By: Spencer Neff
October 11, 2023

Test Results

Although he made three NTT INDYCAR SERIES starts in place of Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist will not race on an oval until May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Before he looks to make his first Indianapolis 500 start, the Cambridge, England native led a trio of drivers who completed their Rookie Orientation Program.

In the second of a pair of sessions, Blomqvist turned in a best lap of 220.176 mph (40.8764 seconds). Along with Blomqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Linus Lundqvist and Marcus Armstrong completed their required programs.

The ROP, which is split into three sessions, mandates 10 laps at 205-210 mph, 15 laps at 210-215 and 15 laps in excess of 215 mph.

Armstrong, who passed his oval test on September 13 at Texas Motor Speedway, will also make his oval debut in May at Indianapolis. The 2023 INDYCAR Rookie of the Year competed in the 12 road and street course races with CGR, splitting the No. 11 with Takuma Sato, who ran the ovals in 2023.

Lundqvist, the only driver to have made an IndyCar start on an oval before today, led the morning session with a best lap of 219.504 (41.0015 seconds).

Lundqvist and Armstrong’s teammate Kyffin Simpson will likely attempt his Rookie Orientation during the IndyCar Open Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the spring. Any rookies announced to be participating in the 108th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge will likely do the same.

Up Next

The last among the quartet of rookies, Arrow McLaren’s Kyle Larson will be on track for his ROP on Thursday morning from 8-11 a.m. ET Timing and scoring will be available for Larson’s session via race control.indycar.com.

Following that, IndyCar will conduct a test of its new hybrid technology. Thursday’s session will be split into two sessions, 9-11 a.m. and 2-6 p.m. On Friday, cars will be on track from 9 a.m. to noon ET and a 2-5 p.m. run.

The drivers scheduled to participate in testing will be:

Thursday; Will Power (Team Penske), Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing), Colton Herta (Andretti Global) and Alexander Rossi (Arrow McLaren

Friday: Power, Palou, Marcus Ericsson (Andretti Global) and David Malukas (Arrow McLaren).

Header Image By Walt Kuhn/INDYCAR