Following qualifying over the weekend, the 33 remaining IndyCar drivers took to the track on Monday for a two-hour practice run.
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The teams spent the evening putting the race setups back on their cars and wasted no time sending them out to turn some laps in heavy traffic. From the outset, drivers packed up and began evaluating how their cars felt in dirty air. They all showed heaps of bravery as they made moves inside and outside all around the 2.5-mile course. There were a few times when they almost dared to run three wide, but thought better of it once they remembered it was only a practice session with nothing on the line.
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Josef Newgarden turned the fastest lap of the afternoon, completing his run with an average speed of 226.238 MPH. The reigning Indy 500 champ turned his lap while getting a strong tow from a line of cars in front, which allowed him to gain extra speed down the straights.
Colton Herta set the second fastest lap, and Will Power the third. Both drivers set their fast laps early in the session, then attempted different setups later in the day that did not work out as well as planned. Pato O’Ward pointed to ‘annoying issues’ that hampered his pace on Monday as he finished fifth on the charts, saying his Arrow McLaren team knows where the problem is but is having a hard time correcting it effectively.
Kyle Larson looked particularly racey, back in town after flying to North Wilkesboro, North Carolina for the NASCAR all-star race last night. After qualifying fifth then finishing fourth on the short oval, he was 28th on the timesheets in Monday’s running. But that did not seem representative of his comfort diving around among other drivers at speed. The stock car champion truly is able to hop into any car available and get straight to business, and seemingly has a real shot at earning a great result for the 500 next weekend.
Graham Rahal seemed to have stronger pace than he did over the weekend, perhaps hinting that his race setup is better than his qualifying speed. He ended the session in 11th.
Two drivers completed over 100 laps in the two-hour run, with rookie Tom Blomqvist finishing 106 circuits around the course. There were 2,655 laps turned in total, with only one short stoppage for a track inspection at the halfway point.
Now that drivers have wrapped up their seventh consecutive day behind the wheel, they will have a few days to recover in the lead-up to the big race. A few days filled with interviews and public appearances give way to one final practice session on Friday, then the 108th Indianapolis 500 itself is slated for Sunday, May 26.
