IndyCar
IndyCar Completes First Test Of Aeroscreen Cockpit Protection
SPEEDWAY, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – The NTT Indycar Series is planning three more tests of the Aeroscreen after completing a day of testing Wednesday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and Team Penske’s Will Power turned over 600-miles at the Brickyard and both had nothing but good things to say about the latest safety innovation.
“I think it’s been an intense project and one that I think a lot of people have done their due diligence on to get it to this point, and today has been pretty much seamless,” said Dixon, the five-time Series Champion. “We went through a bunch of configurations for cooling and where we can kind of push the air to control the helmet and how it feels and how much pressure you have there. Ultimately it’s just very quiet. I can hear my radio for a change. Normally I can’t hear that. So that’s kind of nice.”
“I’m so happy that we have it. It’s really a huge step in safety, and I think it’s the best of both worlds,” said Power, the 2014 Series Champion. “You’ve got the halo and you’ve got a screen, so I think that you’ll see other open-wheel categories follow suit because there’s just — you think about it, when you’ve driven it for a day, you’re going to feel naked without it. If you took it off, you’d feel pretty naked because there’s not much protection there. So very happy that we’re moving ahead with it.
IndyCar and Red Bull Advanced Technologies along with partners like chassis manufacturer Dallara and PPG, who manufactured the jet fighter-like screen that attaches to the halo, have been developing the Aeroscreen for quite some time and were thrilled to get some on-track testing completed.
The No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet of Will Power sits on pit road at Indianapolis with the Aeroscreen cockpit safety innovation. (Photo: Chris Owens/Indycar Series)
“We’ve run almost 600 miles to this point, and we’ve still got a couple more runs to go, so I think it’s done everything we thought it would do and then some,” said Jay Frye, IndyCar President. Obviously we’ve learned a lot. Scott and Will have been phenomenal to work with. The teams have been phenomenal to work with. We’ve got a little work to do, but I think the foundation is really there and really set. So we’re quite excited about what we’ve seen today.”
Dixon, Power and Frye don’t envision any major changes and both drivers said they would feel comfortable going racing with it.
“You could race this weekend no problem,” said Power. “That wouldn’t be an issue. So you know, that shows how well they’ve — what good of a job they’ve done just bolting it straight on. So that’s what you get when you work with the best people in the game like Red Bull Technologies and obviously INDYCAR, as well, and all the partners involved.”
“I think as we’ve been working on it today, there’s some configurations that you could adjust, and those might be personal things, as well, but I think it’s spot on,” said Dixon. “It’s good to go.”
The next planned test is October 7 at Barber Motorsports Park followed by October 15 at Richmond Raceway and November 5 at Sebring.
WASHINGTON D.C. (August 22, 2026) – Alex Palou’s blistering lap of 56.8993 seconds in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda puts the four-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion on the pole position for Sunday’s Freedom 250 on the streets of Washington D.C.
“Incredible,” said Palou. “My car was on rails. Super-fun lap, super-fun car to drive. Couldn’t be happier. Looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, man, 250 miles.”
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood lines up second after a lap of 57.4661 in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda.
“P1 both first and second group, and the last one Alex Palou is just a legend and goes faster on his one-lap dash than he did the whole rest of the run, I think,” Kirkwood said. “He made us look silly out there.”
Scott McLaughlin spoiled the Honda party up front, putting the No. 3 PPG Chevrolet third on the grid after a fast lap of 57.4200.
Palou’s CGR teammates Scott Dixon and Kyffin Simpson did not fare as well as their teammate.
Dixon was on a lap that would have allowed him to transfer into the next round of qualifying, when Simpson hit the wall, triggering a red flag which cancelled Dixon’s lap. The No. 9 PNC Bank Honda will start 14th.
Bringing out the red flag penalized Simpson of his two fastest laps so the No. 8 Sunoco Honda will start last in 25th.
Coverage of the Freedom 250 starts at 11:30 a.m. on Fox and IndyCar Radio with the green flag waving in our nation’s capital at 1 p.m.
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 15, 2026) – The NTT IndyCar Series is making it’s first visit to a new street circuit in Markham, Ontario but a familiar face topped the speed charts after the first practice.
Four-time Series Champion Alex Palou turned the fastest lap around the 12-turn, 2.19-mile temporary street course, a 1-minute, 14.9915-seconds (100.811 mph) lap in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collett was second quick with a 1-minute, 15.0454-seconds (100.739) in the No. 4 Chevrolet.
Louis Foster was third quick in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda at 1:15.0278 (100.702) followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin 1:15.2981 (100.401). Will Power rounded out the Top 5 at 1:15.3152 (100.378).
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammates were not as strong. Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon was 20th at 1:16.4583 (98.877) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Kyffin Simpson was 24th at 1.17.3893 (97.688) in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda. Simpson made contact with the wall at Turn 6, causing damage to the rear suspension. Simpson limped to pits for repair and returned to action later in the session.
Practice 2 is set for 2:30 p.m. as delayed track construction forced officials to cancel Friday’s activities and condense Saturday’s schedule. NTT P1 Pole Qualifying is set for 6:30 p.m. ET
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 14, 2026) – Issues with the completion of the temporary street circuit in Markham Ontario has forced the NTT INDYCAR SERIES first practice to be moved to Saturday as all of Friday’s on-track activity had to be scrubbed from the schedule.
“INDYCAR is incredibly disappointed that our promoter was not able to complete the track build on time, despite significant support from our team on site,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “Ontario has always been a magnificent market for our sport and the number of spectators that attended today is a shining example of that. New events can always pose logistical challenges and we join in the frustration of our loyal fans and apologize.”
Green Savoree Promotions also issued a statement.
“Ensuring the safety of the drivers and the completion of the certification process of competing on a brand-new racetrack delayed all on-track activities today. Today’s sessions have been rescheduled to Saturday, August 15, to allow for further track preparations.”
“We greatly appreciate all the fans who made it out to the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham today and chose to spend the day with us. The attendance and support were overwhelming.”
The revamped schedule calls for the first practice to take place at 10:00 a.m. followed by a second practice at 2:30 p.m. and P1 Pole Qualifying at 6:30 p.m.
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