IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

INDYCAR’s traditional six-month offseason lasted all of two days for an appreciative Alexander Rossi.

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

A hot and humid late-summer Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw Rossi become the first driver to turn a wheel in the superspeedway configuration of the IR-28 chassis, launching the next phase of INDYCAR’s development of its new-for-2028 car.

“It does everything that INDYCAR machinery should do around here,” said Rossi, an NTT IndyCar Series regular with Ed Carpenter Racing. “We got through some basic mechanical and aero changes to kind of understand the offsets that they’re going to present to us in a couple of years, and there was no surprise. It was really pretty standard.”

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

The test marked the first time the IR-28 was run on an oval after making its public track debut early last month on the 2.439-mile/14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course. Rossi and reigning series champion Alex Palou of Spain shared driving duties during that initial outing, extended to three days because of rain.

Both drivers have returned for this oval test, with ECR’s Rossi again representing Team Chevy and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Palou representing Honda-powered teams in an effort to learn how the car responds to the unique demands of an oval.

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

“It’s a great opportunity and a pretty big privilege to be the first guy to take it around, what is going to be our most important test of the car and understanding what it does on the Speedway,” Rossi said after finishing third in Sunday’s season-ending Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in California. “Like, it’s exciting. It’s a little bit nerve-wracking ’cause I’m sure it will be good, but who knows. It will be a very, very interesting day.

“Again, just a huge honor and privilege to be chosen by Chevy to be the guy to kind of lead the charge on that with Alex.”

Alexander Rossi at the IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

The IR-28 is designed to be lighter than the current car manufactured by Dallara, with revised aerodynamics intended to improve stability and reduce the aerodynamic disadvantage of closely following another car. Wednesday’s laps at IMS provided the first indication of how those objectives translate to an oval.

“The car is doing everything it’s supposed to,” said Mike O’Gara, INDYCAR’s vice president of Competition and Race Engineering. “Obviously, Dallara took everything they knew from the DW12 and put it into this car. Immediately, without honestly changing any setup on it, Alex went out and was flat on the throttle and very comfortable.”

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

That was an encouraging first step, but O’Gara and Rossi each stressed that Wednesday was about gathering information rather than chasing performance.

INDYCAR is approaching the test with a “crawl, walk, run” philosophy, using Rossi’s laps to begin understanding how the car responds to changes before pushing development further.

That gradual approach is particularly important on an oval. The current INDYCAR machinery has been developed for more than a decade, and its Speedway package is highly refined. In comparison, the IR-28 is beginning that process from scratch.

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

Rossi reiterated the IR-28 already feels how an INDYCAR car should on the famed 2.5-mile IMS oval, even if there is still considerable work ahead.

“I wouldn’t say there was anything drastically different from this car to the current car that we have,” said Rossi, winner of the landmark 100^th Indianapolis 500 in 2016. “Some subtle things here and there if you’re really nitpicking at it, but, in general, I think it’s important to remember that the current-generation Speedway car that we have around here is pretty dialed and it’s pretty good.”

That made Wednesday less about discovering a revolutionary difference and more about identifying the smaller changes that can ultimately shape the 2028 car.

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

“I don’t think that there needs to really be any major glaring issues,” said Rossi, a 34-year-old native of Nevada City, Calif. “It’s all just early days and trying to get time on it and understanding what little adjustments do here and there. There’s nothing huge separating it from the current car that we have.”

O’Gara said the ease with which Rossi adapted was another positive sign. “I was just talking to (INDYCAR Officiating Technical Director) Nick Allen, who’s sort of pseudo-crew chief this week, and super-happy with how easy the car is to work on,” O’Gara said. “It’s very intuitive.”

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

Rossi finished third Sunday in the No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet at Laguna Seca, recording his first podium since placing third at the same event for Arrow McLaren in June 2024. A fixture in the top-three for most of the race, Rossi produced the best day for ECR on Laguna Seca’s 2.238-mile/11-turn natural terrain road-course since teammate Christian Rasmussen won in August 2025 at The Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis.

“It’s no secret that this (2026) has been a pretty terrible year for myself and the whole ECR team with the litany of issues, some out of our control, some in our control,” Rossi said during his post-race presser. “Ultimately, road-courses have been something that have been a pretty big challenge for us in the second half of this year. Really ever since the Indy GP (in May), there’s been a huge amount of emphasis and effort behind the scenes to kind of dig out of that hole. It’s very difficult to do in this championship.

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

“Just really proud of the whole organization and everyone involved for kind of staying true to the course and fighting through a lot of adversity. This is a great result to kind of reward that effort, just rebuild the confidence in everyone that we’re capable of doing this. It’s a good boost going into what’s going to be a long off-season, but an important one, to make sure we execute a lot better and clean up a lot of our issues that we can control in 2027.”

Elaborating on the aforementioned “litany of issues” that plagued ECR, Rossi said, “I mean, it was really everything. Anything that could go wrong really did go wrong from crashes to failures of gearboxes, hybrids, engines. Some struggles being on fire in pit lane. Some lack of performance at some events. Anything that you can think of has happened to us across both cars. Just a really trying year.

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

“As I said before, like, no one lost motivation or commitment to the end goal and I’m just really proud of that.”

Rossi, who recorded his 31^st INDYCAR podium and first with Indianapolis-based ECR, finished 15th in the final championship point standings. Rasmussen, a 26-year-old native of Denmark, finished 21st in the No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet.

“There’s two issues, two challenges _ you have to identify the problem, then you have to figure out how to fix it,” Rossi said. “We were able to do that to a certain extent. Like, there’s still more to come from what we know. It’s a huge step in the right direction. Now we have a lot of time to really understand. It’s been a huge stretch for everyone in the series this past five weeks. To really analyze and understand how it can be better will be useful coming into March.

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

“I’ve said it often this year, that the team has done a lot of things better year-over-year from ’25 to ’26. Just unfortunately nothing really to show for it.

“I think drastic changes aren’t necessary. It’s a continual evolution. Just like in a car setup, there’s no magic bullet. It’s the same thing in putting together a season _ there’s not one thing you have to do; you have to do everything a little better. There’s no wholesale changes needed. It’s just focusing on understanding our strengths and weaknesses and executing when we can.

IR-28 INDYCAR Testing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

“Inside the organization, everyone knows if we need something, we can go get it. It’s a matter of, as I said before, continuing to develop and get better. It will come. It’s a process.”

Rossi’s test day was the first superspeedway step for the IR-28. Palou, the 2025 Indy 500 champion, is scheduled to take over Thursday, giving INDYCAR and Dallara another perspective on the car and its potential in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Feedback from Rossi and Palou will be measured against data collected by engineers as development continues toward the car’s race debut in 2028.

Christian Lundgaard began life as a free-agent Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with a solid, sixth-place finish in the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet after starting 11^th.

Arguably the NTT IndyCar Series’ most prominent unsigned talent, Lundgaard fell only 10 points shy of finishing second in the season-long championship. That spot went to Kyle Kirkwood, driver of the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda fielded by Andretti Global. Despite his summer as a lame-duck, Lundgaard completed all 2,556 laps during the 18-race 2026 schedule. He is just the seventh driver in INDYCAR history to complete 100 percent of a season’s laps.

Christian Lundgaard – Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Chris Owens

Lundgaard was the highest point-scorer on natural-terrain road-courses, besting newly minted five-time champion Álex Palou of Spain and the No. 10 DHL Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing by 10 points.

Lundgaard logged race wins at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., en route to his career-best third-place finish in the driver standings. That is nine positions higher than Scott Dixon, the six-time series champion and driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. A 46-year-old New Zealander, Dixon’s decision to exit CGR after 25 years and move to Arrow McLaren effectively booted Lundgaard from the No. 7 Chevrolet beginning in 2027.

Christian Lundgaard – Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Joe Skibinski

For the record, Lundgaard also finished higher in the standings than reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Felix Rosenqvist (ninth). The Swede, who took the checkered flag at IMS for Meyer Shank Racing, will begin his second stint at Arrow McLaren in 2027 in a revamped lineup orchestrated by Team Principal Tony Kanaan.

Kanaan and Arrow McLaren have retained Pato O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas, as its No. 1 driver. O’Ward, 27, won three races in 2026, second only to Palou’s six victories.

Christian Lundgaard – Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey – Photo by Chris Owens

Lundgaard handled his exit from Arrow McLaren with the utmost professionalism. “We had to fight a little harder with the engine penalty to get up to sixth, and it’s a shame we couldn’t snag one more position into fifth,” said Lundgaard, a 25-year-old native of Denmark. “Congrats to Kirkwood, edging us out of second in the championship.

“Our entire No. 7 VELO crew did an awesome job, though, today and all season to complete every single lap across 18 races. I’m really proud of how we raced this year together. My crew, my engineers, everyone did their part. And I’m thankful for all the Papaya fans who’ve supported me the past two seasons. We’ll take home third in the championship, my highest finish yet.”

Final 2026 NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 631; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 545; 3, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 535; 4, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 522; 5, David Malukas, Team Penske, 514; 6, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 482; 7, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 429; 8, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 423; 9, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing; 412; 10, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 378;

11, Will Power, Andretti Global, 368; 12, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 331; 13, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 327; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 320; 15, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 307; 16, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 302; 17, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 368; 18, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 267; 19, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 259; 20, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 259;

21, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 245; 22, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 228; 23, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 213; 24, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 203; 25, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 182; 26, Derek Daly, Dryer & Reinbold Racing, 24; 27, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 20; 28, Jack Harvey, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 8; 29, Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports, 6; 30, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian, 5;

31, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 5; 32, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Arrow McLaren, 5; 33, Katherine Legge, HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing, 5.

Final INDY NXT by Firestone Point Standings _ 1, Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR, 585; 2, Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports, 556; 3, Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports, 551; 4, Max Taylor, Andretti Global, 470; 5, Lochie Hughes, Andretti Global, 453; 6, Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing, 442; 7, J.M. Correa, Cusick Morgan Motorsports, 389; 8, Myles Rowe, ABEL Motorsports, 388; 9, Jack Beeton, HMD Motorsports, 382; 10, Max Garcia, ABEL Motorsports, 381;

11, Josh Pierson, Andretti Global, 364; 12, Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR, 362; 13, Seb Murray, Andretti Global, 306; 14, Bryce Aron, Chip Ganassi Racing, 298; 15, Niels Koolen, Chip Ganassi Racing, 268; 16, Salvador de Alba, HMD Motorsports, 245; 17, Nicolas Stati, Cusick Morgan Motorsports, 227; 18, Colin Kaminsky, ABEL Motorsports, 222; 19, Jordan Missig, ABEL Motorsports, 216; 20, James Roe, Chip Ganassi Racing, 214;

21, Alexander Koreiba, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 207; 22, Carson Etter, Chip Ganassi Racing, 182; 23, Nicholas Monteiro, A.J. Foyt Racing, 179; 24, Ricardo Escotto, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 142; 25, Jacob Abel, ABEL Motorsports, 101; 26, Nolan Allaer, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 67; 27, Bart Harrison, HMD Motorsports, 51; 28, Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Cusick Morgan Motorsports, 9.

FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE/(RACE WINNER)

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, May 24 _ 110^th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, (Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian)

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m., (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)

Monday, July 20 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, (Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global)

Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, (Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske)

2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE/(RACE-WINNER)

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)

Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)

Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2, (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Myles Rowe, Abel Motorsports)

Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1, (Lochie Hughes, Andretti Global)

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2, (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports powered by ECR)   

Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis., (Max Garcia, Abel Motorsports)

Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1 (Josh Pierson, Andretti Global)

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2 (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)