IndyCar expands Push to Pass usage

Push to Pass is IndyCar’s temporary horsepower boost — basically a driver-triggered extra shot of speed for passing and defense on road and street courses. It has always been a strategy tool, but it also came with timing restrictions, especially on starts and restarts. Now IndyCar has loosened those rules after a software failure at Long Beach exposed a weak spot in how the system was managed. Beginning with the May 9 Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, drivers can use Push to Pass on restarts once they cross the alternate start-finish line under green. (indycar.com) ### What is Push to Pass, exactly? It’s a driver-controlled system that adds roughly 60 horsepower by increasing turbocharger boost. Teams already build race plans around when to spend that extra power, because each driver gets a limited amount of total time and a maximum time per push. Those timing limits are still in place — IndyCar did not turn it into an unlimited overtake button. (indycar.com) ### What broke at Long Beach? During the April 19 race on the Streets of Long Beach, IndyCar discovered a software failure around the Lap 61 restart. The system should have disabled Push to Pass until cars reached the alternate start-finish line on Lap 62, but that never happened. Instead, the boost stayed available during the full-course yellow a(indycar.com)y sent from IndyCar’s software to cars that were supposed to receive individual signals. (indycar.com) ### Did drivers get penalized? No — and that part matters. IndyCar said the rule at Long Beach put the burden on the series itself to make sure the software worked properly, so all cars were deemed legal. Twelve cars used Push to Pass before they were supposed to, and officials said no finishing positions changed because of th(indycar.com)oost on that lap. The official results stayed unchanged. (indycar.com) ### So what changed in the rulebook? Two things changed at once. First, IndyCar expanded availability so Push to Pass can now be used on race restarts at road and street circuits, once the car crosses the alternate start-finish line after the green flag. Second, IndyCar rewrote the rules so the burden now sits with competitors to mak(indycar.com)rrying that responsibility alone. (indycar.com) ### Why make the system broader after a failure? Because the failure forced a full review, and IndyCar decided the old setup was more complicated than it needed to be. J. Douglas Boles said the Long Beach glitch created an opening to rethink the system, including whether Push to Pass should stay available on restarts. The logic is pretty simple — (indycar.com)actly where drivers want it most. (indycar.com) ### What does this change on track? Restarts should get more aggressive. Drivers will now have another decision to make in the few seconds after green — save the boost for later, or fire it immediately to attack or defend. The catch is that passing before the restart line is still prohibited, so this is not a free-for-all. Think of it less like ad(indycar.com)the race’s busiest traffic zone. (indycar.com) ### Why does this matter right now? Because IndyCar is heading straight into May. The new rule starts this weekend at the Sonsio Grand Prix on the IMS road course, and it will apply to all subsequent road and street races this season. That means teams are adjusting strategy in real time, not in some quiet offseason test window. (indycar.com)IndyCar had a software failure, owned it, and turned the fix into a rules change. The result is a simpler responsibility chain and a more aggressive restart package — just as the series enters its most important month. (indycar.com)