CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
NTT INDYCAR SERIES OPEN TEST
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
FAST FRIDAY SIM TEST AND TESTING DAY TWO RECAP
APRIL 24, 2025
INDIANAPOLIS (April 24, 2025) –
· For the first time in the history of the Indianapolis 500 Open Test, the 18 Chevrolet powered teams and drivers took part in 2.5 hour Fast Friday Sim session on the famed 2.5-mile oval
· The boost level was turned up to 1.5 bar (from normal 1.3 bar) which adds approximately 90 horsepower
· First time Team Chevy drivers have had the opportunity to utilize the hybrid system with the added boost
· Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin in the No. 3 Chevrolet posted the fastest lap of the session – an impressive 232.686 mph/38.6788 seconds
· McLaughlin’s teammate Will Power was third on the timesheets with a lap at 232.278mph/38.7467 seconds.
· The No. 3 Team Penske Pennzoil Chevrolet of McLaughlin was quick everywhere around the 2.5-mile oval, with the Kiwi having the quickest trap speeds at the start finish line (237.976mph) and Turn 1 (237.496mph) and was second quickest in Turn 3 (238.326mph). His Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden was the quickest in the Turn 3 speed trap (238.534mph)
· Kyle Larson, making his second attempt at the H1100, racing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca Cola 600 on May 25, 2025 hit the Turn 1 wall and again at the Turn 2 wall ending his day mid-way through the session
· After a two-hour break for the crews to prepare the cars for race running, the track was open for three hours of testing. With no yellow flags, the 2.5-mile oval was busy with 2436 laps (6090 miles) completed. Team Chevy drivers turned 1199 laps (2997.5 miles).
· The quickest Team Chevy driver with the boost lowered was Conor Daly, whose lap of 223.298mph was the fourth best of the afternoon.
· Up next for Chevrolet in the NTT INDYCAR Series is Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama May 2-4, 2025
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):
A.J. FOYT RACING
David Malukas, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet:
“First run with qualifying power and the boost – a lot of technical difficulties once again that we kind of ran through, but we know exactly what we had to do, so for our part we’re more here for trying to make sure we have a car for racing. I’m very comfortable with the car when it came to the qualifying and the boost, just other perspectives of technical difficulties which kind of lost us the pace there for those few laps but nothing to really worry about. We know exactly what to fix so now after the one run, we’re going to bring the car back and get focused on this afternoon because that’s what we’re training for. “
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet:
“Obviously a very interesting day with the hybrid and the high boost. Feels pretty good, the cars are definitely quick. I don’t think were going to be as quick as we were the previous season just due to the weight of things, but overall very technical, very difficult as a driver to get all the systems right, but driving-wise, trying to find the balance with the car is also not the easiest thing, but overall pretty happy with it.”
ARROW MCLAREN
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“Just finished two days of testing at IMS. It was the first time at the open test that we had the boost up, at least in the morning, so that was cool. We know what to expect a little more on Fast Friday. We got through our program; we got through a lot of things. Alone running and traffic running. Feeling super happy for May coming up. I think this will be a great starting point to build on.”
Kyle Larson, No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“I was starting my qualifying laps there and, just got really tight and just a bunch of understeer through Turn 1, and ran out of space off of Turn 1. I kind of fought the understeer feeling yesterday and, yeah, carry over to the day. So, honestly, though, I’m happy to crash my first IndyCar and, live through it. We’ll just work on it and try and get the balance more comfortable. I just didn’t quite feel like I had the feeling I needed yesterday, and then it really carried over today. I think when you’re going faster, you know, it really stood out. Just a bummer, but, also, you know, encouraging that it didn’t feel I know it wasn’t like a big hit or anything, but it didn’t feel anything different than what I was expecting.”
DRYER & REINBOLD RACING
Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 23 Dryer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet:
“It’s been great to get back to work with everybody at Team Chevy and Ilmor. We’ve been working on the big ticket items, the fundamental stuff, the intricacies of the hybrid and the new procedures. Getting the team used to it, getting myself used to it, working in traffic, working on qualifying. The whole group has done a good job checking the boxes off. I’m looking forward to coming back in May and putting what we learned to use.”
Jack Harvey, No. 24 Dryer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet:
“I’ve been a competitor against Chevy for most of my NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, so it was cool to turn laps under the bow tie for the first time at as famous a race track as you could ever do it at. So far, mostly so good. Unfortunately, we had a hybrid issue yesterday that was a new issue for Chevy as well, so hopefully, they were able to learn something from it. Today has been a pretty smooth day on the whole.”
ED CARPENTER RACING
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot and as a team everything is starting to come together. For this event in particular, there are a lot of nerves for the first one. Coming back knowing what to expect and having done it all before is a pretty good feeling.”
JUNCOS HOLLIGER RACING
Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet
“It was quite an adventure. The high boost stuff was kind of – our four-lap average was not that bad; we weren’t that fast overall, but we had a really good four-lap run, and our last lap was our best, so we were pretty good right out of the gate. But then it got a little messy so we decdied to get to the race running.
“We have a lot of work to do in race running. We’re trying to figure out the best way to get through the field, get through the pack and get through the dirty air. To be the fastest Chevy is cool. We know that not everyone is going to show their stuff, but I saw those veterans getting big tows all day long, so they are hustling to get the lap time. Everyone is doing the same thing. We had a car that was fast enough to be flat when it mattered. That’s good.”
Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet
“IMS is a crazy track to drive an INDYCAR around. You’re either having the best time of your life, or you’re scared out of your mind. We had a little bit of everything today, which is great, but that also means we have some work to do. I’m really happy with our qualifying car. We had good speed in the car naturally, which is nice. In race trim, we have some work to do, but between the 77 and 76 we learned a lot. We’re going to come back for the “Month of May” a lot better off, which is good considering we’re already doing alright.”
TEAM PENSKE
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet:
“It was a pretty productive morning starting off day two at the open test. It’s been nice to have a high boost session. We don’t typically get this, and it’s interesting to have a simulation of what Fast Friday will be like. Just get an early touch on the car and what the high boost does. I felt pretty comfy and definitely felt some differences from last year to this year with the hybrid and the weight of the car. We’ve got something to digest as we come back to the “Month of May” and hopefully qualify on the front row again for Team Penske.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:
“It’s cool to turn up the boost; the car feels pretty similar to last year, which is a nice feeling. Just working through the motions and learning the hybrid system under qualifying conditions at full boost. It’s always nice to turn the boost up here around Indy. The Team Chevy engine feels fast.”
Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:
“Just did a couple of quali sims to get us prepared for the qualifying weekend in May. We got a good feel for it and are trying to work out how to best use the hybrid. We’ll go back and look at the data to see what the best strategy is.”
Scott McLaughlin
Press Conference Transcript
THE MODERATOR: Join now by Scott McLaughlin. Last year’s pole winner for the Indianapolis 500. First of all, welcome back. Good to see you back. Car seems to be doing okay?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, we had a really good day. A good couple days. Felt like we got through a lot from a hybrid perspective.
Then yeah, I felt like the morning qualifying session, high boost session, was a bit of a crapshoot, you could say. Couple yellows. When the track got better, it was a bit dirty from some of the shunts as well. Then everyone was trying to cram a lot in in 40 minutes.
Yeah, look, overall really solid balance to kick off the month of May. The car is certainly different with the extra weight and whatnot. I think speaking to a lot of the drivers, I think we all concur the same thoughts: it’s different.
It’s fine, fun to get used to and understand it. I feel like I really honed in on a lot of things at a low intensity level just to feel out the car and see where we’re at.
Qualifying is going to be proper in terms of just what you need to do on the lap and thinking about what the car’s doing, the degradation of the tires with the heavier car. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
I think as well, if we have a hot day for the 500, it’s going to be pretty fun. Yeah, just trying to get comfortable with the race car. Hopefully we’re good.
THE MODERATOR: Questions for Scott.
Q. You’ve picked up where you left off last year. A lot of drivers have said they’ve really had to yard sale their car, haven’t been able to use anything from last year. How much of the race car from last year have you been able to use this year?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Same car. Exactly same car. Hasn’t touched a piece of tarmac since May here. Pretty happy to have that. It shows in some of the balance numbers as well. We had a pretty solid race car or read straightaway. That’s a good feeling.
For me as a driver, getting out and up to speed, understanding all this other stuff that comes with it. As I said, it’s going to be a lot busier now, which is cool, but you want to be on top of things.
I feel like having that opportunity to come here with a similar car and get going has been good.
Q. Kyle said the traffic seemed like it was difficult. How much difficulty did you get have getting clean laps?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: In the boost session?
Q. Yes.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I concur with him. A couple of the new teams, you can pick who they are, rolled out today in some pretty peculiar spots. Oh, well, somebody is not going to be happy with you. It was interesting to watch. Actually, one of those new teams pulled out in front of me, though. I was a little pissed.
Overall, you understand everyone’s in the same boat. Everyone is trying to get laps and do whatever. You can only be so sportsmanlike to a point. You got to get going. That’s why I say, once the time came down and the crashes happened, only 40 or so minutes left to go, I knew it was going to be a bit of a crapshoot.
Yeah, but I thought we got enough done to look at it, come back. Definitely think I needed to do more single-lap qualifying stuff just to practice it. It was a good initiation.
Kudos to INDYCAR for giving us the opportunity to run the high boost. Weird running it now. Super weird. But it was cool.
Q. You had May-like weather the past two days. You’re a seasoned veteran now. How good is it for you to have that accurate weather?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I said to my guys before, it’s so nice going here and sort of understanding what I want, what feels right, remembering changes we made before. Definitely experience is a good thing.
But yeah, I think this is the best weather we’ve had in probably three, four years, at least the time I’ve been here doing the Open Test. Warm, much like what we might see in May. But you just never know with Indiana.
Yeah, we’ll look at the data and figure it all out. I think we’re in a really good spot.
Q. You said kudos to INDYCAR for giving you that morning session. A lot of people wanted to see if it was going to be too slow or too fast, balance way off. Are you content with where it’s at?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, you just try to get a feel for not only yourself but manufacturers, everything like that, to see where everything sits.
I think with the parameters we ran at from a team perspective, we didn’t throw everything to the wall today. I don’t think anyone would have.
It was a good read with a heavier car. The biggest thing that has changed now is the heaviness of the car. It’s very different. It feels weird. Not weird, but just feels different to usual.
To do that and be able to have an extra session at high boost rather than throwing it out on Fast Friday, who knows there could be rain on Fast Friday. You never know here. It’s nice to come out here in reasonable conditions, n
ot too much wind, have a feel for it, get an introduction to what it’s going to be like.
Q. Are the changes you’re making on the car, are you able to predict what they’re going to do?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: You’re talking about weight jacker and bar?
Q. Yeah. Is it doing what you would expect or what worked a year ago in a change is not going to work now?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: No, it’s lefty loose-y, righty tight-y. The weight jacker still works the same.
There’s some nuances to the setup that we had to change, for sure. Not change, but like move to I guess you could say. Yeah, it’s still fundamentally what you feel in the car when you’re out in front compared to in traffic, what you need to change for that. It’s very similar.
Q. Your setup with the extra boost this morning, how close do you think that’s going to be to what you run in qualifying? Was it relatively close? A lot of changes you still got to make to it?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I guess you could say it’s somewhat close if you get a read. We didn’t go out there completely different. Certainly trying different things underneath the car that you guys can’t see, no one can see. It’s more of a feel inside the team.
I mean, yeah, all three cars, we had a crack, but within the limits.
Q. How much would you have to change from yesterday’s car to this afternoon’s session? Speeds were up a little bit in the afternoon.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: From yesterday’s car? Yeah, the car was pretty similar to yesterday, to be honest. I just didn’t quite get the best run yesterday. I mean, you can be a hero and try to get a massive tow today, but it doesn’t really feel good.
Q. I heard during commentary the fact that New Zealand has the second highest number of drivers in the Indy 500 with three, along with the UK, then the U.S. with 15. As a Kiwi, how does that make you feel?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, it’s awesome. A little country that punches above our weight, as you know. One of those guys is an absolute legend of the sport, probably the greatest of all time in Scott Dixon. He’s done an amazing job of putting New Zealand on the map. Having Marcus here and now myself, it’s a cool thing.
I think it’s exciting for the Kiwis back home. Yeah, hopefully we can pull out the front for them.
Q. Looking slightly more towards the month of May, your pit box is going to move probably multiple times. Also then wondered the way you’re going to come into the pits using the pit-in, how hard are they adjust to, those variables?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, I guess the pit-in for one, we don’t get to practice that really until Monday of race week. That’s probably the only thing. I think all us drivers would probably want to practice it say today on the hot stops. Because we had too many cars in pit lane, the safety is to bring the speed limiter closer into the pylon, into the attenuator. That does take a little bit to get used to. Want to practice that pretty hard on Monday and Carb Day.
The pit box thing, you’ve just got to deal with it. You have marks to practice in and out laps, wherever you’re going to be. I don’t think I’ve ever had the same pit box here ever. Hopefully we can have the same one this year as last year because that was pole.
Q. Looking away from this, Barber next week, then the Grand Prix, how difficult is it to change your mindset from what you spent two days doing to get back in the thick of things thinking about the championships?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, no, it definitely takes a couple laps to sort of get acquainted to a road course again. Your head is moving around a little bit more. It won’t take too long. We had a test there not long ago.
Yeah, Barber and Indy, for me Indy GP hasn’t been that kind too me, particularly in qualifying. Trying to tidy that up a little bit. We’ll be okay. Need to get back on track a little bit.
Had a solid run at Long Beach and hopefully can keep going.
Q. Try to avoid the mannequins at Barber.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: That helped me last year (smiling).