Juan Pablo Montoya’s car waits to begin practice yesterday.
Today’s schedule:
Gates Open 10:00am 6:00pm
Open Gates: 10 7, 7S, 6S, 2, 1, 4
Open stands- Paddock- a section directly across from the Pagoda; Penthouse B and E; a section in the Tower Terrace near the victory podium. The Pagoda Plaza is open. Concessions limited.
Indianapolis 500 Practice 12:00pm 6:00pm
Streaming on Peacock 12-6
The schedule will be the same for tomorrow and Friday as well.
Will Power ran the fastest lap on the opening day of practice for the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. with a speed of 226.470 late in the afternoon portion of the day. The fist two hours of veteran practice had two rain interruptions in the first hour, and a third stoppage near the end of the session. Practice never restarted. The Rookie and refresher tests, scheduled to begin at noon suffered a two hour delay.
Graham Rahal led the early practice round. Stefan Wilson and J. R. Hildebrand completed their refresher tests. R. C. Enerson still has one phase to complete of his rookie test due to a mechanical issue. Indycar will allow him to finish the test at 11 am tomorrow, ahead of the noon start of the six hour practice period.
Power was asked if he felt casrs would be able to follow more closely and have more opportunities to pass this year. He thinks so
“…as far as stuck in traffic I felt pretty good just running with two or three cars in front. Felt more comfortable than I have for awhile.That was promising, and yeah, I think cooler conditions can make everything feel pretty good. I think when the heat comes it’ll certainly change everything and become harder to follow.I think adding that downforce is certainly going to help theracing. I think you’re going to have one of the old style races where the front three are just swapping positions constantly because you can follow so close now. I think,yeah, it’s good for the fans,” Power answered.
Today’s results:
Rank Car Driver Name C/E/T Session Time Speed Total Laps 1 12 Power, Will D/C/F Practice 2 00:39.7403 226.470 87 2 28 Hunter-Reay, Ryan D/H/F Practice 2 00:39.7578 226.371 55 3 30 Sato, Takuma D/H/F Practice 2 00:39.7998 226.132 76 4 24 Karam, Sage D/C/F Practice 2 00:39.8332 225.942 69 5 47 Daly, Conor D/C/F Practice 2 00:39.8865 225.640 82 6 22 Pagenaud, Simon D/C/F Practice 2 00:39.9592 225.230 81 7 5 O’Ward, Pato D/C/F Practice 2 00:39.9740 225.146 78 8 9 Dixon, Scott D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.0021 224.988 68 9 18 Jones, Ed D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.0621 224.651 77 10 8 Ericsson, Marcus D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.0686 224.615 85 11 48 Kanaan, Tony D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.0725 224.593 68 12 86 Montoya, Juan Pablo D/C/F Practice 2 00:40.1099 224.384 63 13 16 De Silvestro, Simona D/C/F Practice 2 00:40.1373 224.230 81 14 2 Newgarden, Josef D/C/F Practice 2 00:40.1714 224.040 48 15 21 VeeKay, Rinus D/C/F Practice 2 00:40.2158 223.793 82 16 29 Hinchcliffe, James D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.2180 223.780 78 17 7 Rosenqvist, Felix D/C/F Practice 2 00:40.2246 223.744 63 18 20 Carpenter, Ed D/C/F Practice 2 00:40.2377 223.671 69 19 15 Rahal, Graham D/H/F Practice 1 00:40.2776 223.449 82 20 98 Andretti, Marco D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.2980 223.336 73 21 26 Herta, Colton D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.2993 223.329 84 22 06 Castroneves, Helio D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.3480 223.059 63 23 27 Rossi, Alexander D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.3581 223.004 74 24 10 Palou, Alex D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.3792 222.887 71 25 3 McLaughlin, Scott (R) D/C/F Practice 1 00:40.3885 222.836 68 26 11 Kimball, Charlie D/C/F Practice 2 00:40.3938 222.806 36 27 4 Kellett, Dalton D/C/F Practice 2 00:40.4729 222.371 61 28 1 Hildebrand, JR D/C/F Practice 2 00:40.4928 222.262 22 29 45 Ferrucci, Santino D/H/F Practice 1 00:40.5034 222.204 42 30 60 Harvey, Jack D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.5199 222.113 56 31 59 Chilton, Max D/C/F Practice 2 00:40.5606 221.890 70 32 51 Fittipaldi, Pietro (R) D/H/F Practice 2 00:40.7657 220.774 80 33 14 Bourdais, Sebastien D/C/F Practice 1 00:40.8402 220.371 38 34 25 Wilson, Stefan D/H/F Practice 2 00:41.1762 218.573 25 Total Laps for Combined Sessions: 2255
Notes
As wonderful as Saturday was, watching the cars on the oval in mid May was the most welcome sight yet. Everything was as I remembered- the blur of colors whizzing by, the smell of ethanol, the vibration of the fences, the hustle bustle of each team running, stopping, for adjustments, and going out again- and it made me happy. There are even better days to come.
On my walk through Gasoline Alley I noticed two women working on the Paretta Autosport car of Simona De Silvestro. I also saw several other women on crews for other teams. It is a welcome sight and about time Indycar offered opportunities for everyone.
Paretta Autosport crew members. 75% of the crew are women. Indycar photo by Joe Skibinski
A. J. Foyt Racing did an outstanding job with the throwback livery on J. R. Hildebrand’s car. It is difficult to represent a roadster livery on a rear engine car. This is one of the best I’ve seen.
The Top Gun entry shows a hint of the Johnny Lightning Special, but also reminds me of the Konstant Hot Special.
Indycar photo by Chris Jones
Tomorrow will see warmer temperatures than today. It should be interesting to see which cqars maintain the day to day consistency despite the weather difference.
Graham Rahal led the first two hour practice session for thee 105th running of the Indianapolis 500. Rahal’ quick lap beat out Scott Dixon and Scott Mc Laughlin. Eight drivers topped 222 mph.
The practice round was interrupted three times for rain. The final stoppage occurred with just 15 minutes left. A fleet of trucks is now circling the track as the rookie/ refresher session is on hold.
Stefan Wilson and J. R. Hildebrand will take their refresher phases. R. C. Enerson needs to complete his rookie test.
Indianapolis 500 Oval Veterans Practice 10:00am 12:00pm
Indianapolis 500 ROP & Refreshers 12:00pm 2:00pm
Indianapolis 500 Practice 3:00pm 6:00pm
Wednesday Streaming on Peacock 12-6
Gates Open 10:00am 6:00pm
Indianapolis 500 Practice 12:00pm 6:00pm
It is nice to say that practice for the Indianapolis 500 begins today as scheduled in May. For many fans today will be the first time in two years they have entered the track to watch cars run on the oval.
The weather looks to be cloudy with slight rain chances. There may be a slight delay as the track is dried from yesterday’s rains.
Many teams will probably run race set ups today and tomorrow, then get into qualifying mode Thursday and Friday. The early weekend forecast shows temperatures in the upper 80s.
I’ll be back throughout the day with reports on the action.
For 1975 the Indianapolis 500 hoped to build off of the momentum generated by a smooth 1974 event which was much needed after the disastrous race in 1973. That race took three days to run, finishing after just 332 miles because of rain, and marred by the death of driver Swede Savage and crew member Armando Teran.
The 1975 program celebrated the 1974 race and Johnny Rutherford’s great victory. Rutherford, by some accounts, “saved” the 500. I wouldn’t go that far, but he did restore a sense of order and propriety to an event that probably should have been cancelled the year before.
The program in 1975 was the last one to have the wing and wheel emblem and the race flags on the cover. Beginning in 1976, the speedway went for artsy covers with, in my opinion more misses than hits.
The tire war between Goodyear and Firestone still raged. In 1974 Goodyear tires were on Rutherford’s winning car and the rest of the top 10 finishers.
The 1975 program heralded the under construction Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, scheduled to open in time for the 1976 race. It is hard to believe that the building is now 45 years old.
The Electropacer lights were still in use for 1975. The eight light panels, 1,650 feet apart, were to aid drivers in maintaining their “relative position” during a caution period. Prior to 1972, when the system was first put in place, drivers were trusted to slow down and stay in the same basic position. Many drivers took advantage of the rules to actually gain time under the yellow.
, I didn’t think this system worked much better than the old honor system. A driver would see a number on the first panel he passed when they yellow flag came out. He should see that number on each panel as he drove past it. Just watching from the stands, I’m not so sure the drivers adhered to this all the time. The speedway eventually adopted the current system of packing up behind the pace car.
An ad which I found odd to be in the program was for a book published in reaction to the 1973 race. The Indy 500, An American Institution Under Fire by Ron Dorson, promised to tell the real inside story of the 500 based on interviews he conducted with some prominent people in the paddock. I have never read the book. The ad contained a coupon to mail order (remember that?) and get a free bonus book.
The program included what was one of the last ads for Stark & Wetzel, the meat packing company which sponsored the Rookie of the Year award. They would be gone by the next decade. I loved their radio commercials with the whistle.
Bobby Unser won his second Indianapolis 500 in a race shortened to 174 laps when a rain storm flooded the track after what had been a nice day. Unser had retaken the lead just nine laps before the race was stopped. Wally Dallenbach seemed to have the race in hand, leading 96 laps, but a burned piston dropped him from contention on lap 162. he had led the 37 previous laps. Unser only led 11 laps.
Unser’s second win tied him with his younger brother Al, who won back to back in 1970 and 1971. The Unser clan was now almost halfway to its total of nine victories in the 500 Mile Race.
The rain shortened race was the second of what would be three rain shortened races in a span of four years. The 1976 race was called at 102 laps, just one lap than needed to make the race official.
This might be a good week to sign up for Peacock if you haven’t done so yet. All times Eastern
Tuesday Streaming on Peacock, 10-2, 3-6
Gates Open 9:00am 6:00pm
Indianapolis 500 Oval Veterans Practice 10:00am 12:00pm
Indianapolis 500 ROP & Refreshers 12:00pm 2:00pm
Indianapolis 500 Practice 3:00pm 6:00pm
Wednesday Streaming on Peacock 12-6
Gates Open 10:00am 6:00pm
Indianapolis 500 Practice 12:00pm 6:00pm
Thursday Streaming on Peacock 12-6
Gates Open 10:00am 6:00pm
Indianapolis 500 Practice 12:00pm 6:00pm
Fast Friday Streaming on Peacock 12-6
Gates Open 10:00am 6:00pm
Indianapolis 500 Practice 12:00pm 6:00pm
Qualifying
Saturday
Gates Open 8:00am 6:00pm
Indianapolis 500 Practice 9:30am 10:30am Streaming on Peacock 9:30-10:30
Indianapolis 500 Qualifying 12:00pm 5:50pm Streaming on Peacock 12-6
NBC will have a one hour live broadcast from 2-3pm
Sunday
Gates Open 9:00am 7:00pm
Last Chance Practice 11:00am 11:30am Streaming on Peacock*
Fast Nine Practice 11:30am 12:00pm Streaming on Peacock*
Last Chance Qualifying 1:15pm 2:30pm Streaming on Peacock 12-6
Fast Nine Qualifying 3:00pm 3:45pm
NTT IndyCar Series Practice 5:00pm 7:00pm
NBC will broadcast live from 2:30-4:30 pm
* Peacocok lists a one hour slot from 10-11, but the program description says you can watch both practice sessions. 10-11won’t do it for the practices. Only three hours of live television. Sad.
I just watched the replay of the NBC broadcast of the GMR Grand Prix. I thought it was great coverage. I like the graphic showing which tire each car was using at the time and laps since pitted information. More of that, please.
The VeeKay family celebration on the victory podium was heart warming. We don’t often see a driver’s family enjoy the fruits of heir sacrifices to get a driver to the top of his profession.
How no one got into the marbles and spun is miraculous. the track was one large used rubber pile. VeeKay’s tires at the end show how much wear everyone’s tires had. this is a screen grab from Victory lane.
Rinus VeeKay drove the wheels off the car yesterday. He drove between Jimmie Johnson and Alex Palou to take second, and made a great pass on Grosjean to be in position to assume the lead when Dixon pitted.
The Battle for the Title
Alex Palou is the only driver to have led at least one lap in each of the five races to date. We are looking at a championship battle between teammates. Scott Dixon leads Palou by 13 points. Each has won a race. Dixon holds the tie breaker if it should come to that based on his St.Pete finish. I predict Palou will be this season’s first repeat winner.
Last Thoughts
Maybe it was because yesterday was the first may race with fans in attendance since 2019, but yesterday was one of the best days I have ever had at IMS. I’ve been there a couple times, but Saturday just had a very special feeling about it.
How odd that Ed Carpenter Racing’s first win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway should come on the road course. Carpenter’s cars are always very good on the oval. Is there another win for the team coming in two weeks?
Back tomorrow when my coverage of the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 begins. Thanks to all of you for following this weekend.
Using my infallible wisdom, I said in my pre season preview that we were one year away from seeing the younger generation of driver begin to take over the series. Next year is right now. Rinus VeeKay’s win today in the GMR Grand Prix at IMS adds to the burgeoning list of drivers who entered 2021 with two years or less experience. How have they done? Four wins, including three first winners, three poles, including one first time polesitter. The scary part is we are only about a third of the way through the season, and I have a feeling this group is only going to get better.
The average experience of the five different race winners, based on experience through 2020 is 5.6 years. Scott Dixon’s 20 years of racing makes the average as high as it is. Usually in a typical season, most newer winners come early in the year, and bymid June, the veterans take over and dominate the rest of the schedule. I have a fe3eling that isn’t going to happen in 2021.
VeeKay drove a steady race in his victory today. Pole winner Romain Grosjean also had a very good drive, but VeeKay caught him and had the better car the ;last half of the race.
Romain Grosjean earned his first career podium in Indycar
Random Thoughts
You had to feel for Conor Daly. He started fourth with a decent shot of winning today. The first lap kerfuffle left him stranded in turn 2. He finished 50 laps behind.
Speaking of tough breaks, Jack Harvey has had issues two races in a row. A failed wheel bearing in Texas knocked him out of a strong finish. Today a bad pit stop followed by a flat tire quashed his hopes of being in the fight at the end. He would have been there. Harvey will be another first time winner at some point this year.
Graham Rahal did a great job finishing fifth using an alternate strategy. The extra pit stop actually helped him gain ground.
It was nice to see Ryan Hunter-Reay leading some laps again. it has been a while. Andretti Autosport had one of their better days today. Alexander Rossi finished seventh, Hunter-reay 12th and Herta thirteenth.
This is the worst Grand Prix weekend at IMS I remember Will Power having. Power who usually is up front on this track, with multiple poles and wins, spun in qualifying and started twelfth. Power finished 11th but it wasn’t easy after several off track excursions.
I thought Juan Pablo Montoya was mostly in the way today. He held up the leaders a couple times, and showed very little speed.
Pato O’Ward had a weekend nearly as bad ashe did at St. Pete. the good news is that after his misadventure in Florida, he won at Texas. Could this pattern repeat?
Josef Newgarden seems to be lacking some pace this season. I’m not sure what the problem is.
I can’t recall another podium that had both a driver from Ed Carpenter Racing and one from Dale Coyne Racing.
I understand why IMS wants the winning car up on the podium, but the time it takes to get the car up there while the driver sits in it takes away from the spontaneity of he moment. Especially today, when we have a first time winner. I wanted VeeKay to jump out of the car imm3ediately and begin celebrating. The Victory Circle should not be staged.
Attendance was very good for the race today. I have never seen a crowd so happy. Racing at IMS returned to its proper May spot, and the fans were there. All seems right with the world tonight.
Thanks for following along this weekend. I will have a follow up story tomorrow.
Photo: Romain Grosjean will the field to the green today. Walt Kuhn, Indycar
Today’s schedule:
All Times Eastern
Saturday
7:30am 5:00pm Gates Open
7:50am 8:40am Indy Pro 2000 Race 2
8:55am 9:25am Indy Lights Qualifying 2
9:40am 10:20am USF2000 Race 3
10:45am 11:15am NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warm-Up Peacock
11:40am 12:30pm Indy Pro 2000 Race 3
12:45pm 1:45pmINDY LIGHTS Race 2 Peacock
2:39pm ‘Drivers Start Your Engines’ NBC
2:45pm GMR Grand Prix – Green Flag NBC
Welcome to the first May race day at IMS in two years where fans will be in the stands. This will be an interesting race with many of the favorites starting in the middle or back of the back. After yesterday’s wild qualifying and the way the season has begun, maybe it’s time to consider other drivers besides the usual favorites. Alex Palou and Jack Harvey deserve special attention today. Palou has already won on a similar course, and Harvey always does well at the IMS road course. Pit strategy and track position will be key as always at this track.
In the 2020 version of this race which was held in July, cautions played a huge role in the outcome. Graham Rahal was on an alternate pit strategy that appeared to be working out. The yellow flag dashed his hopes of winning.
Team Penske dominates the GMR Grand Prix and it looks like all four drivers could be contending today.
I think we will have the fifth winner in five races this season. The series has already seen five different drivers on pole, although two were by point standings,
Notes
Andretti Autosport regular drivers had a best qualifying of eighth with Colton Herta yesterday. Alexander Rossi led the first practice session, but faded in qualifying and will start 14th. It is puzzling what’s going on with the team.
Josef Newgarden’s Snap-On car is this weekend’s best looking livery.
, IndycarPhoto by Joe Skibinski
It was a decent sized crowd yesterday, and I will be interested to see how many attend today’s race.
Mask compliance was very high yesterday. The Speedway has hired Mask Ambassadors to give people gentle reminders to wear their face coverings. The ambassadors carry a fan like placard with the phrase “Face Coverings Required” I saw them remind some people of the requirement. certain other tracks I have been to this year could have use a system like this.
The race is on NBC with coverage beginning at 2:30 pm Eastern. Green flag is at 2:45.
I watched the replay of qualifying on NBCSN. The broadcast carried no graphics of any sort, and it was hard to follow the action during the rounds of qualifying. I heard graphics appeared on Peacock. Is NBCSN having a fire sale since they are 2winding down the network? This was a huge disservice to fans who don’t or can’t have Peacock for whatever reason. You still have a contract NBC. Honor it.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 