As in 2023, the second day of IndyCar testing in preparation for the Indianapolis 500 is canceled in 2024 due to the weather
Deja vu at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: What happened last year at the IndyCar test in preparation for the Indianapolis 500 miles also happened this time. The Indy 500 pre-test, which is actually scheduled for two days, will in fact only last one day, as it is not possible to drive on the second day.
Just like in April 2023, the weather is also the reason now in April 2024. On Thursday, the second day of testing that was actually planned, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was dominated by continuous rain. As the weather forecast did not indicate any improvement until the evening, the decision to cancel was announced early, shortly after 08:30 local time (14:30 CEST).
And something else is exactly the same as a year ago: The only day of the Indy 500 pre-test that was run ended with Josef Newgarden in the lead. The Penske driver was the fastest during the shortened driving session on Wednesday. NASCAR star Kyle Larson, who is about to make his debut with the McLaren team in the most famous of all IndyCar races, finished the test second fastest.
The 108th edition of the Indy 500 will be held on Sunday, May 26. Until then, the regular drivers of the 2024 IndyCar season have three other races on the program (2024 IndyCar calendar). The official practice sessions for the Indy 500 will then begin in mid-May – specifically on Tuesday, May 14 – with qualifying for the season highlight taking place on the weekend of May 18/19.
Currently, at least 34 entries – possibly even 35 – are expected for the Indy 500. This means that the two-day qualifying session will again include the traditional “bumping” this year. The 35th entry, that of Abel Motorsports, has not yet been finalized due to a lack of sponsors. For this reason, the team was absent from this week’s tests.
But even in the event that Bill Abel’s single-car team does not take part in the official practice sessions and qualifying this time, the 34 entries would mean that not all the cars on the entry list would actually take part in the race. The starting field for the Indy 500 is traditionally limited to 33 cars
