Power Paces Rain Shortened First Day Of Indy 500 Practice

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — It was a day of cat and mouse with the weather as drivers and teams opened the first day of practice for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.

The forecast called for spotty showers on and off all day, and that’s what we got as practice was due to go off at Noon Eastern Time on Tuesday. Delayed by just over two hours, the rain finally let up and practice was able to begin just before 3pm.

The goal of the day, as it always is, was to pick things up where drivers left them at the end of April testing.

It was nothing but pack running and experimentation for each team as drivers continued to dial in their machines in race trim. The green track, mild weather, and minimal wind were ideal for about an hour and a half for work to be done by each team.

Newgarden was quick out of the gate in practice running his best lap in traffic at 226.971 mph. His teammate, Will Power, would top that in the latter portion of the day at 227.026. The last of the Penske’s was Scott McLaughlin who was fifth fastest on the day at 225.005 mph.

The bottom line as far was Team Penske is concerned is that they are once again fast in race traffic. All three took time maneuvering in many different siuations during the time they had, and they did so with relative ease.

Many concern themselves with what non-tow speed are, even though those speeds mean absolutely nothing at this point in practice. Nevertheless, the fastest car without an aerodynamic tow on the day was Kyle Kirkwood, who went 219.497 mph. Again, this speed means nothing without the aid of the extra Fast Friday boost they will get in three days.

Reigning IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, who has won four of the last five races, stretched his legs quite nicely in getting ready for the first oval race of the season. He was third on the chart at 226.673 mph. His Ganassi teammate, Scott Dixon, was fourth at 226.059. The third Ganassi driver, Kyffin Simpson, turned the most laps of any driver with 84.

Of the one-off drivers entered this year, Helio Castroneves was quickest, sixth quickest overall at 224.523. Marco Andretti cracked the top ten of the speed chart and Ryan Hunter-Reay was 14th quickest.

PREMA Racing showed their ‘newness’ to the track on this day. Robert Shwartzman and Callum Ilott were both at the bottom of the chart in 33rd and 34th respectively.

You can expect more of the same for the second day of practice with drivers continuing to dial in their race day setups. The forecast looks roughly similar to that of Tuesdays so it may be hit or miss again when it comes to meaningful track time.