Armstrong heads Monday afternoon running at Sebring IndyCar test

Eleven IndyCar Series drivers made use of the warm Florida sun Monday afternoon at Sebring International Raceway as the first full day of a two-day visit to the short outer loop gave teams an opportunity to prepare for the season’s upcoming launch on February 27 at St. Petersburg.

The group of 11 followed the 12 who ran for four hours in the morning, which was led by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou. The Spaniard’s stablemate, Marcus Armstrong from the Meyer Shank Racing team which receives engineering support from CGR, was quickest in the afternoon after trading the top spot with Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Sting Ray Robb, who spent the most time at the sharp end of the list.

Palou’s best of 52.626s in the morning with his No. 10 CGR Honda, along with the 52.650s lap by MSR’s Felix Rosenqvist and the 52.756s from JHR’s Rinus VeeKay were faster than Armstrong’s best in differing conditions.

Firestone is understood to have supplied each entry with four total sets of primary tires for the test, with two sets from the 2025 specification and two sets of primaries built to 2026 street racing spec. Most teams and drivers told RACER their plan was to use the 2025s on Monday and to save the 2026s for Tuesday, but it’s possible that some chose to use the 2026s on Monday, which could account for an increase or an absence of expected speed from some entries.

Teams also tell RACER they expect to log their first miles with Firestone’s new alternate tires at St. Petersburg. With PREMA Racing unable to participate in the test, nine of IndyCar’s 10 full-time entrants ran on Monday. After using a private test day for Christian Rasmussen and Alexander Rossi late last year, Ed Carpenter Racing did not factor into Monday’s activities, but is onsite and will conduct a driver evaluation test on Tuesday with Indy NXT and IMSA LMP2 veteran Hunter McElrea, who contested one IndyCar race for Dale Coyne in 2024 at Toronto.

Unofficial Times

1. Marcus Armstrong: 52.847s (No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda)
2. Scott McLaughlin: 53.039s (No. 3 Team Penske Chevy)
3. Sting Ray Robb: 53.050s (No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy)
4. Kyffin Simpson: 53.135s (No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
5. Louis Foster: 53.167s (No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda)
6. Nolan Siegel: 53.172s (No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevy)
7. Scott Dixon: 53.210s (No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
8. Santino Ferrucci: 53.337s (No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy)
9. Will Power: 53.337s (No. 26 Andretti Global Honda)
10. Dennis Hauger: 53.413s (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda)
11. Christian Lundgaard: 53.769s (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevy)