Tag: Indianapolis 500

Ericsson Tops Day Two

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Marcus Ericsson ran the fastest lap of the week to lead today’s practice session as the Chip Ganassi Racing fleet continued to flex its muscles. Scott Dixon was second, Takuma sato seventh, and Alex Palou was ninth. Ericsson’s lap of 229.607 beat Sato’s top time yesterday by 0.168 mph.

“I felt like we made some changes overnight that helped me and my feeling in the car. I felt really happy with my racecar and then there we just did some stuff for tomorrow. So preparation for tomorrow Good run in and then measure the key one though, as well. So yeah, very positive day And hats off to the gas the team, you know,”ERicsson said

New to the top 10 today were Simon Pagenaud inthird, Conor Daly sixth, pato O’Ward in eighth, and Alexander Rossi in tenth.Colton Herta improved to fifth today.

Graham Rahal moved up to 12th after his team’s struggles yesterday. Teammate Katherine Legge had the slowest time, 223.934 mph.

Thursday was another beautiful day with perfect weather for racing. The forecast tomorrow calls for possible showers starting around 2 pm. Thatt should make for a very busy first two hours.

All cars get extra boost for qualifying tomorrow which inceases power by about 50 horsepower.

Notes

Another large crowd enjoyed practice. Friday usually draws the largest crowd of practice week. If the first two days of practice are an indication, tomorrow’s attendance could be huge.

Results

Thursday Mid Day at IMS- Ericsson on Top

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WE’ve reached the midway point of the day for practice two. Another ganassi car has the fastest lap of the day. Marcus Ericsson, lastbyear’s winner of the 500, posted a speed of 229.607. That lap tops takuma Sato’s fast time from Wednesday. All four Ganassi cars are in the top 10.

Pato O’Ward sits second at the moment at 227.734 mph. All four Arrow McLaren cars are also in the top 10. Santino ferrucci from A. J. Foyt Racing and Colton Herta from Andretti are the final two top 10 cars. Ferrucci issixth and Herta is eighth.

2014 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay is 12th, backing up his eighth place yesterday.

Callum Ilott, last yesterday, has found some speed and is currently 18th.

The Rahal team’s struggles continue. Katherine Legge leads the team in 26th place.

Earlier today I talked with David Malukas. He is happy with the pace of his car, but he siad they need to correct an oversteer issue. Malukas said he can’t pass anyone as the car was.Malukas is currently15th.

This morbibg Arrow Mb]cLaren announced a partnership with Hendrick Motorsport to allow Kyle Larson to run in the Indianapolis 500 in 2024 and 2025. I wil have a story about this later.

Kyle Larson

I’ll be back after 6 with a wrap up of the day.

Stefan Wilson Focused on 500, Future Can Wait

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Stefan Wilson enters this year’s 500 with a new association and a new teammate. He is thrilled with his situation. The Cusick Motorsports team has paired with Dreyer & Reibold fror 2023, He also has 2014 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay as a teammate.

“Ryan’san amazing teammate. He has just so much experience, I can rely on it. You know, it’s reassuring, you know, you make a change. And you have read on it. And you’re like, Okay, this is my read. And then you like, wait with bated breath. Like, what’s Ryan gonna say about the same change. And then when he comes in and has the same feedback, it’s like, it’s encouraging. It’s encouraging. It’s reassuring that your feedback is pretty, pretty accurate. Yeah, so it’s like a it’s a nice way to check yourself. Because he knows what’s up. He’s one here. So if my feedback matches, and that’s a good thing,” Wilson said.

Wilson was happy with yesterday’s practice.

“We’re close. I think we’re really close. If we can find a little bit more than will be fine,” he said. Wilson was 15th Wednesday, and Hunter-Reay was eighth.

Today the team will work on qualifying setup.

“We’re just gonna put the ball line set up on, see how fast it is. And then tomorrow, I think the weather is gonna come in late. So I think we might get a couple of runs in tomorrow with the qualifying boost.”

Wilson said they are not thinking about future expansion of the program just yet.

“I think right now, we talked about it, we thought about it, but right now it’s not in my mind. I’m just totally focused on the next two weeks. Next weekend, and trying to make the most of this opportunity. I think after that when the dust settles, we’ll think about okay, what do we need? “

Wilson likes the way the team is setup now ansd wants to continue.

” I think this is such a great combo me and Ryan. If I had my choice would be to just keep the same group together and just hold again next year, so that’d be the goal.”

Day 3 at IMS- The Need for Speed

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Today’s schedule

SCHEDULE (All times local):

10 a.m.-6 p.m.: Public Gates Open

Noon-6 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice Peracock, Indycar Radio

HONORARY STARTER: Gene’o Riley and Krishawn Hogan, NFL Players’ Association

TICKETS: General Admission tickets are $15. Children 15 and under are admitted free with a paying adult.

PUBLIC GATES OPEN (10 a.m.-6 p.m.): Gate 1, Gate 2, Gate 4, Gate 6S, Gate 7, Gate 7S, Gate 10, and Gate 10A.

Another beautiful day is in the forecast for today. Everyone is looking at the Ganassi cars as the ones to beat. Rinus VeeKay turned heads with the quickest no tow speed. In facrt the Ed Carpenter Racing cars were 1,2,and 3 on the no tow chart.

Rinus VeeKay

Callum Ilott’s struggles from the open test continued yesterday. He was 34th fastest and has two days to figure something out. I said in an earlier post that i wouldn’t be surprised to see a full time car bumped. Ilott’s situation is one of the reasons I think bumping when there are 34 cars entered for the race is silly.

What will today bring? Will some slower cars on Wednesday find what they need?

Wednesday’s Results

Sato Tops Wednesday

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Takuma Sato overtook teammate Scott Dixon and paced the first actual practice day for the Indianapolis 500. Dixon set a lap m0f 229.174 in the first nine minutes of the session. Sato beat that late in the day with a 229.439 circuit.

Five cautions for debris halted action at various times, but teams only lost 35 minutes of track time.

Chip Ganasi Racing showed their strength, finishing 1,2, 4(Alex Palou), and 7 (Marcus Ericsson).

Team Penske placed two drivers in the top 10- Scott McLaughlin was fifth and Josef Newgarden had the ninth fastest time.

Andretti Autosport also had two drivers in the top 10. Colton Herta ended the daysixth and Marco Andretti was 10th.

Penske and Andretti have struggled the past couple of years.

David Maluks (L) and Takuma Sato talk about their days

Jack Harvey led Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 11th. Graham rahal was 13th.

Santino Ferrucci, driving for A. J. Foyt Racing, had the third fastest time, 228.977. Ferrucci said the car was in race trim.

2014 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay put the Dreyer & Reinbold entry into eighth place.

Arrow McLaren struggled today. Alexander rossi and Pato O’Ward were 19th and 20th on the chart.

The weather was perfect for speeds and for the fans. A nice sized crowd was on hand throuf=ghout the day.

It was a great day at IMS, I can’t wait until tomorrow. Practice begins at noon.

IMS Mid Day Report

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Greetings from IMS on a perfect day for running. The track has been busy since openingnat noon. All cars have been on track.The dqay began with R C Enerson taking his Rookie Orientation Program. He completed all but one lap. Enerson is allowed o practice the rest of the day tom complete the lap he needs.

Scott Dixon posted a 229,174 lap early and thta is still the mark to beat. Alex Palou is second at 227,760 mph.

There have been three cautions for debris.

The top five at 3:10 pm:

Dixon

Palou

Will Power

Scott McLaughlin

David Malukas

The Dreyer and Reinbold cars of Ryan Hiunter-Reay and Stefan Wilson are sixth and seventh resectively.

Felix Rosenqvist is the nfastest Arrow McLaren driver at 16th fastest.

Colton Herta leads the Andretti squad in eighth.

As I drove down 16th Street just bafter noon the inside line to enter Gate 2 stretched beyond the bridge. The concession lnes wer also quite long.

It is so good to see and hear cars on the oval again!

I’ll be back after 6 pm with a wrap up of the day.

Day 2 at IMS- Let’s Try Again

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SCHEDULE (All times local):

10 a.m.-6 p.m.: Public Gates Open

10-10:05 a.m.: Installation Laps, All Cars

10:15 a.m.-noon: Rookie Orientation Program, driver RC Enerson

Noon-6 p.m.: Practice, All Cars

All sessions on Peacock and Indycar Radio

HONORARY STARTER: Ball State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Michael Lewis, noon

TICKETS: General Admission tickets are $15. Children 15 and under are admitted free with a paying adult.

PUBLIC GATES OPEN (10 a.m.-6 p.m.): Gate 1, Gate 2, Gate 4, Gate 6S, Gate 7, Gate 7S, Gate 10, and Gate 10A.

Notes

Today should be a busy day. With just two days towork on race setups before qualifying boost is added on Friday, smaller teams have a lot of work to do.

J R Hildebrand caused quite a buz when he appeared inn Gasoline Alley. I heard he was here to replace a drive, but the issue with that driver has been resolved. Hildebtandwill stay here through the weekend in case a ride opens for some reason.

Please keep my friend Steve Chiccone in your thoughts. Steve will miss coming to the 500 this year because of a medical issue. He is going to be fine, but I miss sseing him in the paddock.Can’y wait to see you back at the track, Steve.

Day One Wash Out

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What was scheduled to be Day one of practice the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 fell victim to Mother Nature. A rainy, chilly morning gave way to a dry period.Track drying efforts were almost complete.

Indycar announced that pit lane would open at 1:50 pm and that the track wou;d go green at 2:15. I walked out of the medai center to heqad to the grandstand. I met two of my favorite bloggers, George Phillips, of Oilpressure fame, and Patti Nolen,whi writes Ikissedthebricks.

Raind drops began falling again as we talked. Aroun 4 pm tactivity was cancelled for the day.

Tomorrow’s schedule has RC Enerson going through the ROP program at 10 am after all entries get an installation lap. Practice begins at noon and runs until 6.

I still enjoyed the day. I took a leisurely walk through the garages and met several friends. Teams were taking their cars through tech, anticipating some track time.

Tomorrow and Thursday look to be great days for running with no weather issues.

here are some phots I took in the garage area.

Katherine Legge’s car
R C Enerson’s car
Romain Grosjean
Apparently Huski makes more than chocolate
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