Tag: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Drivers To Participate in INDYCAR Test on Oct. 21-22 at IMS

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From IMS:

 NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers, including three Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winners, will participate in an annual fall INDYCAR test Tuesday-Wednesday, Oct. 21-22 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.
Testing is scheduled from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET both days. On Tuesday, drivers Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren and Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing will test Firestone Racing tires and the newly repaved surface at the exit of Turn 2 of the oval. Alexander Rossi of ECR and Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will use both days to test and help evaluate the performance of brake and shock components under consideration for the coming years.
The Turn 2 Viewing Mounds will be open for public viewing.

WHO: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Teams/Drivers Scheduled To Participate (subject to change):
Arrow McLaren: Pato O’Ward
Chip Ganassi Racing: Alex Palou
ECR: Alexander Rossi
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Takuma Sato

WHAT: INDYCAR Test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

WHEN: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET, Tuesday-Wednesday, Oct. 21-22

WHERE: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

IMS Test Day Midday Report

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A random summary of this morning at IMS:

A cool crisp morning led to a slow first hour of testing at IMS. Action began to pick up after 10 am.

The first was mainly used by Dennis Hauger for pit stop practice.

Just before 11, the action picked up with several cars on track at the same time. The ECR cars took to the track around 10:45.

Mick Schumacher turned the fastest time in the morning session.

Schumacher had a crowd following him wherever he went. He seems genuinely interested in driving in IndyCar. As far as ovals go, Schumacher did not show the reluctance that many Europeans have toward driving in circles. In answer to a question about oval driving, he said,

“I think [I] might as well, that’s what the championship is about and I think it would be wrong to just say ‘Okay, I’m just going to do one part of it.’ If I were to commit, I would like to commit to it fully.”

James Roe may get the seat at Juncos Hollinger Racing. He said that he will talk with them next week.

James Roe

Dennis Hauger is very upbeat about driving in IndyCar. He seems very happy to be at the top American level, seeing a positive in his crash at Mid-Ohio last week.

Dennis Hauger

In Other News

While Will Power could not participate in today’s practice due to contractual restrictions,, he will see some track time this weekend as he drives in the Indianapolis 8 hour.

Power will drive car 75, with fellow Australians Chaz Moster and Kenny Habul. The Mercedes-AMG is entered in the Pro class of the GT 3 event.

Conor Daly will also participate with the Random Vandals team in the number 99 BMW GT World America Pro class.

It was nice to be at the track today to get one last whiff of IndyCar before winter.

IMS Testing Today; Last Chance to See IndyCars in 2025

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Photo: Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing’s new driver for 2026

It’s a short field, but it could have some long-term effects on the 2026 grid. Six teams will run seven drivers from 9-5 today, with a one-hour lunch break at noon. Turn 2 mounds are open for viewing.

Today’s lineup:

A.J. Foyt Enterprises: Caio Collet
Andretti Global: Lochie Hughes
Dale Coyne Racing: Dennis Hauger
ECR: Christian Rasmussen, Alexander Rossi
Juncos Hollinger Racing: James Roe
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Mick Schumacher

Caio Collet may be in the running for the second seat at Foyt. Is Mick Schumacher a serious candidate for the 30 car?

Andretti has no seats available, and Juncos Hollinger is still searching for drivers. Roe may have an opportunity there.

I will be on site this morning, and will have an up date after the morning session.

 NTT INDYCAR SERIES To Participate in Team Test Monday, Oct. 13 on IMS Road Course 

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 NTT INDYCAR SERIES teams will participate in a team test and driver evaluations Monday, Oct. 13 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.Testing will take place from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit,
.WHO: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Teams/Drivers Scheduled To Participate (subject to change):
A.J. Foyt Enterprises: Caio Collet
Andretti Global: Lochie Hughes
Dale Coyne Racing: Dennis Hauger
ECR: Christian Rasmussen, Alexander Rossi
Juncos Hollinger Racing: James Roe
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Mick Schumacher
WHAT: Team Test and Driver Evaluations at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
WHEN: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET, Monday, Oct. 13
WHERE: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Turn 2 Viewing Mounds will be open for public viewing

Schumacher Will Test with Rahal at IMS in October

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From RLL:

Formula One And Sports Car Veteran Mick Schumacher To Participate In An IndyCar Test With Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing At IMS

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. (September 26, 2025) – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) announced today that Mick Schumacher, 26, who currently competes in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) for Alpine, will participate in an INDYCAR test with the team on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) on October 13. Schumacher, the son of legendary seven-time Formula One champion, Michael Schumacher, has made 44 starts in Formula One with a best finish of sixth place and earned four podiums in WEC to date.

Schumacher, who was born in Switzerland, most recently drove an open-wheel race car as the Mercedes F1 reserve driver while competing in WEC in 2024 and participated in tests at Silverstone, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Circuit Paul Ricard. The test at IMS will enable Schumacher to familiarize himself with the technical specifications of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with an eye toward possible participation in the future.

During the 2025 Sonsio Grand Prix on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 8-9, RLL drivers Graham Rahal, Louis Foster and Devlin DeFrancesco qualified second, third and fifth, respectively with Rahal leading a race high 49 of 85 laps before earning the team’s best finish of sixth place. This baseline should provide Schumacher with a good starting point.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is North America’s premier open-wheel racing competition, featuring stars from across the globe competing at speeds faster than 370 kph (230 mph). Along with hosting the world-famous Indianapolis 500, the series boasts a mix of oval, temporary street circuit and permanent road course races across North America. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is sanctioned by INDYCAR, the governing body for North America’s premier open-wheel racing series and part of the Penske Entertainment family.

The 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season begins with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 1. The 17-race schedule includes new venues in Arlington, Texas and Markham, Ontario, Canada. For more information about the series or team, visit www.indycar.com and www.rahal.com.

QUOTEBOARD:

MICK SCHUMACHER: “I am very much looking forward to driving my first IndyCar test. A big thank you to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team for giving me this opportunity. The same goes for driving this car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time, a race track with a big history and that my dad has driven on before. I am excited to see which special features it holds.

“I am very curious to understand the special features and characteristics of this race car, which is different from the cars I am used to driving, yet similar, and I remain very interested in gaining experience in the diverse world of motorsport. Great to be able to see what it is all about and how difficult it is, since I hear a lot about how tough it is physically. It is not a secret that I am big fan of single seater racing after all, so this first IndyCar test will be an experience to treasure, and I am very much looking forward to driving a car where I can see my wheels.”

BOBBY RAHAL, Co-owner of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: “I have followed Mick’s career from afar as well as that of his father so the thought of seeing him in one of our race cars is very exciting. I think it’s going to be a great day for RLL and also for Mick, as he gets his first experience in an Indy car. Obviously, he’s got a great deal of talent and knowing that we’ve had pretty good setups for the IMS road course, it should give him a good baseline to start from.”

JAY FRYE, President of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: “This is an amazing opportunity for RLL to test an elite talent like Mick and bring two legendary motorsports families together.”

About Mick Schumacher

Mick Schumacher, 26, was born and raised in Switzerland and is the son of seven-time Formula One World Drivers’ Champion Michael Schumacher and his equestrian wife Corinna, as well as the nephew of former Formula One driver Ralf. He is currently competing in the World Endurance Championship with Alpine.

Initially competing under the pseudonyms Mick Betsch and Mick Junior, Schumacher finished runner-up to Enaam Ahmed at the junior direct-drive Karting World Championship and Karting European Championship in 2014. Graduating to junior formula in 2015, Schumacher finished runner-up in both ADAC F4 and Italian F4 in 2016. After finishing third in the MRF Challenge Championship in 2016-2017, Schumacher moved to FIA European Formula 3, winning the championship with Prema in 2018. Progressing to FIA Formula 2 for 2019, Schumacher won the title in 2020 with Prema.

He became a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2019, and went on to participate in rookie testing for Alfa Romeo and Haas in F1 in 2020, before he signed with the latter as a full-time driver in 2021. He made his Formula One debut at the Bahrain Grand Prix alongside Nikita Mazepin, but Haas failed to score points during the season with the VF-21, with Schumacher earning a season-best finish of 12th in Hungary.

In 2022, Schumacher teamed with Kevin Magnussen and scored his maiden points finish at the British Grand Prix with eighth place, followed by a career-best sixth at the Austrian Grand Prix. He was also the official reserve driver for Ferrari in 2022. For 2023 and 2024, he served as a reserve driver for Mercedes, which included serving in the same capacity for McLaren and Williams. In 2024, he moved to the FIA World Endurance with Alpine and achieved his first podium finish at the 6 Hours of Fuji. To date in 2025, he has earned podium finishes at the 6 Hours of Imola and Spa-Francorchamps with two rounds remaining in the season in Fuji (September 28) and Bahrain (November 8).

Battle on the Bricks Final Thoughts

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A perfect day for racing brought a good-sized crowd to IMS yesterday for the third Battle on the Bricks. They were treated to a very good race. American manufacturers finished 1-2 in GTP as two Cadillac powered cars fought for the win in the last hour, and a Ford Mustang won the GTD Pro class.

Fans Show Up

On Friday I had concerns about weekend attendance. The speedway was quite empty, and energy was lacking. The IMSA Weather Tech Series had just a single practice session around midday, which could have accounted for the lull.

On Saturday, the place had more fans than I expected. The Michelin Plot Challenge race featured down to the wire wins in both classes, with leads and podium positions changing in the final five minutes.

I was still not prepared for Sunday morning. It was a non 500 event, and I thought if I arrived at 10 am I could breeze straight to my partaking spot in Lot 2. That was not the case. I sat on CrawfordsvilleRoadfor40minutes before I reached Auburn Street, then it was another 20 minutes before I parked in a nearly filled lot.

I am not complaining. It reminded me of the morning of the Indianapolis 500. I was happy to see the turnout. I went tom the upper deck of B stand to w3atch the start. Last year I sat in this spot with three friends. We had an entire section to ourselves, and we could have easily moved to another section if we chose to do so. Yesterday, I had to search for a single open seat.

At the halfway point of the race I trekked to the mounds in turns 1 and 2 of the road course, and I found another large gathering, not quite as large a group as for the Indy Grand Prix in May, but a respectable number of fans.

The Race

Sports car racing is an acquired taste, and the more I watch it, the more I like it. With four classes of cars competing at once, the skill involved for the faster cars to get around the slower classes is impressive.

The road course at IMS is a natural fit for today’s sports cars. The cars are fast, the track flows well, and it offers many passing opportunities.

At the beginning of the weekend, I was glad that the race would return to a two hour, forty minute event in 2026. I thought the six hour format was too long, based on the 2024 race. After yesterday, I am not so sure. Yesterday’s race was very good.

Some highlights and personal notes:

There was a great battle early in the GTD Pro class between the AO Racing Porsche and one of the Ford Mustangs. The two swapped the lead several times each lap, but the Porsche led at the line.

Later, The leading GTP Cadillac of Whelen Engineering had a stiff challenge first one of the Meyer Shank Acuras, and the from another Cadillac from Wayne Taylor Racing.

I love the sound of the Aston Martin. The high pitched whine as it accelerated out of the final turn and onto the main straight sent this old race fan’s heart a fluttering.

Romain Grosjean was having a great day in the Lamborghini, a team that has struggled this season. Grosjean was running fourth late in the race when contact with the number 7 Penske Porsche, knocked him back to a 10th place finish. It was nice to see the Italian team running so well.

I had not really thought about, but the number 31 Whelen car had not won in a while. I hadn’t realized it had been nearly two years since that car reached the top step of the podium. The team used to be a regular visitor to victory circle.

I was happy for two of my favorite drivers, Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber.

Overall, it was another successful weekend at IMS, and an event which took a big leap forward. I hope this race continues to grow.

Note- I will be heading down to winter headquarters for a couple of weeks, but I plan to keep with IndyCar news as it happens. I plan to be back for the road course test on October 13.


Thanks for following along this past weekend.

Whelen Cadillac Wins Overall at Indy for First IMSA Victory Since 2023

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From IMS. My thoughts on the weekend will be up tomorrow.

  INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025) – With 85 minutes remaining in the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on Sunday, Jack Aitken was in street clothes in the pits at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Ninety minutes later, he was in a sweat-and-champagne soaked driver’s suit, celebrating a convincing overall and GTP class victory in the six-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race with Cadillac Whelen teammates Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti.

SEE: Race Results

The Whelen team earned its first victory since capturing the 12 Hours of Sebring in March 2023, and this was the first victory of the season for Cadillac, which fields three cars in the class.
Pole sitter Aitken took Bamber’s spot in the cockpit of the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R during the team’s final pit stop with 82 minutes left in the race. Originally, the team planned to have Bamber stay in the car until the checkered flag but instead opted for Aitken to finish what he started on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
“We’ve got a great team from A to Z, and that includes my teammates,” Aitken said. “Any one of us could have finished it off. We just thought with the length of the race and it was going, it was better to get a fresh one (driver) in. It was intense. I’m glad we did.”
Winners in the other three classes were the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 (drivers Mikkel Jensen, Hunter McElrea, Steven Thomas) in LMP2, the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 (Sebastian Priaulx, Mike Rockenfeller) in GT Daytona Pro and the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 (Brendan Iribe, Ollie Millroy, Frederik Schandorff) in GT Daytona.
The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac led the race and the GTP class after each of the six hours of this Michelin Endurance Cup event. But victory was anything but easy, as two full-course caution periods in the last 75 minutes of the race forced Aitken to stand on the gas on restarts and navigate lapped traffic as the clock wound down.The first of the last two full-course yellows came with one hour, 15 minutes to go when the hood flew off the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari that ended up winning the GTD class.
Aitken held off the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 driven by Sheldon van der Linde on the restart with an hour to go and expanded his lead to 1.606 seconds with 30 minutes to go.
With 18 minutes remaining, Tom Blomqvist had pushed the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 to second place behind Aitken. The MSR prototype was the quickest in qualifying Saturday with Blomqvist behind the wheel but was moved to the rear of the 12-car GTP class on the starting grid due to failing to comply with bodywork rules in post-qualifying inspection.
Ricky Taylor then passed Blomqvist with 13 minutes remaining in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R for second place but probably needed a late caution to finish with his remaining fuel.Taylor got that full-course caution with nine minutes left.
The No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 car driven by NTT INDYCAR SERIES veteran Toby Sowery spun and backed hard into the wall after apparent contact from Indianapolis 500 veteran Ben Hanley.
Debris from the incident was cleaned just in time for a two-lap trophy dash to the checkered flag.
Aitken pulled away from Taylor on the restart and was never threatened, finishing .988 of a second ahead in a 1-2 result for Cadillac. NTT INDYCAR SERIES veterans Blomqvist and Colin Braun settled for third, 1.952 seconds behind the winners.
In LMP2, the TDS Racing team earned a class victory for the third consecutive year at this event. The team finished .714 of a second ahead of the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 shared by Jeremy Clarke, Tom Dillmann and Bijoy Garg. Jensen drove the car to the checkered in the final stint, while McElrea added this win to a victory in August 2023 on the IMS road course in INDY NXT by Firestone.
“Very tense out there,” Jensen said. “We did the perfect race. No mistakes. Then you get a yellow at the end. Nerve-wracking finish, but you’ve got do a good restart and keep the car clean. It’s not easy to stay clear.”
Priaulx guided the Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang to victory by .594 of a second over the No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 of Albert Costa and Davide Rigon in the factory-backed GTD PRO class
.In GTD, Inception Racing earned its first IMSA class victory despite losing its hood late in the race. Schandorff drove the Ferrari to victory over the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche shared by Adam Adelson, Tom Sargent and Elliott Skeer by 2.276 seconds.
The TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks returns to IMS on Sept. 18-20, 2026.
Visit IMS.com for ticket renewal or application information. 

TireRack.com Extends Battle on the Bricks Sponsorship 

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 INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025) – TireRack.com, an independent tire tester and nationwide customer-direct tire, wheel and car accessory retailer, has extended its entitlement sponsorship of the Battle on the Bricks IMSA sports car event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
TireRack.com continues as the “Official Partner of the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks” and “Official Partner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
”“We’re excited to continue as official partners of both Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks,” TireRack.com CEO Scott Clark said. “This partnership welcomed IMSA sports car racing back to IMS and serves as a reminder that tire performance plays a critical role for every driver. Whether it’s on the track or on the street, tires matter.”
The sponsorship, which began in 2023, featured the return of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to IMS. Following endurance races in 2024 and 2025, the series returns to the Racing Capital of the World from Sept. 18-20, 2026, with a full weekend of sports car racing on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile IMS road course. The 2026 feature event will be two hours, 40 minutes in duration. In addition to Sunday’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge will headline the action Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026.
With 18 different manufacturers competing in IMSA, the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks weekend continues to be a three-day festival showcasing the pinnacle of sports car racing.
“The TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks is an action-packed weekend of sports car racing at IMS,” IMS President J. Douglas Boles said.
“Sports car fans, like myself, enjoy working on their own cars, and TireRack.com provides 24/7 access to shop for the highest-quality tires, wheels and car accessories. Having visited the TireRack.com headquarters and purchased tires from TireRack.com, I can attest to their focus on tire testing and the distribution of performance data that helps consumers make an informed tire choice. We are honored to have them as an integral part of the IMS experience.”
Tire Rack is headquartered in South Bend, Indiana, and since 1979 it has grown from a single-point retail store in Indianapolis to a huge tire and related accessories retailer with more than 10,000 authorized U.S. installers and 12 distribution centers across the country, allowing it to maintain a huge inventory.
Tire Rack offers an easy online purchasing experience, extremely competitive pricing and convenient installation through its installer network or brings installation directly to shoppers through its Tire Rack Mobile Tire Installation program. And it does year-round independent tire testing and shares its test results and advice on its website, an always-free consumer resource.
See all Tire Rack test videos and browse Tire Rack test reports on TireRack.com, and visit and subscribe to Tire Rack’s YouTube Channel.
Visit IMS.com for tickets and more information on the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks. Flag-to-flag coverage of the 2025 TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks is available on Peacock, with live NBC Sports’ coverage starting at 3 p.m. ET. 

UPDATED: Cadillac Inherits Pole at Indy After Acura MSR Penalized

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Note: Updated from earlier version due to IMSA post-qualifying technical ruling on the No. 60 GTP car.

Breaking from IMS:

  INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025) – Cadillac will start 1-2-3 in the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after the quickest GTP car in qualifying was sent to the rear of the field.
Jack Aitken will start from the pole in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R after his best lap of 1 minute, 14.610 seconds was second quickest. But he elevated to the top spot after the Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 of Tom Blomqvist, turning a top lap of 1:14.569, was found in post-qualifying technical inspection to fail to comply within LMDh bodywork tolerances.

SEE: Starting Grid

That car, shared between former INDYCAR SERIES drivers Blomqvist and Colin Braun, will move to the rear of the 12-car GTP field. The six-hour race starts at 11:40 a.m. ET Sunday on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. It’s the first pole of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship season for Cadillac.
“I’m pretty pleased,” Aitken said. “I think all the Cadillacs showed pretty well. We had an OK practice, but it wasn’t entirely smooth. The nature of having so many cars on track here means getting clean laps, which was quite difficult.
“I think we’re in a good place. I’m pleased that we’ve come out today with a strong car and clean qualifying session, and I think a strong car for tomorrow.”
Wayne Taylor Racing, headquartered in nearby Brownsburg, put both of its prototypes in the top three of the starting grid. Louis Deletraz qualified third, now starting second, at 1:14.715 in the No. 40 Cadillac V-Series.R, while Ricky Taylor was fourth at 1:14.804 and will start third in the team’s No. 10 Cadillac.
The reigning winners, the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL entry of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, will start seventh in the 12-car GTP field at 1:15.133 with Dries Vanthoor behind the wheel.