The 2028 IndyCar has turned its first laps on an oval, with 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi handed the job of shaking the series’ next-generation machine down at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday.
Rossi is the first driver to run the car in oval configuration, a milestone in a development programme that will define IndyCar racing at the end of the decade. Until now the 2028 project had been confined to road-course work, leaving untested the discipline that matters most to the championship’s identity.
Why the 2028 IndyCar oval test matters
Ovals remain the hardest brief in single-seater design. A car that behaves impeccably on a permanent road course can be a very different animal in traffic at Indianapolis, where aerodynamic wake, tyre degradation over long green-flag runs and driveability at sustained speed decide whether the racing is close or processional. Getting the car right at IMS is the biggest engineering question the series faces.
Rossi is a logical choice for the assignment. His 2016 Indianapolis 500 win as a rookie remains one of the great modern upsets at the Brickyard, and he has banked a decade of oval mileage at the same circuit since.
The test comes days after the curtain fell on the 2026 season at Laguna Seca, where Scott McLaughlin ended a two-year drought and Alex Palou wrapped up a fifth drivers’ title. With the racing done, the off-season now belongs to the development programme.
IndyCar has published no full technical specification for the 2028 car and has set out no timetable for further oval running. Wednesday’s run was reported by RACER.
