From earlier
Warm Up Results
Santino Ferrucci appeared to lose an engine on his out lap, causing the only red flag of the session.
Sonsio Grand Prix Tire Selections; Warm Up Results
Four Things to Watch For – Sonsio Grand Prix
Friday’s qualifying results created four storylines for today’s Sonsio Grand Prix, which starts at 4:30 pm Eastern on FOX.
Another Palou Beatdown?
Alex palou starts from the pole, and if he gets the jump on the field going into turn1, the rest of the field will be fighting for second place.
Palou is turning IndyCar into F1 light, which means fans have to adjust the way they view the races. I appreciate FOX showing the mid pack battles at Barber last week, and that is where viewers need to focus their attention. It would be nice to get a glimpse of the leader now and then.
Tire Twists
The new tire regulation for this race- each team must use two sets of primaries and two sets of alternates- was implemented in hopes of improving the racing. The rule rakes away gambling on a two stop race and should eliminate the chance of a fuel saving race.
But if there is an early caution (remember cautions?), I could see a dash to the pits for a tires only stop, followed by business as usual.
IndyCar will evaluate the rule after the race to see if tehy want to use it again.
How strong is RLL?
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has three cars in the top five starting spots. Can their race pace match their qualifying speed? Graham Rahal is known for his ability to move forward during a race. Will the team split strategies to get at least one lace on the podium?
Louis Foster starts a career best third, and Devlin DeFrancesco starts fifth. In 2023 DeFrancesco charged from fifth to the lead on the first laps of the road course race on Brickyard weekend. I don’t think we will see that again.
Movers
Five drivers who should be moving forward today- Pato O’Ward, Will Power, Colton Herta, Christian Lundgaard, and Scott Dixon.
Lundgaard starts 14th, and Dixon rolls off 16th. I expect both to end up in the top 10.
Herta is a wild card who should move if there are no issues in the pits which have hampered him this season.
Power and O’Ward start in row four these two could put on quite a battle this afternoon.
Barring a mechanical breakdown or something weird happening on a pit stop, I don’t see anyone beating Palou today, but it still should be a good race behind him.
Race Day at IMS
From IMS:
| INDIANAPOLIS- Information about Sonsio Grand Prix track activity Saturday, May 10 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: SCHEDULE (All times local): 9 a.m.-7 p.m.: Public gates open 9:30 a.m.: USF Pro 2000 Race 2 10:30 a.m.: USF2000 Race 2 11:32 a.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warmup 1:06 p.m.: INDY NXT by Firestone Race 2 (35 laps/55 minutes) 2:20 p.m.: USF Pro 2000 Race 3 4:52 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Sonsio Grand Prix (85 laps) TICKETS: $50 for General Admission. $64 for flex ticket seating in Northwest Vista (Sections 11-20), Southwest Vista (Sections 1-10), North Vista ADA (Sections 26-30), Tower Terrace (Sections 37-47, 75-79) and Paddock (Sections 9-14). Children 15 and under are admitted free with general admission or flex ticket paying adult. Reserved seats range from $59-$134. PUBLIC GATES OPEN (9 a.m.-7 p.m.): Gate 1, Gate 2, Gate 3, Gate 4, Gate 6S, Gate 7, Gate 7S, Gate 9, Gate 10, Gate 10A, Gate 11A. PARKING: Paid public parking is available in Lot 1A, Lot 2, Lot 3P and Main Gate lots for $20. Gate 1 Lot parking is available for $50. Motorcycle parking is also available at South Carousel Lot for $20. Paid ADA parking is available in Lot 3P, Lot 2, Northwest Gravel Lot, West Museum Lot, Flag Lot and Tower Suites Lot for $20 and Gate 1 Lot for $50. Free parking and ADA parking is available on the North 40 (Lot 7). Infield parking is located inside Turn 3 with pre-purchased parking pass. CASHLESS OPERATIONS: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a cashless facility. Please be prepared to complete your ticket, credentials, parking, concession and merchandise purchases with ease during your event via debit or credit card.Tap-to-pay phone payments will be accepted, as will credit and debit transactions. Cash-to-Card machines, which convert paper money onto a temporary debit card, will be located in Pagoda Plaza and outside Turn 1 by concessions stand 7. These funds can be spent inside the venue, outside the venue, online or anywhere in the world where Mastercard/Visa debit cards are accepted. MUSEUM: The IMS Museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. General admission tickets are $25, seniors (55 and over) are $23, and military (former and active) are $18. Tickets can be purchased online at https://imsmuseum.org/tickets/. |
Qualifying Wrap Up- Same Old Story
I was okay with Alex Palou winning three of the first four races. I’m not sure if I feel that way about him winning three fourths of the poles too. The Chip Ganassi driver won the top starting spot for tomorrow’s Sonsio Grand Prix in a dramatic qualifying which saw numerous lead changes throughout the last two rounds.
Palou took the pole on his final lap, edging Graham Rahal by four tenths of a second. The Fast 12 was a mix of regular suspects and some new faces. Louis Foster and Kyffin Simpson joined the group.
A Great Day for RLL
Rahal Letterman Lanigan burst fourth in Practice 2, taking the top three spots. Rahal led Louis Foster and Devlin DeFrancesco. Would they back it up in qualifying?
Foster led a lot of Round 2 and was on top for some of the Fast Six. Rahal took the lead in the Fast Six, but Palou’s last lap knocked him off the pole.
The race might be another matter, though. Palou has run away and hid from the field. I hope tomorrow is a bit different.
Early knockout disappointments- Colton Herta just =missed the second round. Scott Dixon was uncompetetive, and Rinus VeeKay, usually quick on the road course, had issues in the morning.
Pato O’Ward was quick in practice, qualified eighth. he complained afterwards of being slow on the straights.
The question for race day is how the special tire rule will work. Does it give Palou more of an advantage or will it allow the racing up front to be more competitive?
That will do it for me for Friday. See you all tomorrow.
Qualifying Groups- Sonsio Grand Prix
Practice 2- An Unusual Top 3
Here is something we don’t see every day- an RLL top three. Graham Rahal led the way followed by teammates Louis Foster and Devlin DeFrancesco. Rahal turned the day’s fastest lap at 1;09.7242.
The short session ran clean. Points leader Alex Palou was seventh quick in this practice round. Will Power continues to lead the Penske cars in 13th.
Results
Practice 1 Quick Results
A chilly practice yielded a familiar result with Alex Palou leading the all car roundfield by eight hundredths of a second. What may have been a surprise were the three drivers right behind him- Kyffin Simpson, Santino Ferrucci, and Nolan Siegel. Track temperature was 72 degrees at the green flag.
Will Power was the quickest of the Team Penske cars in 12th. Scott McLaughlin was 19th, and Josef Newgarden finished 21st,
Rinus VeeKay’s car stalled and required a tow in with about seven minutes left in the session. VeeKay did not record a time.
Palou also led Group 1, improving his time by a tenth,. Louis Foster was next, 0.15 seconds behind. VeeKay spun in the grass at turn 12, but kept going and did not stop the session.
Group 2 saw Alexander Rossi lead, but his time was a half second slower than {Palou’s best lap.
IndyCar is back on track at 1:10 pm Easern.
Results
Good Morning from IMS
Welcome to a frosty Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the temperature is 48 degrees. The first IndyCar practice is scheduled to start in about 10 minutes. Cars are in their pit boxes.
Yesterday Jacob Abel revealed his livery for the Indianapolis 500, a tribute to Dannt=y Sullivan’s winning car from 1985.
As tribute liveries go, this is a very nice one. It evokes the original. A rear enginecar to rear engine car tribute is easier to do than trying to replicate a front engine livery on one of today’s cars.
After practice I will be exploring the new merchandise shop, and I plan to visit the museum and get some more insight into the renovated facility.
Reminder, the first four sessions of Indy NXT and IndyCar are on FS2.
Tomorrow at the Track/
From IMS
| Friday, May 9 |
| INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, May 8, 2025) – Information about Sonsio Grand Prix track activity Friday, May 9 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: SCHEDULE (All times local): 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m.: Public gates open 7:55-8:25 a.m.: USF2000 qualifying8:40-9:10 a.m.: USF Pro 2000 qualifying 9:30-10:50 a.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1 11:05-11:55 a.m.: INDY NXT by Firestone practice 1 12:10-12:50 p.m.: USF2000 race 11:10-2 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2 2:30-3 p.m.: INDY NXT by Firestone qualifying3:20-4:10 p.m.: USF Pro 2000 race 1 4:35-6 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying/Firestone Fast Six 7:06 p.m.: INDY NXT by Firestone race 1 (35 laps/55 minutes) TICKETS: General admission tickets are $20 for Sonsio Grand Prix practice and qualifications. Children 15 and under are admitted free with a paying adult. PUBLIC GATES OPEN (7:30 a.m.-8 p.m.): Gate 1, Gate 2, Gate 4, Gate 6S, Gate 7, Gate 7S, Gate 9, Gate 10, Gate 10A. PARKING: Paid public parking is available in Lot 1A, Lot 2 and Main Gate parking lots for $10 and Gate 1 parking for $20. Paid ADA parking is available in Lot 2 and in Gate 1 parking. Free parking is available in Infield Turn 3 and Lot 7 (North 40). Free motorcycle parking is also available in the South Carousel Lot via Gate 2. CASHLESS OPERATIONS: The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a cashless facility. Please be prepared to complete your ticket, credentials, parking, concession and merchandise purchases with ease during your event via debit or credit card.Tap-to-pay phone payments will be accepted, as will credit and debit transactions. Cash-to-Card machines, which convert paper money onto a temporary debit card, will be located in Pagoda Plaza and outside Turn 1 by concessions stand 7. These funds can be spent inside the venue, outside the venue, online or anywhere in the world where Mastercard/Visa debit cards are accepted. MUSEUM: The IMS Museum is open from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. General admission tickets are $25, Seniors (55 and over) are $23, and military (former and active) are $18. Tickets can be purchased online at https://imsmuseum.org/tickets/ |
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 