INDIANAPOLIS — After just two days of Indianapolis 500 practice, one of the race’s engine manufacturers has experienced concerns. Chevrolet, which is responsible for 18 of the 33 engines in the race, has already replaced three engines through two practices at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
On Tuesday, the first day of practice, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Carpenter and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin had their engines replaced, although a Chevrolet spokesperson said it was “not the same issue.” Wednesday saw Carpenter’s teammate, Alexander Rossi, also have his engine changed after practice, as Rossi’s original engine was sent back to Detroit, the location of General Motors’ headquarters.
“I am concerned,” Rossi said Thursday morning. “It’s not only Ed and I, there’s been two others as well. We don’t have the full information as to are they the same failures? Is it something that’s a batch thing? All that I know is that Chevy is just as focused on making sure that we can have a strong month. We know that, for the most part, we’re the engine to beat, so hopefully the bad luck’s out of the way.”
“As of right now, we don’t have a root cause and are still investigating,” a Chevrolet spokesperson said. “Once inspections are complete, we will provide an update.”
Chevrolet leaders were in meetings Thursday morning to get to the root of the issue.
“Those things tend to happen here and there,” said Arrow McLaren’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet. “But I think one or two of them were really mileaeged-out engines. So in that regard, I’m not overly concerned about it. We just keep within our parameters, make sure that we don’t stress the engine too hard. … We’ll just do what we can do. And from there, you hope the IMS gods and the racing gods are with you.”
In 2024, Chevrolet experienced plenum fires the week of qualifying, affecting six of its 16 cars in that year’s race. The issue was fixed in time for qualifying, leading to all three Team Penske Chevrolets qualifying on the front row for the race.
Chevrolet has won the Indy 500 twice since the turn of the decade, both coming in Josef Newgarden’s wins for Team Penske in 2023 and 2024. Since re-joining IndyCar as an engine manufacturer in 2012, Chevrolet has won the race six times while Honda has won eight. Tony Kanaan’s 2013 win for now-defunct KV Racing Technology was Chevrolet’s last by a team other than Team Penske in the Indy 500.
This story may be updated.
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Chevy with 3 engine failures to start Indy 500 practice: ‘Hopefully the bad luck’s out of the way’
Reporting by Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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