The top five drivers on the Indianapolis 500 Open speed chart Tuesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway each have made at least 10 starts in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” as 12-time “500” starter Conor Daly led with a best
The most experienced driver in the field, four-time “500” winner Helio Castroneves, was second at 225.200 in the No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda. Castroneves is making his 26th Indy 500 start this season as he tries to become the first driver to win the race five times.
Another driver with vast experience, two-time Indy winner Takuma Sato, was third at 224.800 in the No. 75 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda. Sato has made 16 “500” starts.
Daly, Castroneves and Sato each turned their best laps on the fabled 2.5-mile oval in the last 15 minutes of on-track action. Many cars circulated in large packs during “Happy Hour,” creating large aerodynamic “tows” that pulled the cars running toward the back of the line.
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon (main photo), who has made 23 “500” starts and won in 2008, was fourth at 224.564 in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Alexander Rossi, who won the 2016 Indianapolis 500 as a rookie, rounded out the top five at 224.367 in the No. 20 ECR Chevrolet.
Nearly every driver’s fastest lap was aided by the “tow” from a leading car breaking a hole in the air. Leader Daly’s teammate, veteran Jack Harvey, was the fastest driver without any aerodynamic help, turning a top non-tow lap of 220.318 in the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet in a marquee day for the team that fields cars only in the Indianapolis 500.
Four Indianapolis 500 rookies and four veteran drivers completed the Rookie Orientation Program and veteran refresher tests, respectively. The rookies: Jacob Abel, Caio Collet, Dennis Hauger and Mick Schumacher. The veterans: Ed Carpenter, Helio Castroneves, Jack Harvey and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Thirty-two of the 33 cars at the track combined to turn 2,262 incident-free laps – 5,655 miles, the approximate driving distance from Los Angeles to New York and back – on Tuesday. The eight-hour session was divided into six hours of track time for veterans and two hours for Rookie Orientation and veteran refresher tests. Katherine Legge, who was named to drive an HMD Motorsports with AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet on Monday, was the only driver not on track.
Track activity during the two-day test continues from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. ET Wednesday. Practice for the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge starts Tuesday, May 12. Race Day is Sunday, May 24.
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