The 2025 IndyCar season may feature three consecutive stretches of three straight weeks off separating the season's first four races. However, between race number three and four on the schedule, there is still set to be a different kind of action.
The NTT IndyCar Series is set to head to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the annual two-day Indy 500 open test later this month.
Race number three on the calendar is scheduled to take place on the streets of Long Beach, California on Sunday, April 13, and race number four is scheduled to take place at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, May 4.
Indy 500 open test scheduled
This year's open test at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval is scheduled to take place in between those two events, with the two-day test, weather permitting, set for Wednesday, April 23 and Thursday, April 24.
In both 2023 and 2024, the two-day test was shortened to one day as a result of rain, so as always when it comes to the "Racing Capital of the World" in April or May, you take what you can can get.
While fans are often told not to read into testing speeds, Team Penske's Josef Newgarden topped the time sheets in the abbreviated test sessions in both 2023 and 2024. He went on to win the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" in both years, making him the first driver to win it in back-to-back years since Helio Castroneves, now a four-time winner, won it in his first two starts back in 2001 and 2002.
Newgarden is seeking to become the first of the six back-to-back winners to score an Indy 500 three-peat this May, and based on his track history, that pursuit might very well begin with the open test.
The 109th running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 25, with Fox set to provide live coverage beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET. Indy 500 qualifying is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18, with Fox and Fox Sports 1 both responsible for parts of live coverage. Be sure to begin a subscription of FuboTV and take advantage of their free trial offer!