, Andretti Global could only have one car progress to the Fast 12, and it has not had a car start in the top six at Indianapolis since 2021.
Meyer Shank Racing was somewhat of a surprise last year as Felix Rosenqvist was the fastest in the Fast 12 session. Marcus Armstrong had also shown good qualifying pace before he had an accident in the morning practice session on the first qualifying day, relegating him to a backup car and the Last Chance Qualifying session.
A.J. Foyt Racing has had at least one car start in the top 12 in each of the last three years. Santino Ferrucci has started in the top six twice during that spell. Foyt has also had the fastest rookie qualifier in two of the last eight years, and this year the team is fielding rookie Caio Collet.
Ed Carpenter Racing has not been Ed Carpenter Racing the last few years. Last year, ECR did not have a car make the Fast 12. The year before that ECR did not have a car make the Fast Six. ECR had arguably the best driver at Phoenix with Christian Rasmussen leading 69 laps and being the fastest car into the final stint, but contact with Will Power derailed Rasmussen's chance for victory. Alexander Rossi was 14th in qualifying last year. Rasmussen has finished 12th and sixth in his two Indianapolis 500 starts.
How Does Musical Chairs Shake Things Up?
Of the 27 returning drivers from last year's race, only five are with different teams than last year.
Last year, Conor Daly was 13th in qualifying and just missed the Fast 12 driving for Juncos Hollinger Racing. It was JHR's best qualifying run for the Indianapolis 500. Daly moves to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, which had its two cars end up 27th and 28th in qualifying last year before each car moved up two positions thanks to the Team Penske penalties. However, D&R made the Fast 12 in 2024 with Ryan Hunter-Reay.
With Daly leaving JHR, it means Rinus VeeKay takes over the #76 Chevrolet for Indianapolis. VeeKay had never started worse than seventh in his five Indianapolis 500 starts with Ed Carpenter Racing. Last year, VeeKay could only do so much with Dale Coyne Racing, and he was the 33rd qualifier.
Coincidentally, it was announced that VeeKay's entry will be a co-entry between JHR and D&R as the two teams will have a technical partnership.
Hunter-Reay moves from D&R to Arrow McLaren, which had two cars in the Fast 12 last year and three cars in the Fast 12 in 2024, with two of those cars making the Fast Six. In 2023, all four McLaren entries made the Fast 12, and those also made the Fast Six that year.
Then there is David Malukas. Last year, Malukas had his best Indianapolis 500 starting position in seventh and his best Indianapolis 500 finish in second after the penalties with A.J. Foyt Racing. Now, Malukas is with Team Penske and he has four consecutive top ten finishes, a run that started with a third from pole position at Phoenix.
Malukas at Team Penske means Will Power moves to Andretti Global. From 2009 to 2019, Power had never started worse than ninth in the Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske. Since then, he has only started in the top nine once. Power has made the Fast 12 all four years since it was adopted in 2022. However, in two of those years he started on the fourth row, and last year he was barred from taking part in the session and was relegated to 33rd on the grid after the illegally modified attenuator was found on his car.
Will Anyone Besides Takuma Sato Show Speed for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing?
Sato has made the Fast 12 each of the last two years. However, the rest of RLLR has been out to lunch.
In 2024, the next best RLLR start was Christian Lundgaard in 28th. Pietro Fittipaldi started 30th, and Graham Rahal had to participate in the Last Chance Qualifying session for the second consecutive year. Rahal was able to hang on as the 33rd qualifier.
Things did improve in 2025. Devlin DeFrancesco qualified solidly in 18th. Louis Foster was the second-fastest rookie in 22nd. Rahal again had to sweat the Last Chance Qualifying session until the end of Saturday, but Rahal ended the first qualifying day in 30th, and made the race.
There should be some encouragement for RLLR entering this year's test.
For starters, Graham Rahal has started in the top ten in three of five races this season, and each time he has started in the top ten, he has finished in the top ten. Best of all, Rahal started third at Phoenix while Mick Schumacher started fourth. That is Schumacher's one highlight this year as he has not started better than 17th in any other race. Foster's qualifying pace has not quite lived up to last year's form. He did start ninth at St. Petersburg, but he was 16th at Phoenix and he has not started better than 13th in any other race. Compared to the first five races last season, Foster's average starting position is down to 15.4 from 12.2.
It isn't so much if any other RLLR car can challenge for the Fast 12, but can all the RLLR cars get off the bottom and show more competitive speed. Last year's qualifying left room for improvement, but the team should be proud of last year's Indianapolis 500 race results. Three of the four RLLR cars finished all 500 miles, all three of those cars were classified in the top 12 finishers, and even Graham Rahal saw the checkered flag, finishing solidly in the middle of field, a lap down in 17th.
Does the Andretti Global Relationship Help Dale Coyne Racing At All?
We will not have a good answer on this until practice week in May, but we could see the fruits of this relationship at this test. For the last two years, Dale Coyne Racing has had two cars in the Last Chance Qualifying session, and it has had at least one participant in the last three years. The last two years saw Dale Coyne Racing responsible for the one car bumped from the race. Last year was particularly bad as neither Coyne car looked to be a threat for 32nd, and Jacob Abel wasn't even a threat for 33rd.
Dennis Hauger's #19 Honda is run with a technical alliance with Andretti Global. While Andretti did have Marco Andretti in the Last Chance Qualifying session last year, it did have Marcus Ericsson in the Fast 12. Kyle Kirkwood and Colton Herta were 25th and 29th in qualifying, but Kirkwood did race into the top ten.
So far this season, the partnership hasn't been stunning. Hauger did start third on debut at St. Petersburg and finished tenth, but that remains his only top ten finish of the season. He was 11th at Long Beach.
Romain Grosjean's second stint at Coyne hasn't been that glowing either. Part of that is down to clutch issues preventing him from starting the Phoenix race, and Grosjean was hit on the final restart at Arlington after Kyffin Simpson ran into Nolan Siegel. However, Grosjean was 21st at Long Beach through no fault of anyone else. His eighth-place finish at St. Petersburg is a distant memory as Grosjean is 19th in the championship, 16 points behind his teammate Hauger in 16th.
The only other oval race this season was Phoenix. Grosjean qualified 20th and Hauger qualified 22nd in a 25-car field.
While Grosjean's entry does not have a formal alliance with Andretti Global, he worked with the team in 2022 and 2023. He qualified ninth in 2022 but dropped to 19th in 2023.
The last time there was no bumping for the Indianapolis 500 was in 2022. Dale Coyne Racing had Takuma Sato start tenth that year with David Malukas in 13th. From 2017 to 2022, Dale Coyne Racing had at least one car start in the top 12 for the Indianapolis 500.
Who is Particularly Happy There is No Bumping This Year?
Katherine Legge because her program is being thrown together last minute and if there had already been 33 or more cars entered, Legge's entry would never see the light of day.
Truth be told, there has not been one particularly poor entry this season that we would think should be in trouble this May. Dale Coyne Racing would have to show us it was competitive after the last few years at Indianapolis, but 2026 has not been a red flag that this May could be another grueling one for the Illinois-based organization.
Schumacher hasn't been stellar, but his Phoenix qualifying run would make us feel better about what RLLR could do on an oval. Sting Ray Robb has yet to finish in the top twenty this year, but Robb qualified 12th at Phoenix. Nolan Siegel has been a punching bag but even he qualified ninth at Phoenix.
The answer is Jacob Abel. While Abel and his family's team Abel Motorsports has gotten this entry together before the test, it is still a one-off entry with a team that only runs in Indy Lights. Abel never showed any competitive speed last year. He had one qualifying run break a 227-mph average over four laps, and every other team had run at least one qualifying run over a 229-mph average between the two qualifying days.
Abel Motorsports did make the Indianapolis 500 in 2023 on speed with R.C. Enerson qualifying 29th on the first qualifying day, meaning the team didn't even need to bother with the Last Chance Qualifying session. Maybe that would give Abel a little more hope, but that was three years ago and this team will be working with the hybrid for the first time. Plus, Abel would need to find some confidence after being nowhere near close to having the speed in 2025.
Thankfully for Abel, and the rest of the grid, no one will be living this testing having to worry about finding more come May. A stressful month will be a little easier this year. No need for night terrors and cold sweats.
