practice Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS – The sounds of opening day can certainly bring smiles on everyone’s faces. After last year not having any fans in attendance, it sure felt like an Indianapolis 500 was genuinely upon us. Through the weather delays, chilly and windy conditions, and cars roaring around Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tuesday brought plenty of excitement. Veterans Practice Unlike the rest of the week, practice commenced at 10 a.m. ET with all four Team Penske entries hitting the 2.5-mile oval to set the first full lap. PerhapsRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Josef Newgarden’s quest for a St. Pete three-peat starts off on a positive note, topping Friday’s practice session. Newgarden was one of seven drivers who had a time below 61 seconds with him setting time of 1:00.803. The two-time IndyCar champion made it clear that his Lap 1 error from Barber Motorsports Park is the least of his concerns. With a strong start to his weekend, can you blame him? “It’s so early. As far as points go, it’s not ideal. Obviously in a perfectRead More

By INDYCAR MADISON, Ill. – Pato O’Ward continued his impressive first full season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES on Friday, leading practice for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 Doubleheader at World Wide Technology Raceway. O’Ward turned a top lap of 24.7890 seconds, 181.532 mph on the 1.25-mile oval in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. This is O’Ward’s first NTT INDYCAR SERIES start at WWTR, as he ran only a partial schedule last season. The hot lap today continued an emergence in 2020 that has seen Mexican driver O’WardRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Scott Dixon becomes the second driver this month to have crashed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With an hour and 49 minutes left in the post-qualifying practice session, the second place starter’s No. 9 PNC Bank Honda lost control and backed it into the Turn 4 wall. Dixon’s car continued doing a few twirls before lying to rest on the front straightaway with front and rear damage. Full course yellow for an on-track incident involving @scottdixon9 during #Indy500 practice at @IMS. Watch live on @NBCSportsGold: https://t.co/zyZcawU8vZ#INDYCARRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer There’s been a saying around the paddock that even if you win races and championships at Team Penske, it’s still not enough because the biggest prize is an Indianapolis 500 triumph. For two-time defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden, it’s the only prize that remains in what’s been an illustrious career so far. However, going into the 104th Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge, there’s some immense pressure for Newgarden to deliver because he’s the only one out of the four-car stable that hasn’t won theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Two days of practice for the Indianapolis 500 are in the books and one man has shown impressive strides where he might have become a dark horse contender for this year’s Greatest Spectacle in Racing. And that dark horse contender is rookie Alex Palou. The Spaniard hasn’t let the Indianapolis Motor Speedway intimidate him as he’s been among the top-10 fastest in not just overall speed, but on average lap runs as well. This was the case Thursday when Palou’s No. 55 Dale Coyne Racing withRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Fernando Alonso became the first accident during on-track activities on Thursday in preparation for the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500. With 49 minutes remaining in second day of practice, Alonso’s No. 66 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet ran on the bottom lane and clipped the gray berm that sits below the white line at the entry of Turn 4. It snapped his car sideways and took a shunt towards the inside wall. Alonso’s wounded car would go for a spin before resting at the entrance ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Fernando Alonso’s quest for racing’s Triple Crown began on a positive note, ending up fifth fastest (223.238 mph) during Opening Day practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Wednesday. While both full-time Arrow McLaren SP teammates Pato O’Ward (28th fastest) and Oliver Askew (31st) were getting their foot in the door at the 2.5-mile circuit, the two-time Formula 1 champion wasted no time setting a flying lap in his No. 66 Ruoff Mortgage Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. “Today was good,” said Alonso, who ran 29 main practiceRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Marco Andretti started his “Month of August” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a positive opening day, setting the second fastest overall speed at 224.345 mph during Wednesday’s practice. While it was a strong outing for his Andretti Autosport teammates with James Hinchcliffe fastest overall (224.526 mph) and Ryan Hunter-Reay fourth (223.431 mph), Andretti is simply focusing on the bigger picture with hopes of finally capturing the Borg-Warner Trophy next Sunday. It didn’t meant Andretti wasn’t satisfied with his speed right out of the gate as heRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Over half a day removed from a insane Iowa INDYCAR 250, the 23 NTT IndyCar Series competitors were back in the saddle for a one hour practice session in preparation for tonight’s second 250-lap race at Iowa Speedway. Under very hot and windy conditions, it was two-time Iowa winner Josef Newgarden who set the fastest pace at 170.199 mph. Behind Newgarden was his Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and rounding out the top-five was Takuma Sato. The defending INDYCAR champion will haveRead More