Perhaps no NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver appreciated this week’s Indianapolis 500 Open Test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway more than the driver who has started only one such race. Unfortunately, Kyle Larson didn’t get to enjoy the second day of it.

In a Thursday morning session designed to simulate qualifying sessions for next month’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, Larson’s No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet drifted wide in Turn 1 and smacked the SAFER Barrier. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion prepping for his second Indy start slammed on the brakes in the short chute but couldn’t keep the car from hitting the Turn 2 SAFER Barrier.

Larson’s day was over literally one corner in.

“I was starting my qualifying laps there and just got really tight,” Larson said. “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 it carried over to today.”

Before the incident, Larson listed an assortment of benefits he received in preparation for next month’s race. Because he hasn’t done computer simulations as others have – it’s not his norm even in NASCAR – and he hoped to get as much track time as possible. Crash aside, he came away better for the experience.

“It was good, good to get back behind the wheel,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like that long ago (since last year’s race), and I figured it would feel normal when I got back in (the car), but it definitely took some getting accustomed to.”

Larson admitted to needing a few laps Wednesday to feel confident hold the gas pedal wide open, but he got there well enough to post the day’s second-fastest lap among Chevrolet drivers – 11th overall – at 223.430 mph.

Larson said the biggest year-over-year adjustment was managing the additional weight of INDYCAR’s hybrid technology, used for the first time in the series last summer after the “500.” He said having more weight in the car’s rear made the balance feel “a little different.”

Larson said he was rusty with many of the small details of driving these cars, including the steering wheel that is configured differently than it was last year. But he got into a rhythm, which helped him be ready for the first day of official practice Tuesday, May 13.

The “500” is Sunday, May 25.

Daly’s Experience Helpful for Team

Conor Daly is one of the most experienced drivers in this 34-car field, having raced in 11 “500s” plus NASCAR races at IMS such as last year’s Pennzoil 250 for the Xfinity Series. He started 16th and finished 14th in that race after being collected in an opening-lap incident.

“I just had a great time doing that,” Daly said. “I was running in the top five – one of the most fun races in my life. I had a great time.”

Daly has led 69 laps in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the same number as two-time defending champion Josef Newgarden. Daly’s best “500” finish is sixth for Ed Carpenter Racing in 2022.

This year, Daly is driving the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, and it’s the seventh NTT INDYCAR SERIES team he has driven for in the “500.” Because of that, Daly feels he has been tasked with a leadership and development role for a team that’s still carving out its place in the series. Having a veteran like Daly who can fine-tune an oval-specific car should be beneficial for JHR.

“They’ve had really good drivers behind the wheel here, but those drivers have not had (as much) oval experience,” Daly said. “There’s a feel for a car here that I think you have to have.”

JHR’s list of Indy drivers includes Spencer Pigot, Sebastian Saavedra, Kyle Kaiser, Callum Ilott, Agustin Canapino and Romain Grosjean since its debut in 2017. Kaiser, Ilott and Canapino were “500” rookies that year. Pigot had one previous start, a 25th-place finish for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2016. Grosjean had two previous “500” starts, neither of which he finished.

Ericsson Humbled by Last Year’s Race

Marcus Ericsson has experienced the highs and lows at IMS, winning the race in 2022 and nearly going back-to-back in 2023. On the low end, he crashed in practice last year, nearly failed to earn a starting position and then, as a last-row starter, was collected in Tom Blomqvist’s accident in the first turn. That’s the kind of heartbreak Indy sometimes throws at competitors.

Ericsson’s move to Andretti Global last season after four wins in three years with Chip Ganassi Racing has added pressure of a different kind. Andretti is a top-tier team with huge expectations, but it takes time for a driver to settle into a new environment, especially at a place as demanding and unpredictable as IMS.

“Last year was a big disappointment – obviously that's been my drive all winter,” Ericsson said. “Really need to be better.

“I've worked really hard to be better this year. I'm excited to be back and show that we can be up there and fight for the win again.”

Andretti Global put an emphasis on improving its oval performance, too. The team won three of four “500’s” from 2014-17, but it has been seven races without another win, with only one top-five finish and six laps led in the last three years.

“You can just feel the difference,” Ericsson said of the year-over-year outlook. “For me to be with the same group again, coming back here, that's a huge thing. But also, I think the team has stepped it up even more. They’ve put a ton of effort into preparing the cars for the ‘500,’ and that's been impressive to see all the effort has gone into it. If we can continue to improve, I think we should be in the mix.”

Drivers Chasing Newgarden

Newgarden conceded that no one in the paddock other than members of his crew wants to see him become the first driver to win three consecutive “500s.” The other back-to-back winners – Wilbur Shaw (1939-40), Mauri Rose (1947-48), Bill Vukovich (1953-54), Al Unser (1970-71) and Helio Castroneves (2001-02) – were unsuccessful in their bids to “three-peat.”

As the last driver not named Josef Newgarden to win the “500,” Ericsson feels a sense of responsibility to knock off the Team Penske driver May 25.

“We all agree that we can't let him win three in a row,” Ericsson said. “That's unacceptable.”

Chip Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou is chasing three consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES championships but is winless in five “500” starts. He is aware of the burden of being the one everyone wants to dethrone.

“I don't want anybody (else) to win,” Palou said. “I just want myself to win. After that, obviously you want your teammates to win, because at the end of the day, it's your team, and I would much prefer for Scott (Dixon) or Kyffin (Simpson) to win than anybody else. But apart from that, I don't care. If it's not my day, I don't care.”

Ferrucci Sees Indy Win Coming

Santino Ferrucci had an engine problem early in Wednesday’s session, putting the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet on the sidelines for most of the day. The team thrashed to change engines, getting him on track for the final minutes of the day.

Ferrucci admitted the lack of track time was a blessing in disguise. His car didn’t feel right before the issue, and he said the team was able to properly diagnose what happened and saved an afternoon of fighting the problem.

That left Ferrucci feeling confident in his car and his chances of reaching Victory Lane in the “500.”

“I feel like I will win this race,” Ferrucci said. “It’s not an ‘if’ for me. It will be: ‘Will it be this year? Will it be next year?’ I’ve always been confident here.”

Ferrucci is the first driver in “500” history to finish in the top 10 in his first six starts. He finished third with A.J. Foyt’s team in 2023 and was eighth last year.

Harvey ‘Learning’ New Role

Jack Harvey has stepped away from his FOX broadcasting duties to compete in this “500” with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports.

The veteran driver believes he has acclimated reasonably well to being an on-air rookie – “There’s no training for this – it’s baptism by fire,” he said – but he admits watching replays of the telecasts is difficult.

“Awkward,” he said. “But it’s the only way to learn.”

Ganassi Cars Added to Museum

The newly renovated Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum welcomed 14 cars from Chip Ganassi Racing, including five “500” winners, on Thursday. It marks the museum’s largest one-batch acquisition since 2011 and the first time modern-era Indy cars have been acquired.

The winning cars are Juan Pablo Montoya’s from 2000, Scott Dixon’s from 2008, Dario Franchitti’s from 2010 and 2012, and Ericsson’s from 2022.

Other prominent cars acquired by the museum are Dixon’s 2022 pole winner that he used to overtake Al Unser as the event’s all-time lap leader; the 1994 car that Michael Andretti used to score CGR’s first victory; the car Jamie McMurray used to win the 2010 NASCAR Brickyard 400; and the Delta Wing prototype, one of three chassis proposals for the 2012 INDYCAR SERIES season that was unveiled at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show.

Odds and Ends

  • For the first time in five years, Team Penske’s Newgarden wasn’t the quickest in the spring Open Test. The two-time defending winner was ninth among the 34 drivers this week at 231.229 mph. Teammate Scott McLaughlin led the way at 232.686 mph.
  • Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato crashed in the morning session, but his best lap – 232.565 mph – ranked second overall and first on the non-draft chart.
  • Team Penske’s McLaughlin had the fastest trap speed into Turn 1 at 235.171 mph. Following him in that category were Sato (234.465), Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian’s Colton Herta (233.692) and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen (233.656).