There are less than three weeks remaining until the opening of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season opener, and the hectic pace of preparations will continue with a busy schedule of testing this week on a road course and an oval for many teams and drivers.
Two teams – Dale Coyne Racing and Carlin – are testing today on the historic Sebring International Raceway road course, honing setups for the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by AmFirst on April 18 at Barber Motorsports Park. Ed Jones and series rookie Romain Grosjean are turning laps for Coyne, while Max Chilton is testing for Carlin.
Eyes then will shift Tuesday and Wednesday to the 1.5-mile oval at Texas Motor Speedway for the busiest test so far of the offseason.
Seven cars – one each from seven teams – will run laps on the high-banked TMS oval on Tuesday afternoon. Then the intensity and traffic will ramp up Wednesday as 17 cars from seven teams will test. The lineups for both days:
Tuesday: AJ Foyt Racing (Sebastien Bourdais), Andretti Autosport (Ryan Hunter-Reay), Arrow McLaren SP (Pato O’Ward), Ed Carpenter Racing (Ed Carpenter), Meyer Shank Racing (Jack Harvey), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (Takuma Sato), Team Penske (Simon Pagenaud)
Wednesday: AJ Foyt Racing (Sebastien Bourdais, Dalton Kellett), Andretti Autosport (Colton Herta, James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi), Arrow McLaren SP (Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist), Ed Carpenter Racing (Ed Carpenter, Rinus VeeKay), Meyer Shank Racing (Jack Harvey), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato), Team Penske (Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power)
This will be only the second test on an oval so far in 2021. Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward tested a Push-to-Pass system March 26 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.
Texas Motor Speedway will play host to the first oval races of the season, the Genesys 300 on Saturday, May 1 and XPEL 375 on Sunday, May 2.
No live timing or video will be available because these are private tests. But stay tuned to INDYCAR and team social media for coverage throughout the day.