By John Sturbin | Raceday San Antonio
Two days of testing INDYCAR’s next-generation IR-28 chassis at Sebring International Raceway produced an impromptu-yet-historically significant moment Monday with Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing at the wheel.
Palou passed a current Dallara IR-12 NTT IndyCar Series car driven by Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who was testing Firestone Firehawk tires along with Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske. Sebring International features three layout configurations, including the 3.7-mile circuit which plays host to IMSA’s 12 Hours of Sebring endurance event in March.
Mark down Palou’s pass as the first on-track/at-speed pick-off move for the new car.
“It wasn’t planned,” said Palou, the five-time/reigning series champion from CGR. “We went out, and I saw Kirkwood was doing the tire test. We spoke during lunch that at some point this afternoon we would go together. We wanted to see how this car does in traffic. It was cool. We were ‘playing’ a little bit.”
Recall that initial tests of the IR-28 chassis took place in August and September on the 2.439-mile/14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course and 2.5-mile IMS oval, two circuits known for their billiard-table smooth asphalt.
Sebring’s historic airport circuit is all about playing rough. Palou and his Honda-powered CGR car turned 43 laps Monday on the outer loop of the Florida facility _ first test for the car outside of IMS. Alexander Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 champion, completed the Sebring session Tuesday in a Chevrolet-powered Ed Carpenter Racing entry.
Sebring is a popular testing site for NTT IndyCar Series teams because of its bumpy nature and mix of asphalt and concrete surfaces, which simulate the temporary street circuits that formed one-third of the series schedule in 2026. Sebring’s punishing, unforgiving surfaces stress the durability and strength of components perhaps better than any other testing ground.
“We’re trying to test it as tough as we can,” said Palou, the 29-year-old superstar from Spain. “It’s a bumpy course. Before we produce all the new cars, we want to make sure it passes this stress test and that it’s good-to-go for racing. We’re trying to get miles and miles, see what breaks so we can fix it.”
Palou and Rossi are the only series drivers to have tested a car scheduled to be introduced at the start of the 2028 season. As in the road-course and oval tests at IMS, the two drivers and Dallara and INDYCAR officials continued to run down a lengthy checklist of basic system and performance checks on the IR-28.
Incidentally, Palou noticed Monday his feedback on driver comfort and car braking from the initial tests at IMS were already adopted and made significant improvements, especially in driver cooling. The revolutionary Aeroscreen was added to the current car in 2020, with ducts fit into the existing carbon fiber body to aid cooling. The new car has more ducts that are more strategically placed from initial design instead of an add-on like the ducting on the current car.
“Yeah, it’s been so much better, the cooling, since we started a couple months ago,” Palou said. “Huge step, and that’s something we’ve been asking for a long time on our current car. We have a very big one (duct) right in front of us (on the IR-28) that makes the air go from down to up and makes the airflow so much better. It’s been huge.”
Testing at Sebring allowed for collection of a plethora of data with the current car that can be compared with the IR-28. All systems continue to be GO! with the new car.
“I’m very excited,” Palou said. “I like the looks of it. It seems safer. It looks like it’s going to be much better racing because we’re going to be able to follow much closer on road, street and ovals.
“I’m just excited to go racing. I wish it was already ’27. Having said that, it gives us so much time to work on the car, to make sure it’s good. If there’s something that doesn’t really work on ovals or whatever, we can go test it before we actually race it.”
Rossi took over testing duties Tuesday, completing 134 laps. The two-day Sebring sessions represented another important step in the series’ extensive development program, with the IR-28 facing the kind of conditions designed to expose weaknesses long before the car reaches competition.
“It’s a new car for me at Sebring,” said Rossi, a 35-year-old native of Nevada City, Calif. “Coming back here and being part of the next generation of INDYCAR’s future is a huge honor. It’s an exciting time in this sport. This car, in so many ways, is a pretty big upgrade from what we have.”
To reiterate _ with street circuits accounting for one-third of the 2026 schedule, durability and driver confidence over challenging surfaces remain key considerations in the IR-28’s development.
“What’s good about this place is it’s the poorest-quality surface that you can have in a permanent road- course,” said Rossi, who finished 15th in the final 2026 driver standings. “It mimics a street course kind of. Because it’s a permanent road-course, it gets used a lot, so it’s a higher grip level than a street course. In terms of bumps, pavement changes, difficult changes in the asphalt _ that’s why everyone comes and tests here. It’s somewhat of a preview that you’re going to get in street courses.”
Rossi’s test schedule Tuesday focused on evaluating the car’s fundamental systems and performance, building on work completed during earlier sessions at Indianapolis. He worked alongside Dallara and INDYCAR officials.
Testing emphasis has evolved as development has progressed. Initial tests focused on confirming that the car’s systems functioned as expected. At Sebring, the priority was understanding how the package performed over an extended test and identifying issues that might emerge through more extensive running, especially on rough, bumpy surfaces.
“I don’t know that anyone is looking for anything (particular),” Rossi said. “The messaging we get is run the car as if it’s your race car. From there, we’ll see what issues, problems, surprises come out of that. I think all the test list items were really accomplished in the first two tests. Just making sure things worked as you would expect.
“This test is more of a practical application of: ‘Does it perform over a two-day test as the current car does? Does it do what it is expected to and kind of what little things could come out of that we need to address before the series produces a bunch of these?’^”
As noted by Palou, the IR-28 incorporates a more integrated cooling approach, with strategically positioned ducts designed into the initial bodywork rather than added to the existing carbon-fiber structure. Palou reported a significant improvement in cooling during Monday’s running; Rossi also experienced the benefits of those improvements on Tuesday.
“First of all, visually, it’s an incredible race car to look at,” Rossi said. “It generates more grip in high-speed corners. It’s a very nice car to drive. It’s well-built and incredibly well-engineered. Cooling-wise, we made a pretty big step in this test, in particular. It’s night-and-day different in terms of comfort and drivability in the cockpit.”
Although the car’s competition debut remains more than a year away, the development schedule allows time to address concerns and validate improvements across different types of circuits before the 2028 season begins. Every lap adds another piece to that process, helping ensure the IR-28 can withstand the demands of a race weekend while delivering the performance drivers and fans expect.
“There are more things that are scheduled to come as time comes that will allow this car to race and perform even better,” Rossi said. “That will only put on a better show for the fans, which is the No. 1 priority for all of us.”
Dutchman Niels Koolen has joined Abel Motorsports for the 2027 INDY NXT by Firestone Championship season. The 25-year-old native of Vorden, Netherlands, spent the past two INDY NXT seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing.
Koolen will begin preparations with Abel Motorsports at the first official INDY NXT test of the 2027 season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday, Oct. 16.
“I have spent time with (Team Principal) Bill Abel and (Team Manager) John Brunner and the people at Abel Motorsports and I’m looking forward to working with the team,” said Koolen, who finished 15th in the final 2026 driver standings. “We start at Indianapolis and from there the focus will be on preparing as well as possible for the new season.”
Brunner welcomed Koolen to an organization that experienced a breakout season in 2024 with three wins, three poles and 12 podiums en route placing second in the entrant championship.
“We have been watching Niels continue to mature and grow behind the wheel and think there are some areas where we can help, so we’re looking forward to what we can do together next season,” Brunner said.
Alongside his INDY NXT testing program in the United States, Koolen will continue racing during the winter to gain additional track time. His program will include a number of races in Europe, including an LMP2 campaign in the Asian Le Mans Series, which will be held entirely in Europe this season.
As noted, preparations for the 2027 INDY NXT season are scheduled to begin with the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course on Oct. 16. Testing and driver evaluations by INDY NXT by Firestone teams will take place from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. (EDT) on the 2.439-mile/14-turn circuit.
The annual test is named in memory of Chris Griffis, team manager of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports who passed in September 2011.
Series testing will continue on Barber Motorsports Park’s 2.38-mile/17-turn natural-terrain layout in Birmingham, Ala., on Nov. 9.
Abel Motorsports Team Principal Bill Abel began racing motocross in 1972, adding numerous championship titles to the family’s motorsports tradition. In 2015, Abel Motorsports was launched in the USF2000 series of the junior open-wheel ladder. Abel Motorsports captured the inaugural Formula Regional Americas Championship with Kyle Kirkwood, currently a title contender in the NTT IndyCar Series with Andretti Global.
Abel Motorsports has emerged as a force in the INDY NXT by Firestone Championship, official developmental series of the NTT IndyCar Series, operating as a multi-car organization focused on the future.
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 2026 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.
2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES 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 _ 110th 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)
