IndyCar News: Dixon tops Wednesday open test at IMS

Chip Ganassi Racing veteran Scott Dixon (pictured) turned the fastest lap Wednesday in the IndyCar open test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his #9 Honda.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Dixon’s lap of 225.182mph was marginally faster than two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden at 225.125mph in his #2 Chevy.

“It’s testing – just trying to get through the test list, lots of changes,” Dixon said. “We didn’t do the October test, so first time with the hybrid here, which definitely adds some elements to it and makes it pretty interesting. I think it is going to determine a lot race-wise, maybe even for the shootout at the end. I think it could determine that.

“So, trying to clarify a lot of those situations to make sure that you’re covered muscle memory-wise and memory-wise. It comes down to that. So even in qualifying, I think it be a few different strategies of how to get that right.”

“Today was really solid just to start out,” Newgarden said. “The big thing is you come here with a new car or an existing car that you’re taking apart and completely rebuilding it. For most everybody here, putting a car on the track for the first time and hoping it just goes relatively quick … When the car is fast, everything else can be fixed. It’s the car’s speed that fixes everything.

“For us, it’s been a really good start. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be all smooth sailing, but I hope we can come out of this and be prepared for the Month of May.”

Takuma Sato, coming out of retirement for this race, was third at 225.069mph driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.  No other driver was over 225mph.

Fourth was Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong (224.987mph).

Colton Herta (224.857.mph) rounded out the top five for Andretti Global.

The fastest driver without a tow was Felix Rosenqvist at 220.835mph

Newgarden will be gunning for his third straight Indy 500 in May.

Related Article:  IndyCar News: Newgarden out duels O’Ward to win Indy 500

Honda powered 9 of the 10 fastest drivers, but do not read too much into that.  The Chevy-powered cars stay turned down until it matters.

Tomorrow the boost gets turned up to simulate qualifying conditions, and we should see speeds over 230mph.

Graham Rahal had a slight brush with the Turn 3 wall.

Ran out of racetrack 🫣@GrahamRahal brushes the wall exiting Turn 3 and keeps the car safe.

📺: INDYCAR YouTube pic.twitter.com/SlumUQUSQS

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 23, 2025

Santino Ferrucci, who has become something of an Indianapolis 500 specialist, only completed five laps after he suffered a blown engine. In total, the AJ Foyt Racing driver ran just five laps.

Jack Harvey completed just 15 laps after his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports car suffered a hybrid failure, which forced the team to replace the system.

While Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou was among the fastest, he only completed 26 laps. Indeed, his 25th lap was his fastest before the three-time IndyCar champion called it a day.

Testing continues starting at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Wednesday Test Results