The
Sonsio Grand Prix is an
IndyCar Series race held on the combined road course at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway in
Speedway, Indiana. The race was first held in 2014 and is typically held on a Saturday in mid-May, two weekends prior to the
Indianapolis 500. The race serves as a lead-in to the Indianapolis 500, and includes support races from the
Road to Indy, including
Indy NXT,
USF Pro 2000 Championship and
USF2000 Championship. The race is run on a newer, modified layout of the circuit previously used for the
Formula One United States Grand Prix, and later the
Moto GP motorcycle event.
Background In 2012, Hulman & Co., then parent company of the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, hired Boston Consulting Group to evaluate its business operations. In their report, one of their suggestions was to explore the possibility of hosting an IndyCar Series race on the road course at Indy. The modern
FIA Grade One infield road course had opened in 2000, and was initially used for the
United States Grand Prix from 2000 to 2007. Later, it was used for
Moto GP, and
Grand Am. The layout for the infield road course was originally designed in 1992 by Kevin Forbes during the reconstruction of the
Brickyard Crossing golf course. It had already gone through some various improvements, most notably in 2008 when the "Snake Pit" segment was added in the infield of oval turn one. Indy cars had never raced on the road course layout, sticking only to the
oval circuit for the
Indianapolis 500, but their support series, the
Indy Lights, had raced there four times. Occasionally Indy cars used the Indianapolis road course as a test facility, since many teams are headquartered in the Indianapolis area.
Dan Wheldon notably tested the
DW12 chassis at the course in September 2011. In September 2013, an IndyCar feasibility test was conducted on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The test yielded positive results. Speculation immediately began to grow about a possible race for 2014, either as a May "doubleheader" event with the Indy 500, or a stand-alone race in the fall. The inaugural race was announced on October 1, 2013, and was scheduled for early May. The decision was made to utilize the course in a clockwise layout, and to re-work certain parts of the track.
Course changes In October 2013, a construction project began to reconfigure the road course layout in order to the make the circuit more competitive, better for fans, and more suited for
Indy cars. The entire road course portion was repaved, while several segments were modified. Corner one of road course was changed to a 90-degree turn with a raised curb on the inside. The road course portion inside oval turn four was revised to bypass two slow turns, and effectively lengthened the Hulman Boulevard backstretch. At the end of the Hulman Blvd. backstretch, a new 90-degree left corner leads to a new series of faster turns behind the
Museum. Rather than follow original corner 13 (oval turn 1) like the U.S. Grand Prix did, the IndyCar circuit mimics the motorcycle course, and utilized the "Snake Pit" infield complex. Two of the tighter, sharper, corners (utilized by the motorcycles) were bypassed and replaced with a single 90-degree right turn leading to the pit entry. The new course distance measures 2.439 miles (3.925 km).
Schedule From 2014 to 2019, and again since 2021, the IndyCar Grand Prix has been scheduled for the Saturday two weeks before the
Indianapolis 500. The race effectively serves as an "opening weekend" for the month of May activities at the Speedway. The race is on the Saturday that was once used for Indy 500
pole day (1952–1997 & 2001–2009), and in other years the opening day of practice (1998–2000 & 2010–2013). From 2014 to 2016, the race was known as the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and from 2015 to 2016 it was sponsored by
Angie's List. For 2017, the Angie's List title sponsorship was dropped, and the race name was changed to the IndyCar Grand Prix. This was done in order to reduce confusion with the previous Formula One grand prix race that used to be held there, and to emphasize to fans that the race was part of the American-based IndyCar Series. Saturday was selected for the race due to the fact that the Sunday two weeks before the Indy 500 is usually
Mother's Day (a day usually avoided by motorsports). In addition, the track is closed on Sunday to allow crews to convert the track back to the oval layout, and to allow teams to convert their cars from road course to oval configuration. Practice for the Indy 500 on the oval begins the following day on Monday or Tuesday. For
2021, the GMR Grand Prix moved back to its normal date in early May, with the pandemic-induced meeting held during the
NASCAR Verizon 200 weekend continuing. During the NASCAR weekend, the race is an early afternoon Saturday event with the NASCAR Xfinity
Shell 150 as the nightcap.
Big Machine Spiked Coolers sponsored the first event. On November 1, 2023, Sonsio Vehicle Protection was named the sponsor of the race.
Past winners }
Notes •
2022: Race delayed by approx. 45 minutes due to
lightning and shortened due to two-hour time limit.
Summaries 2014 is a three-time winner of the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The month of May at
Indianapolis opened with the Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Speedway's road course. With the field lined up for a
standing start, polesitter
Sebastián Saavedra's car stalled. A huge crash resulted, involving Saavedra,
Carlos Muñoz, and
Mikhail Aleshin, showering debris along the frontstretch and into the pit area. Late in the race,
Simon Pagenaud led
Ryan Hunter-Reay. Both drivers were low on fuel, and trying to nurse their cars to the finish.
Hélio Castroneves, who had pitted for fuel, was charging through the field, and looking to run down the leaders. Pagenaud held off the challenge, and crossed the finish line just ahead of Hunter-Reay and Castroneves. Pagenaud's car ran out of fuel on the cool down lap. Series rookie
Jack Hawksworth, who earned his first front-row start, led a field-high 31 laps and finished seventh.
2015 Will Power won the pole position for the second annual Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, continuing a dominating trend in 2015 for
Penske Racing during qualifying. Penske cars qualified first, third, fourth, and fifth, with
Ganassi's Scott Dixon (2nd) situated on the outside of the front row. At the start, a multi-car tangle in turn one saw
Scott Dixon spin out in front of the entire field.
Hélio Castroneves (in his milestone 300th Indy car start) was involved in contact, as was
Josef Newgarden, and others.
Will Power took the lead and dominated the race, leading 65 of 82 laps. Power became the fifth different winner in as many races for 2015. For the second race in a row,
Graham Rahal had a spirited run to finish second. After the final round of pit stops, Rahal was able to close within two seconds of the lead, but was unable to catch Power in the final few laps. The races was slowed for only one yellow to clean up the incident on lap 1.
2016 Simon Pagenaud became the first two-time winner of the Angie's List Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Pagenaud started from the pole position and led 57 of the 82 laps. After a caution came out on lap 38,
Conor Daly came to the lead for a total of 14 laps while the field was cycling through different pit stop strategies. On the final series of pit stops, Pagenaud executed a very fast in-lap and out-lap, including a lightning fast 6.7-second pit stop. He emerged as the leader, and led the final 14 laps to victory. Cold temperatures and cloudy, windy conditions made for one of the coldest Indy car races in Speedway history. It was
Team Penske's second consecutive win in the Grand Prix, and 18th overall win at Indy.
2017 Will Power started from the pole position and led 61 of 85 laps en route to victory. The race went the entire distance caution free.
Hélio Castroneves led 24 laps, but slipped to fifth at the finish after their tire strategy did not work out favorably. After his final pit stop, Castroneves slipped from second to fifth in the waning laps on the primary black tires, while all the other leaders were on the option red tires.
2018 Will Power won the IndyCar Grand Prix for the second year in a row, and third time overall. Power started on the pole position and led 56 of the 85 laps. Power chased down leader
Robert Wickens to take the lead on lap 51 with a daring pass on the outside of turn one. When a full-course caution came out on lap 56 due to a spin by
Josef Newgarden, all the leaders headed to the pits for their final pit stops. Power edged Wickens to the blend line by about two feet, to be the lead out of the pits. Powers held off
Scott Dixon and Wickens for the victory. Power's victory was the milestone 200th Indy car victory for
Penske Racing, and two weeks later, Power would sweep the month by winning the
Indianapolis 500.
2019 In wet and rainy conditions,
Simon Pagenaud won the IndyCar Grand Prix for the third time, and matching
Will Power's accomplishment from a year earlier, swept the month of May by winning the
Indianapolis 500 two weeks later. Pagenaud charged from sixth place to first over the final 18 laps. With two laps to go, race leader
Scott Dixon led Pagenaud as they approached the end of the Hulman Boulevard backstretch. Dixon slid a little wide in turn 7, and Pagenaud took the lead in turns 8–9. Pagenaud pulled out to a two-second victory. ==Summer race==