2025 Indianapolis 500
Motor racing competition From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2025 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge) is an IndyCar Series event scheduled to be held on Sunday, May 25, 2025, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race will be part of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season. The month of May activities will formally began with the IndyCar Grand Prix on the combined road course. The race will be broadcast on FOX for the first time in its history.
| |||||
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | IndyCar | ||||
| Season | 2025 IndyCar season | ||||
| Date | May 25, 2025[1] | ||||
| Pre-race ceremonies | |||||
| Pace car | Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 | ||||
| Pace car driver | Michael Strahan[2] | ||||
| TV in the United States | |||||
| Network | FOX[3] | ||||
| Announcers | Will Buxton, James Hinchcliffe, Townsend Bell | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
| |||||
Josef Newgarden of Team Penske enters as the two-time defending race winner. Kyle Larson will make another attempt at the "Double Duty" after failing to succeed in 2024, as that year's Coca-Cola 600 was called for rain.[4][5][6] The 2025 race marks the first year of hybrid energy recovery system powertrains at Indianapolis. The new ERC powertrains were first introduced in the series in July 2024 at Mid-Ohio.[7]
Race background
Summarize
Perspective
.jpg)
The Indianapolis 500, commonly called the Indy 500, is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5-mile (4.02 km) paved oval. First held in 1911, it is currently a points-paying race of the NTT IndyCar Series. The event is contested by "Indy cars", a formula of professional-level, single-seat, open cockpit, open-wheel, purpose-built race cars. The race is the most prestigious event of the IndyCar calendar, and one of the oldest and most important automobile races in the world.[9] The race traditionally has a field of 33 cars.
Rule changes
- IndyCar Series officials clarified the procedure for utilizing replacement drivers on race day. This is largely in response to the situation involving Kyle Larson at Arrow McLaren, who is scheduled to attempt Double Duty for the second time. If a team declares a replacement driver, that driver must pass a refresher test in the same entry, with minimal setup changes allowed. If the replacement driver is used on race day, the car will be moved to the rear of the starting grid (33rd).[10]
- Each entry will be permitted 32 sets of tires for the entirety of the event,[10] plus 8 additional sets for use during the Open Test.[11]
Sponsorship
On May 25, 2022, it was announced that online financial services company Gainbridge reached a multiyear agreement to extend their presenting sponsorship of the Indianapolis 500.[12] The extension was for an undisclosed length. This will be the third year under the current deal.[13] Gainbridge originally signed a four-year deal which was in place from 2019 to 2022.[14]
2025 IndyCar Series
The 2025 Indianapolis 500 will be the sixth race of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season.[15] Álex Palou won the first two races of the season at St. Petersburg and Thermal Club. Kyle Kirkwood won at Long Beach. The season continues with races at Alabama and the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Race schedules
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Entry list
Summarize
Perspective
All entries use a spec Dallara IR18 chassis with universal aero kit and 2020-adopted aeroscreen. Honda (HRC) and Chevrolet (Ilmor) are the current engine providers. Firestone is the exclusive tire supplier. There are currently 34 confirmed entries, including eight former winners and four race rookies. With the confirmation of Takuma Sato's Honda entry, bumping was confirmed.[16] Abel Motorsports declined to enter, instead electing to provide technical support and a back-up car for Jacob Abel's entry at Dale Coyne Racing.[17] Katherine Legge, the lone female driver in the race in 2023–2024, confirmed on April 10 that she would not enter the 2025 race. She instead announced her intent to compete in multiple NASCAR races including the BetMGM 300 race during the Coca-Cola 600 Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte.[18]
Kyle Larson, the 2024 rookie of the year, will attempt Double Duty for the second time. Retired veteran driver and Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan (the 2013 winner) is expected to serve as Larson's replacement driver if needed.[10] Four-time winner Hélio Castroneves is expected to make his milestone 25th career start, just the fourth driver to do so (joining A. J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, and Al Unser). Two-time defending race winner Josef Newgarden (2023–2024) is attempting to become the first driver in history to three-peat at the Indy 500.
- W Former Indianapolis 500 winner
- R Indianpolis 500 rookie
Testing and Rookie Orientation
Summarize
Perspective
Rookie rules for the Indianapolis 500 include the mandate that a driver pass a supervised high-speed oval test before he/she is allowed to participate in the official Rookie Orientation Program (ROP) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.[50] Approved venues for the initial high-speed oval track test include Texas Motor Speedway, Homestead–Miami Speedway, and a few other select venues.[51]
The Rookie Orientation Program at Indianapolis consists of three phases. For phase 1, each driver is required to complete ten laps between 205–210 mph (330–338 km/h), while demonstrating satisfactory car control, proper racing line, and safe interaction with other cars on the circuit. The laps do not have to be consecutive. Phase 2 is fifteen laps between 210–215 mph (338–346 km/h), and phase 3 is fifteen laps over 215 mph (346 km/h). Veteran drivers that have not competed in an IndyCar oval race since the previous year's Indy 500 are required to take a refresher test. The refresher test consists of phase 2 and phase 3 of the aforementioned rookie test.[52]
Rookie Orientation – October 2024
A private Rookie Orientation Program session was held October 10, 2024 for Nolan Siegel of Arrow McLaren.[53] Siegel had passed ROP the previous May, however, he failed to qualify for the race, necessitating a re-taking of the rookie test. Siegel passed the three-phase test without incident.
Hybrid testing – October 2024
A two-day offseason test was held On October 10–11, 2024. Eleven teams were in attendance to evaluate the hybrid energy recovery system powertrains which were adopted midway through the 2024 IndyCar season. On Thursday, Josef Newgarden (Team Penske), Pato O'Ward (Arrow McLaren), and Álex Palou (Ganassi) primarily conducted tire tests for Firestone. On Friday, all eleven teams participated. Álex Palou (224.342 mph) turned the fastest lap of the day. No incidents were reported.[54]
Rookie oval testing
The series hosted a high-speed oval rookie evaluation test at Nashville Superspeedway on March 26. Two drivers participated: Robert Shwartzman and Louis Foster. Both drivers completed their evaluations and were approved to take the Rookie Orientation Program at the April Open Test at Indianapolis.[55] Jacob Abel had previously completed his evaluation at Texas on November 14.[56]
Open Test Day 1 — Wednesday April 23, 2025
The first day of open testing was scheduled for April 23. Testing was originally slated to start at 10:05 a.m.[57] However, an internet outage at the track caused communications issues between race control and teams, forcing testing to be delayed until 12:45 p.m.[58] The revised schedule after the delay saw the track first open for series veterans from 12:45 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Then, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., the track was opened to drivers needing to complete rookie and refresher tests. Finally, the track was opened to all entries at 4:00 p.m., with the end time of practice pushed back to 7:00 p.m.
- Weather: 77 °F (25 °C); Mostly cloudy
- Summary: The veterans session of the open test began at 12:45 p.m. after issues with internet connectivity around the track were solved. Two drivers - Jack Harvey and Santino Ferrucci - suffered mechanical issues and each brought out caution periods as they stopped on track. At 2:00 p.m., the veteran session ended and the track was opened for drivers needing rookie and refresher tests. Rookies Louis Foster, Jacob Abel, and Robert Shwartzman all completed their rookie tests, while Kyle Larson, Takuma Sato, Marco Andretti, Devlin DeFrancesco, and Callum Ilott all successfully completed their refresher tests. At 4:00 p.m., the track was open to all entries. One notable incident occurred during the session with 13 minutes remaining when Graham Rahal drifted wide in turn 3 and brushed the outside wall. The impact damaged Rahal's suspension and Rahal slowed significantly to avoid spinning. A caution was put out as many cars slowed behind Rahal to avoid the potential spin.
- Scott Dixon was the fastest on the first day of testing, turning a lap at 225.182 mph (362.395 km/h). Felix Rosenqvist turned the fastest "no-tow" lap - a lap without the assistance of aerodynamic drafting - with a speed of 220.835 miles per hour (355.399 km/h).[59][60]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Speed (mph) | Speed (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 |  Scott Dixon W |
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 225.182 | 362.395 |
| 2 | 2 |  Josef Newgarden W |
Team Penske | Chevrolet | 225.125 | 362.304 |
| 3 | 75 |  Takuma Sato W |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 225.069 | 362.213 |
| Official Report | ||||||
Open Test Day 2 — Thursday April 24, 2025
The second day of open testing was scheduled for April 24. Two sessions were scheduled for the second day. From 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., the track was opened for a "high boost" session, where teams were allowed to test with increased turbo boost levels like those used during qualifications. The track was then be open again from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. for testing at standard boost levels.[57]
- Weather: 81 °F (27 °C); Partly cloudy in the morning, mostly cloudy in the afternoon
High Boost session
- Summary: The high boost session for the day began at 9:30 a.m. This session saw the first two major incidents of testing. At roughly 11:00 a.m., Kyle Larson impacted the outside wall at turn 1, significantly damaging his car. Larson's damaged car continued sliding before impacting the wall again at turn 2.[61] Roughly 15 minutes after Larson's wreck, Takuma Sato also crashed after spinning in turn 1 and heavily impacting the wall.[62] Neither driver was injured in their respective accidents. Scott McLaughlin was fastest in the high boost session, turning a lap at 232.686 miles per hour (374.472 km/h). Takuma Sato, prior to his crash, turned the fastest "no-tow" lap at 232.565 miles per hour (374.277 km/h), which was fast enough for 2nd overall in the session.[63]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Speed (mph) | Speed (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin |
Team Penske | Chevrolet | 232.686 | 374.472 |
| 2 | 75 | Takuma Sato W |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 232.565 | 374.277 |
| 3 | 12 |  Will Power W |
Team Penske | Chevrolet | 232.278 | 373.815 |
| Official Report | ||||||
Second session
- Summary: The second session began at 2:00 p.m. and lasted until 5:00 p.m. For this session, cars returned to their race-spec boost levels of 1.3 bars (19 psi). One minor incident occurred just before 3:00 p.m., when Rinus VeeKay ran out of fuel, but no caution was needed as VeeKay made it back to pit lane. His teammate Jacob Abel also ran out of fuel during the session, but no caution was required for him either. In the final hour, teams were allowed to practice hot pit stops, with many taking the opportunity to do so in the final 20 minutes. Álex Palou turned the fastest lap of the final session of the open test, with a one-lap speed of 223.993 miles per hour (360.482 km/h). Kyle Kirkwood was fastest in the "no-tow" rankings, running at 218.861 miles per hour (352.223 km/h).[64]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Speed (mph) | Speed (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 |  Álex Palou |
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 223.993 | 360.482 |
| 2 | 60 |  Felix Rosenqvist |
Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 223.366 | 359.473 |
| 3 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood |
Andretti Global | Honda | 223.362 | 359.466 |
| Official Report | ||||||
Broadcasting
Television
The race will be carried live by FOX for the first time, as the network will take over from NBC, who had been the television broadcaster since 2019.[3] On January 14, 2025, FOX announced their primary broadcast team for the full IndyCar season, with Will Buxton serving as lead commentator and James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell retaining their analyst roles they had previously held with NBC.[65] On February 27, FOX announced their full season pit reporters to be Kevin Lee and Georgia Henneberry. Jack Harvey was also announced as a pit reporter, but will not participate in FOX's broadcast of the Indianapolis 500 as he is set to drive in the event.[66]
| FOX | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pre/Post-race | Pit reporters |
| Announcer: Will Buxton Color: Townsend Bell Color: James Hinchcliffe |
FOX Host: TBA |
Georgia Henneberry Kevin Lee Jamie Little |
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.