Time to put the new toy back in the box for a while and finish the season.
All times Pacific
Portland Schedule
IR-28 Testing Complete; Palou Wants to Race it Now
“Tm happy to announce that we will be racing this car next year,” Alex Palou quipped after his first run of the day. Of course, he was joking, but I think he summed up the feeling of most of the paddock. Everyone 0the paddock, the media, the fans- is ready for a new car.
The four-time series champion tested the new car on the second and final day of the ikR-28’s initial test. The day paused for several rain interruptions, but there was a good hour plus of running before the 2 pm hard stop.
“The car feels a lot smoother, a lot more connected, I wouldn’t say easier to drive, but it just feels like you don’t need to fight crazy with the car,” Palou said at the end of the day.
“I don’t know, maybe I’m talking too early, but I think we’re going to break a lot of IndyCar records on all kinds of tracks. So, it just feels like it’s a faster car. It feels like it’s a car that is more capable,” Palou said, echoing Alexander Rossi’s assessment of the car on Saturday.
Mike O’Gara, IndyCar vice president of competition and race engineering, was very happy at the conclusion of the weekend of testing. He said they checked all the boxes they were looking for. The next step is to refine some pieces.
The IR-28 will now rest until after he IndyCar season concludes Labor Day weekend. The first oval test is planned late September. For the oval test, “Everything has to be perfect,” O’Gara said.
Notes
The excitement among the media for the new car was palpable both days.
The huge rear wing looks better when the car is on track. It is less of a distraction in motion.
Questions remain, and the answers are a long way from being answered:
How will the car race?
Will the extra hybrid power allow for different deployment strategies?
What is the expected life span of this car? I will be 80 years old in December, and I hope this isn’t the last new car I see. I understand the plan is to update the car every three years. I want to only see one update before a new car comes online.
It was a thrilling couple of days at IMS, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it. I am anxious to see multiple new cars on track to get a better idea of what the future of IndyCar competition.
Thanks for following along this weekend. next week we will het ready for Portland.
Testing Day 2- Let’s Change Drivers and Do it Again
Photo: Alex Palou climbs into the IR-28 for an initial run this morning. IndyCar photo.
Good morning from a damp Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It seems as ion we sawn this same movie yesterday. Alex Palou made an early run at 9 am before rain hit again. When the track dries, the rest of the time allowed for testing today should be dry.
Testing is suposed to end at 2 pm, followed by a brief media availability with Palou. I’ll be back at the end of the day with a wrap up.
Rosssi Praises IR-28 After Day 1 of Testing
The future is here. On an historic day interrupted by weather, 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion Alexander Rossi drove the new Ir-28 Indy car on its first official test run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Rossi had nothing but praise for everyone who helped prepare the car for the test and shared how meaningful the test was for him.
“I’ve been a part of some new car launches before, and I can’t say that any have gone as smooth as this one has,” Rossi said. “That’s down to everyone involved. We’ve all been waiting for this for a long time. Drivers, fans, teams, sponsors and all of you have been looking forward to it, and now it’s finally here.”
Rossi compared the day to Christmas morning.He continued his assessment of the car and the test.
“The car has a lot of incredible qualities that we haven’t even scratched the surface of yet. It was an incredible start and just a joy to drive.”
“Aesthetically, it ticks every box you could hope for,” he said. “I was blown away the first time I saw it. The pictures don’t do it justice. The presence it has in person is pretty amazing. It looks aggressive, and even with a completely new chassis, new aerodynamics, new electronics and a spec damper package, the baseline was very comfortable from the get-go. There’s obviously a lot more to unlock, but it was a great starting point.”
“To be able to be a part of this next evolution of INDYCAR and do it at IMS, a place that means so much to me and all of us here, is super cool,” Rossi said. “I get to play a small part in the history and the future of this championship, and that’s a big privilege. I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Tomorrow 2026 Indianapolis 500 champion Alex Palou gets an opportunity to test the car. Sunday’s run is scheduled to go from 8 am to 2 pm, weather permitting.
Notes
The car is much better looking in person than it appears in teh photos and renderings.
The aeroscreen is wider than the renderings show it to be, but it still is a major improvement over what we see on the current car. Integrating the screen into the framework is a big help.
The rear wing on the road course configuration is massive.
I loved the sound of the engine. I know the actual engines may not sound exactly like what we heard today, but it was loud and throaty like an IndyCar engine should be.
Even at today’s modest laps, I could tell, this car is fast. I liked the way it exited turn 14 and how it ran up the front stretch.
I’ll close with a few more photos I shot today. I can’t wait to see this car on tack again tomorrow.
The IR-28 Era Begins
The tentative schedule:
IMS road course. Turn 2 mounds open for viewing.
9a-4p on Saturday Alexander Rossi
8a-2p on Sunday Alex Palou
Weather permitting of course.
IndyCar says they will test in damp conditions, but while it is raining, which is currently the case,
@Indycar_Wxman has a less than optimal forecast for this weekend.
My weather app predicts a break in the rain between 10 am and noon.
For the test, the engine is a 2.4 mule engine that was in development when the new engine was proposed a few years ago.
If you choose to go to the track despite the conditions, please be weather alert for lightning.
I will keep you updated on X @tutorindie and on Facebook at Mike Silver.
From yesterday:
Wilbur (Bill) Shaw: The Final Link
Photo: Wilbur Shaw, Jr. beside the Boyle Maserati and the Boyle Racing headquarters truck on the frontstretch at IMS. From Gentlemen, Start Your Engines The Rest of the Story by Bob Gates and Wilbur Shaw, Jr.
Three months ago, Merle Bettenhausen died, bringing an end to one of the most storied racing families. I wrote at the time how much his passing hurt. That pain hit even harder as I learned that Bill Shaw, son of Wilbur Shaw, died this past Monday at the age of 80, closing another chapter of the Speedway’s glory days.
The son of the three-time winner chose his own path, His father strongly discouraged him from racing. He moved to Arizona, where he cultivated his love of horses and rodeo.
A chance meeting with Chan Kibbee, the CEO of Phillip Morris, who arrived in Arizona in an AC Bristol, turned Bill’s thoughts to racing. He chose to pursue road racing instead of a path that would lead to the Indianapolis 500.
Another chance meeting, this one with race driver Bob Bondurant, changed the course of bill’s life. In 1966, Bondurant was severely injured in a crash at Watkins Glen. Although he recovered, his racing career was over. Bondurant opened a high-performance driving school in 1968.
Bill met Bondurant at the Speedway while Bondurant was an adviser on the movie Winning. and he convinced the younger Shaw to attend his school. Bill did very well at the school, then returned home and worked at Stokely-Van Camp.
Bondurant called Bill later that year. he remembered how well Shaw di at the school, and he asked him to become an instructor.
Shaw went on to race at what is now the Rolex 24 at Daytona. His best finish was fifth overall in 1973, driving a Ferrari for Luigi Chinetti’s North American Racing Team.
Bill worked in real estate,and became an evasive driving instructor for the Secret Service. The program was defunded in 1977.
In 2018 Bill collaborated with author Bob Gates to write an addendum to Wilbur’ Shaw’s autobiography, Gentlemen, Start Your Engines. The biography adds The Rest of the Story to the title. The first part is the original, which I read at least three times in seventh and eighth grade. Of course, I had to read it again so the addition would make sense.
In the second part, Bill recalls life as the son of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He is a passenger in the pace car for the 500 in the early 1950s.
There is a poignant passage about the night of October 30, 1954, when eight-year-old Bill answers the phone to learn that his father has been injured in a plane crash. he hands the phone to his mother, who is informed of the fatal result.
Wilbur had told his son to “Run your own race,” and Bill, Jr. certainly followed his dad’s advice.
Racing and Indianapolis Motor Speedway now is left with the legacies of drivers from the post Shaw era. The modern era has new stories to tell. Thankfully we still have some Unsers and Foyts around. I hope that they outlive me.
From May
Book Reviews
At Last! The IR-28 is Here
Yesterday IndyCar introduced the 2028 new race car in a tepid rollout introduction. I thought the renderings should have had a bigger deal made of it. A brief video featuring Matt Damon with a lot of clips of the current car racing wasn’t much of a debut.
As for the new car itself, I was hoping for something a bit more exotic, but I guess there is only so much that can be done to make the car both fast and safe. I do think the new car looks good. A lot of the bulkiness of the current machine is gone. The aeroscreen is the most notable improvement, as it has been integrated into the design. On the current car, where the screen was a retrofit add-on the head on view looked like a giant wastebasket sitting on the car.
The speedway version
The road course setup.
I see some elements of the Swift car that was one of the proposed cars for the 2012 cars. I thought the Swift was the best looking of all the candidates. It was sleek and looked fast.
The road course version has many Formula 1-like components with a lot of downforce.
The car is 100 pounds lighter than the current car thanks to the reduced weight of the aeroscreen, hybrid unit, and gearbox which means it should be faster. The series is talking about breaking the track record at IMS for the 500. That would be cool, but i am more interested in how it races. Will passing be less difficult- not easy, just less difficult? Will there be a smaller wake and less dirty air for the trailing car?
I am glad to see the LED panels back. I hope they have found a way to have them work consistently this time around. They aren’t much help during the race, especially on ovals, but I found them useful during caution periods when you could read them to reset the field.
The window on the rear cover which allows a view of the engine is nice while the car is standing still for exposure. Perhaps it will provide for some interesting camera shots to give each OEM a little more screen time.
A roomier cockpit will accommodate different body types and may prevent some injuries which taller drivers have been subject to, like Stefan Wilson’s back injury last year.
My biggest complaint is that as nice as the new car looks, it is more spec than the DW12 and its iterations. The IR-238 comes with spec dampers, taking away a team’s development of their own dampers. It was virtually the last area remaining for a team to make their car different from its competitors. I hope IndyCar opens up an area of the car to provide e3ach team an opportunity for some uniqueness.
Overall, I like the look of the car. It is sleeker and seems narrower than the current racer. My concern is not setting track records, but how well does it race. Will we see close competition? We have a long way to go to find out the answers to this and many other quesstions.
Testing for the IR-28 begins Saturday and Sunday, August 1 and 2, at the IMS road course. It is basically a systems check to make sure all the components work and work together as they were intended. The test is closed to the public. Turn 2 mounds are not open for spectators. A museum visit might be in order, however.
New NTT INDYCAR SERIES Race Car Introduced for 2028 and Beyond
From IndyCar:
My thoughts a bit later.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ IR-28 Designed To Deliver Faster Cars with Chevrolet and Honda Powerplants, More Action, Improved Drivability
INDYCAR has unveiled the new NTT INDYCAR SERIES chassis and powertrain package for 2028, introducing a car with a modernized look designed to provide for faster lap times and improved raceability encouraging more wheel-to-wheel action, while also creating the safest car yet for “The Fastest Racing on Earth.”
Working with Dallara to produce the IR-28 chassis, the new car will make its competition debut at the start of the 2028 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. The first renderings of the IR-28 were shared with the world this morning via a video (below) narrated by Academy Award winner and star of the box office smash hit “The Odyssey,” Matt Damon. A link to the introductory trailer is available here for social media sharing.
https://cdn.jwplayer.com/players/3RZvzCMw-Z6BVOjjc.html
“We are pleased to unveil renderings of the new NTT INDYCAR SERIES chassis that will take our sport into an exciting new era,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “As you can imagine, a project of this magnitude takes an incredible amount of planning, collaboration and execution. I would like to thank all of our partners including Dallara, Chevrolet, Honda, Firestone and Shell, who have worked tirelessly to create a package that will enhance INDYCAR’s already incredible competition and industry-leading growth.
“With initial testing to begin this week, there is still plenty of work to do before 2028, but we are well on our way to showcasing a new era of INDYCAR, which will include enhanced wheel-to-wheel competition, track records, standards in raceability and new benchmarks in safety. We are confident the IR-28 is the ideal package to move INDYCAR forward for our teams, drivers, partners and fans.”
“We are honored that INDYCAR has chosen Dallara once again,” Dallara USA Chief Executive Officer Stefano dePonti said. “After more than a decade of partnership, their continued trust is the greatest recognition of our team’s efforts. This achievement demonstrates the dedication, expertise and collaboration of many individuals who worked tirelessly to create a car that meets today’s needs while looking toward the future. It also reflects Dallara’s ongoing commitment to investing in innovation and education, sharing the knowledge developed in motorsport with academia and beyond.”
Competition and Track Records
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES already is known as an intense and ultra-competitive championship, and the new car is prepared to take that reputation to another level as it builds on raceablity while enhancing speeds via additional power to advance the overall racing. The IR-28 is equipped to exceed current lap times and capable of breaking track records, including at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the last track records – one-lap and four-lap qualification records – were broken in 1996 by two-time Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Arie Luyendyk.
As part of the improved raceability, the IR-28 will weigh approximately 100 pounds less than the current car. The more favorable power-to-weight ratio enhances raceability to allow drivers to push harder and deliver even more competitive racing and wheel-to-wheel action.
New Car Design
Design of the new NTT INDYCAR SERIES car begins with a sleek and modern look while retaining the unmistakable DNA of past iconic series cars. The entire car is newly designed and built from the ground up, ensuring many noticeable differences from the current car.
New front and rear wings, optimized for style and efficiency, give the road and street course car an aggressive stance, while the superspeedway wing configuration provides maximum downforce with limited drag in a sleek, high-speed looking package.
For the first time ever, the car’s aerodynamic architecture has been purpose-built to optimize the wake from the front to the back in order to enhance overtaking opportunities. Additional benefits of the 2028 design include reduced outwash and, for Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a more aerodynamically stable speedway front wing.
The IR-28 aeroscreen, designed into the development of the car, is lighter, sleeker and more aerodynamic – supporting safety, more raceability and giving the IR-28 a fighter jet look and feel.
Each bodywork element has been designed to result in even closer on-track competition as the new aerodynamics will allow cars to follow more closely in corners and throughout the field.
Also for the driver, the new car will feature electronically controlled driver adjustable anti-roll bars, which will provide for enhanced tuning and raceability while cleaning up the cockpit by eliminating standard knobs and handles, thus, also improving driver safety.
Additional updates for the IR-28 include the introduction of the Custom AXIS Inertance Control Suspension System. Built around a lightweight, shared damping architecture, the AXIS platform expands spring, damper and inerter tuning options without increasing costs. Its highly tunable, multimode design improves mechanical grip through suspension optimization, reducing reliance on aerodynamic load while giving teams significant setup flexibility. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the only major motorsports championship to permit both front and rear third-element inertance systems, making the IR-28 one of the most advanced suspension platforms in modern motorsport.
From a fan and commercial perspective, the new car will feature a digital car position display showing the position of the car in practice, qualifying and races and a unique transparent window in the engine cover, which will highlight Chevrolet, Honda and any additional manufacturer branding. Design updates for 2028 also include more visible surface areas for series and team sponsorship.
2028 Powerplant
Previously announced, the power for the new 2028 NTT INDYCAR SERIES machinery will be provided by 2.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 internal combustion engines capable of producing up to 760 horsepower. Chevrolet and Honda have committed to participate under the new engine formula, which will deliver increased torque, power and overall performance compared to the current generation of INDYCAR SERIES engines.
“Everyone at Chevrolet is looking forward to this next era of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the debut of the IR-28 in 2028,” GM Vice President of Global Motorsports Competition Eric Warren said. “This new car builds on more than a decade of collaboration with INDYCAR, and we’re confident the new 2.4-liter, twin-turbo V6 engine will deliver the performance, sound and excitement INDYCAR fans expect from Team Chevy — the same standard that has produced 16 manufacturer championships and 13 Indianapolis 500 victories.”
“For more than 30 years, Honda has built upon its racing heritage as a key partner of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and we are excited to begin this next chapter with the IR-28 powered by our new American-made HRC V6 Hybrid powertrain,” Honda Racing Corporation USA President David Salters said. “INDYCAR delivers some of the best racing on the planet, and this evolution of the formula creates new opportunities to enhance it—a lighter car, a more powerful hybrid powertrain, an even safer chassis and exciting chassis, and aerodynamic engineering challenges for our Honda associates and teams.
“Together, these advancements will help usher INDYCAR into a new era. Honda is proud to be part of that future, supported by the long-term commitment we made to the series earlier this year. We can’t wait to see the IR-28 on track entertaining our INDYCAR fans.”
Low-voltage hybrid technology evolves in 2028 and beyond with greater power storage, more deployment options for teams and a package that is approximately 20 pounds lighter than the previous INDYCAR SERIES power unit. The significant performance advancement and deployment variability will be provided through a new partnership with UK-based Helix, a global leader in next-generation solutions in building and delivering electric drive systems.
With a client list that has included teams in FIA Formula One and FIA Formula E, and track-proven innovation that drives the hypercars of tomorrow, Helix’s hybrid design for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES remains packaged inside the bellhousing – located between the combustion engine and the gearbox.
The new hybrid platform will feature the first battery-based Energy Storage System (ESS) in NTT INDYCAR SERIES history, supplied by BOLD Technology, selected by INDYCAR for the program. Headquartered at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and expanding its U.S. operations in Michigan, BOLD develops advanced battery systems for Formula One, aerospace and defense applications. Its ESS for the IR-28 delivers approximately 14 times the energy storage capacity of the current supercapacitor-based system – giving drivers and teams far greater flexibility in when and how they deploy hybrid power – while contributing to the lighter, safer power unit package, engineered and qualified to the most stringent motorsport safety standards.
Xtrac, an exclusive supplier for INDYCAR since 2000 and a Helix associate, is providing transmissions for the new chassis. Development includes a gearbox that sheds 25 pounds from the current unit.
Safety Evolution
While the IR-28 provides quicker lap times, increased speeds and will allow for more on-track action, it also is designed to keep drivers safer than ever. From the aeroscreen to the roll hoop to side-impact structures, the new car seamlessly integrates recent safety and design advancements into its core architecture. Built to exceed INDYCAR or FIA specifications, whichever is more stringent, the new chassis delivers measurable safety improvements over the current car, including:
- Driver cockpit:
- The chassis features wider internal dimensions to accommodate a greater range of driver heights and body types.
- The IR-28 also features enhanced internal airflow and driver cooling for improved comfort and performance.
- Side impact protection:
- Decades worth of race and incident evaluations – including chassis additions – have created a chassis that features stronger, more efficient side-structure design providing increased energy absorption in high-impact situations.
- Crash dynamics:
- Improved stability with a natural tendency to remain grounded during “nose-up,” sliding or spinning incidents.
An extensive initial testing schedule for the new IR-28 will include a variety of circuits and layouts from Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course and famed oval, Sebring International Raceway and more. Testing schedules and media availabilities will be provided at later dates.
What Select Drivers Are Saying
“Seeing the car for the first time made me even more excited about where INDYCAR is going. The design is super cool and feels like a proper next step for the series while still looking like an INDYCAR SERIES car. I think the fans are going to love it, and as a driver I cannot wait to get behind the wheel. The most important thing is that we keep the close, fun racing that makes INDYCAR special, and from what I’ve seen, we’re heading in a really good direction.” – Alex Palou, No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
“The car is awesome. We all wanted a new, modern-day car that is lighter and looks futuristic and fast but still has all of the incredible safety advancements that INDYCAR is known for. This does all of those things. There are still a lot of things to work through in terms of on-track testing and how it reacts to the different types of environments it will be exposed to, but from a visual standpoint, it’s incredible. This is something people will be excited about.” – Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Java House Chevrolet, ECR
“There is a ‘wow’ factor. The first thing that struck me is that it has more room in the cockpit and will fit differently-sized drivers, which is really good. Secondly, it definitely has the INDYCAR DNA, which was a worry for me that it wouldn’t look like an INDYCAR SERIES car. This definitely does. It also has an aggressive look with an integrated aeroscreen and a car that addresses a lot of little tweaks that drivers have asked for. Dallara has delivered on almost everything. I’m super excited for the future.” – Felix Rosenqvist, No. 60 SiriusXM Honda, Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian
Additional driver quotes will be available in a separate press release to be posted shortly.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland, round 13 of the 2026 championship, Sunday, Aug. 9. Coverage begins at 4 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX One. Audio coverage is available via INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls on SiriusXM channel 218 and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
Grant Takes the High Road to Victory
Justin Grant continued his dominance at the 1/5-mile dirt oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Thursday night. Grant notched his second straight win in the Indiana Sprint Week event on the IMS dirt track, leading 29 of 35 laps.
The Ione, California, native spent most of the feature race on the high part of the track against the cushion. He went to the bottom on lap and immediately lost the lead to jake Swanson. Five laps, he went back to the high side and retook the point after Swanson lost momentum in turn two. Grant was never headed after that, pulling away on each of the three restarts during the feature. Swanson remained a threat, but he could never quite catch up to Grant.
Grant won for the fifth time at the IMS oval, with three wins coming in the BC39 midget show. He joins A. J. Foyt, Rich Vogler, Mel Kenyon, and Dave Darland with 100 USAC national race wins.
“It’s been an incredible career for me to live through and experience,” Grant said. “I’ve been so fortunate and so blessed. To win at IMS with this TOPP Motorsports team, I’m speechless. Couldn’t think of a better place to win No. 100.”
The evening ran relatively clean. The heats finished with few issues. Heat three was one of the wildest races I have ever seen, with cars three wide coming out of turn two and some banging between cars.
For me, the biggest disappointment of the night was that J/J Yeley did not advance to the feature.
Notes
The problem with the sprint race at IMS is that it only occurs once a year. I hope a way can be found to add a second one. The sprints put on a great, entertaining show.
Each year I got the BC39 or the sprint race, I vow to make time to attend more of theses events. One day, I will do that.
Below are a few photos I took Thursday night. Next week, it’s back to IndyCar.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 