Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Page 49 – The Pit Window by Mike Silver

Rain Brings Early End to Indy 500 Open Test

April 21, 2023 thepitwindow

From Indycar Series PR:

INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, April 21, 2023) –
Due to rain showers moving through the Indianapolis area, Day Two of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Indy 500 Open Test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been canceled, concluding the test.During Day One on Thursday, 33 drivers combined to turn a total of 3,522 laps in sessions that featured extended hours in anticipation of weather Friday.

Teams will return to IMS on Friday, May 12 for practice and qualifying ahead of the GMR Grand Prix on Saturday, May 13 on the IMS road course. Practice for the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 16, with the race scheduled for Sunday, May 28.

The next event for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, April 30 at Barber Motorsports Park. Coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock and INDYCAR LIVE. Coverage is also available from the INDYCAR Radio Network via the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.

Open Test Day 2

April 21, 2023 thepitwindow

Wweather is the question for today at IMS. it is currently raining and 50 degrees. rain is expected to continue until around 1 pm/

Today’s schedule: All times Eastern

10-4 Testing- all cars eligible

I will keep you updated throught Twitter and Facebook as to the status of the day.

The good news is that all rookie tests and refreshers were completed yesterday.

Since I don’t have any dreadful wait music to insert, here are links to my stories from yesterday:

Day 1 Wrap Up

Day 1 Wrap Up

Kirkwood: A Different Kind of Pressure

Kirkwood: A Different Kind of Pressure

Veteran Session Complete-Ericassaon on Top

Veterans Session Complete- Ericsson on Top

Day 1 Wrap Up

April 20, 2023 thepitwindow

It was one of those glorious days at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. An overcast morning led to a very brief rain shower which ended the Rookie Oreintation Program a bit early. It was followed a warm, windy, sunny afternoon of constant running.

Some notes:

The turn 2 viewing mounds were packed. I went over there this afternoon.parking was at a premium,and latecomers parked far down the road course backstretch. IMS had a ticket booth open just opposite the museum lot. Sales were slow, just four tickets sold in two hours according to the sellers. They did tell me that the main ticket office was very busy.

Augustin Canapino completed his rookie test soon after action resumed this afternoon.

Team Penske showed more strength on the IMS oval than they have in a few years. Josef Newgarden led the afternoon session, Scott McLaughlin was 10th, and Will power was 13th. Newgarden said after the session that the htree cars each worked on different things.

Arrow McLaren may have a bit of work to do. Pato O’Ward worked his way up to ninth at the end of the day, but Felix Rosenqvist was 20th and A;exander Rossi was 22nd.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s troubles continue. Graham Rahal led the team at 23rd on the speed chart.

A good day for Dreyer and Reinbold as the 500 only team saw Stefan Wilson finish sixth and Ryan Hunter-Reay come home 14th.

Andretti Autosport may be in line for their best May in awhile. Kyle Kirkwood was fourth and Colton Herta seventh this afternoon.

Chip Ganassi Racing had three drivers in the top 10-Scott Dixon was third and led a lot of the session, Alex Palou was eighth, and Takuma Sato was fifth.

The action during the last hour had a Carb Day intensity to it.

Tomorrow’s forecast looks iffy for running. Starting at 10 looks doubtful right now, and the temperature may impede track drying.

Some Photos

Results:

Rookie/Refresher Session Done; On Hold for Rain

April 20, 2023 thepitwindow

All refresher tests were completed and two of the three rookies have successfully completed their rookie tests. The next test period was scheduled to begin at 2 pm, but precipitation stopped the rookie/refresher phase with about 30 minutes to go.

Update: the track just reopened for activityand is scheduled to run until 6:30 Eastern

Ryan Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan, Katherine Legge, Stefan Wilson, and Marco Andretti completed theirnrefresher phases.

Sting Ray Robb and Benjamin pederen have completed their rookie tests.

Augustin Canapino is in the middleof phase 2 of his rookie test.

Veterans Session Complete- Ericsson on Top

April 20, 2023 thepitwindow

The first session of the day just finished with Marcus Ericsson posting the fast time of 224. 330 miles per hour, folowed by Helio Castroneves at 224.280 miles per hour. 25 cars took part in the session. Takuma Sato was allowed to run with the veterans since he raced at Texas.The three full time rookies- Augustin canapino, Sting Ray Robb, and Benjamin Pedersen, have begun their rookie tests. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Katherine Legge, Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan, and Stefan Wilson are also on track for their refresher tests.

Notes

The weather is warm and overcast. Drivers noted the wind was a factor.

Marcus Ericsson hit 235 mph in the turn 3 speed trap.

The three Penske cars led the no tow list. Josef Newgarden was the fastest at 221.353 mph.

Results

1	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	224.330	36
2	6	Helio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	224.280	26
3	10	Alex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	224.088	27
4	3	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	Chevy	223.965	37
5	33	Ed Carpenter	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevy	223.765	35
6	60	Simon Pagenaud	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	223.540	39
7	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	223.466	33
8	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian	Honda	223.409	31
9	18	David Malukas	Dale Coyne Racing with HMD	Honda	223.390	59
10	20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevy	223.114	26
11	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevy	222.874	22
12	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevy	222.593	38
13	6	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren	Chevy	222.515	32
14	5	Pato O’Ward	Arrow McLaren	Chevy	222.377	31
15	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevy	222.126	44
16	11	Takuma Sato	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	222.012	33
17	29	Devlin DeFrancesco	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	220.920	23
18	77	Callum Ilott	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevy	220.911	21
19	14	Santino Ferrucci	AJ Foyt Enterprises	Chevy	220.571	30
20	45	Christian Lundgaard	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	220.223	28
21	30	Jack Harvey	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	220.181	27
22	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	219.670	32
23	7	Alexander Rossi	Arrow McLaren	Chevy	219.516	31
24	27	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Autosport	Honda	219.463	5
25	28	Romain Grosjean	Andretti Autosport	Honda	219.359	11

Photos

A bit of a shock to see Pato in a black car

Helio Castroneves was second quick this morning

It’s May in April

April 20, 2023 thepitwindow

Cars get on the IMS oval at 10 this morning for the first time sinece May 29, 2022, The turn 2 viewing mounds are open for public viewing.

A reminder of the new schedule:

Thursday, April 20

10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. ET

Veterans 10 a.m.- noon

Rookie Orientation Program and refresher noon-2 p.m.

All eligible cars- 2-6:30

Friday, April 21

10 a.m.-4 p.m

All eligible cars

All track is streamed on Peacock.

If you can, I would get out today. The weather forecast for tomorrow is not promising, with a high of 55 degrees and morning rain, followed by more rain in the afternoon. Today’s weather is sunny to partly cloudy with a high in the low 80s.

Today we get our first look at the liveries for the 500.

33 cars will participate n the test.All full time teams will joine the 500 only entries for Katherine Legge Stefan Wilson, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Takuma Sato, Tony Kanaan, and Marco Andretti. All but Sato will need to take the refresher test.

Sting Ray Robb, Augustin Canapino, and Benjamin Pedersen will be taking their rookie tests this afternoon.

We may get an idea of who will be fast next month, and we will posibly w=see how the new aero parts help in traffic and passing.

IMS Revises Open Test Schedule

April 19, 2023 thepitwindow

IMS has evised the hours for the open Indycar test tomorrow and friday in light of the weather forecast.The new imes:

Thursday, April 20

10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. ET

Veterans 10 a.m.- noon

Rookie Orientation Program and refresher noon-2 p.m.

All eligible cars- 2-6:30

Friday, April 21

10 a.m.-4 p.m

All eligible cars

The 34th entry from Abel Motorsports with driver R C Enerson will not participate in the test this week. Enerson will need to take his refresher whent the track opens for practice in May.

Open Test at IMS

April 18, 2023April 18, 2023 thepitwindow2 Comments

Thursday and Friday the field for the 107th running odf the Indianapolis 500 will get their first chance to run the new aero package at IMS. A portion of Thurdsday is set aside for Rookie orientation and refresher tests.

The final entry, Abel motorsports with R C Enerson hopes to be ready to run. Enerson will need a refresher test. Katherine Legge and Ryan hunter-reay will also run refresher laps.

Three full time rookies- Benjamin Pedersen, Sting Ray Robb, and Augusyin canapino- will take their rookie tests The fourth rookie, Marcus Armstrong, is not running the oval;s in 2023.

Turn 2 viewing mounds will be open for fans. Both test days. will be streamed on Peacock.

Schedule: All times Eastern

Thursday, April 20

11-1 veterans

1-3 Rookie Orientation and rgeresher tests

3-6 All eligible cars

Friday April21

10-4 All cars

A Modern Era Record

Long Beach announced a modern era (since 2008) attendance record of 192,000 fans for the three day weekend. All reserved seats were sold for Sunday’s race.

2023 Chevrolet Camaro SS Convertibles Presentedas 500 Festival Event Cars

April 3, 2023 thepitwindow

From IMS:

INDIANAPOLIS (Monday, April 3, 2023) – Fifty identical 2023 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertibles were staged on the main straightaway April 3 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a sign the return of the Month of May soon approaches.

A longtime tradition, the “Festival Event Cars” have reminded Indianapolis-area residents of the upcoming Indianapolis 500 since the 1960s. As the unique fleet of Camaros is driven around Central Indiana, they once again will turn heads and remind everyone “This is May.”

Presenting the cars were J. Douglas Boles, IMS president; Pat Merna, 500 Festival vice president strategic partnerships; Sarah Fisher, 500 Festival board chair and Mike Quinn, Chevrolet Indianapolis district sales manager.

The Festival Event Cars are a unique option code based off the 2023 Chevrolet Camaro SS convertible and are powered by a 6.2-liter small block V-8, which offers 455 horsepower and 455 pound-feet of torque.

The exterior of the car features Sharkskin Metallic exterior paint with special graphics from Chevrolet’s Performance Design Studio representing the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. The car also features an Ash Gray leather interior, a power-folding convertible top that can be lowered while driving at speeds up to 30 mph, Brembo front and rear performance brakes and 20-inch aluminum wheels.

“These Camaro convertibles are a symbol of the shared passion Chevrolet, INDYCAR and the 500 Festival board have for the Indianapolis 500,” Quinn said. “Living and working in Central Indiana, seeing these Camaros on the road always reminds me we’re one step closer to May.”

The 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled for Sunday, May 28, 2023. Visit IMS.com for tickets and more information on all Month of May events and activities at IMS.

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 80 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.