Test Patterns: Teams Chase Speed During Final Off Week Of NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season

Before the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to action Aug. 9 at Portland International Raceway, several teams used the season's final off week to gain valuable track time.

Chip Ganassi Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing tested Wednesday at Portland, while AJ Foyt Racing drivers Santino Ferrucci and Caio Collet joined Mick Schumacher during a Thursday test at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Ganassi and Juncos qualified for an additional team test day because both organizations compete full time in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone under the same entrant membership and license. Andretti Global, ECR, Ganassi and Juncos all earned the extra day in 2026. ECR used its session June 9 at Road America, Andretti tested June 23 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Ganassi and Juncos elected to use theirs this week.

The additional track time is especially valuable because Portland and Laguna Seca each appear on the schedule only once per season and are among the series' least-tested venues due to their distance from most team headquarters.

Each full-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES team receives two team test days each season. Teams fielding a rookie in at least 12 races also receive two rookie-only test days. Schumacher qualified for those sessions this season, making Thursday one of RLL’s rookie tests. AJ Foyt Racing used one of its regular team test days after already exhausting Collet's rookie allocation.

With testing complete, it's time for some itemized deductions.

Ganassi Makes Most of Portland Day

Championship leader Alex Palou (photo, main) led the five-driver test with a best lap of 58.474 seconds in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

For comparison, Christian Lundgaard earned last year's Portland pole at 58.393 seconds, while Palou qualified sixth at 58.669.

Palou completed 64 laps, setting his quickest time on Lap 29. He enters Portland with an 83-point lead over Team Penske’s David Malukas and has won twice in five career starts at Portland while leading 106 laps.

Natural road courses have been Palou's specialty. Since the start of the 2023 season, he has collected 12 victories, three runner-up finishes, two third-place finishes and 23 top-five finishes in 24 starts on permanent road courses.

The test also provided Ganassi with its first road-course outing since preseason testing at Sebring International Raceway.

Scott Dixon (photo, above) participated in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, completing 67 laps and posting the fifth-fastest time at 58.899 seconds. Kyffin Simpson was third quickest at 58.737 after completing a test-high 90 laps.

Simpson enters Portland 15th in points with three top-10 finishes in the last five races of the season, one of such a season high fourth place effort June 21 at Road America.

Portland remains one of six active tracks where Dixon has yet to win. Three of those -- Arlington, Markham and Washington, D.C. -- debuted this season. Dixon also seeks to extend his series-record winning streak to 22 consecutive seasons with six races remaining.

Dixon moves to Arrow McLaren next season after spending 25 years with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Juncos Seeks Late Season Testing Boost

Juncos Hollinger Racing hopes another well-timed test translates into another strong race weekend.

The organization tested at Mid-Ohio before the July race, where Rinus VeeKay (photo, above) matched his season-best road-course finish of fourth and Sting Ray Robb qualified 14th, his second-best starting position of the year.

VeeKay's Mid-Ohio Firestone Fast Six appearance was just the fourth in team history, joining runs by Romain Grosjean at St. Petersburg and Toronto in 2024 and Callum Ilott at Laguna Seca in 2022.

VeeKay looked poised to continue that momentum Wednesday, posting the second-fastest lap of the test at 58.596 seconds while completing 68 laps in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, second most circuits behind Simpson.

Dixon (67), Palou (64) and Robb (57) completed the third, fourth and fifth most laps, respectively.

VeeKay enters Portland 10th in the standings with two fourth-place finishes in his last four starts. Robb, 25th in points, recorded a best lap of 58.959 seconds, fifth best.

Laguna Seca Test Focuses on Rookies

Thursday's Laguna Seca session focused on two of the series' three full-time rookies.

Rookie Schumacher led the way with a best lap of 1 minute, 10.548 seconds in the No. 47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda despite making his first visit to the Northern California road course.

Collet (photo, above) was third among the three drivers at 1:10.874 in the No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet, just behind teammate Santino Ferrucci, who turned a lap of 1:10.838 in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet. Ferrucci set his quickest time on Lap 66, one lap after Collet.

Schumacher also completed the most laps with 89, followed by Collet with 84 and Ferrucci with 77.

While Laguna Seca was new to Schumacher, Collet arrived with an impressive resume at the circuit. He earned four top-two finishes in four INDY NXT by Firestone starts there, including a doubleheader sweep of victories last season.

Collet also has enjoyed success at Portland International Raceway, site of the next NTT INDYCAR SERIES event, finishing fourth and second there in INDY NXT competition.

The Brazilian rookie sits 23rd in the standings with a season-best finish of 11th at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, but he has shown flashes of speed throughout the year. He was running 11th with nine laps remaining in the Indianapolis 500 before a crash relegated him to 26th and was running sixth at World Wide Technology Raceway before mechanical trouble ended his race. Collet has led nine laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and seven at World Wide Technology Raceway this season.

Schumacher enters Portland 24th in points after earning a season-best eighth-place finish July 20 at Nashville Superspeedway. Despite arriving this season with no previous experience at any NTT INDYCAR SERIES circuit, he claimed Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year honors after finishing 18th.

Both drivers continue to chase Dale Coyne Racing rookie Dennis Hauger in the Rookie of the Year battle. Hauger is 20th in points, leading Collet by 20 points and Schumacher by 25.

Looking Ahead

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns Sunday, Aug. 9, for the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland (4 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

Six races remain in the championship, including inaugural events at Markham on Aug. 16 and Washington, D.C., on Aug. 23, a doubleheader weekend Aug. 29-30 at the Milwaukee Mile and the season finale Sept. 6 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.