INDIANAPOLIS — Originally scheduled to be 14 hours of total on-track time for the 34 car/driver entries in this year’s Indianapolis 500, this year’s Open Test was reduced to a little over three hours on Wednesday and rained out on Thursday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
IndyCar Series officials canceled all track activities at 8:35 a.m. Eastern Time due to heavy rain that is expected to last all day. Because of that, the scheduled two-day test is concluded as teams will load up and return to their respective shops to prepare for next week’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
That means Josef Newgarden will extend his streak to four years as being the fastest driver at the Indy 500 Open Test.
By the numbers, there were 34 car/driver combinations that ran a total of 1,327 laps around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Newgarden, the winning driver from the 107th Indianapolis 500 last year, was the fastest at 228.811 mph in the No. 2 Chevrolet for Team Penske.
Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion who will compete in the No. 17 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren/Hendrick Motorsports. His best lap was 226.384 mph, but he credits that speed with a massive tow from another driver in the draft.
Scott Dixon, a six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and winner of the 2008 Indianapolis 500, was third at 226.346 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. Two-time and defending IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou was fourth at 226.201 mph in the No. 10 DHL Honda for CGR.
Colton Herta of Andretti Global rounded out the top five at 225.907 mph in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda.
Teams will return to IMS on Friday, May 10, for practice and qualifying ahead of the Sonsio Grand Prix on Saturday, May 11, on the IMS road course. Practice for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 14, with the race scheduled for Sunday, May 26.