INDIANAPOLIS — The second day of the Indy 500 Open Test was delayed by four-and-a-half hours because of heavy overnight rain but concluded with four fantastic hours of track activity Thursday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Once the track was dried and the slick pit warmup lane that had caused issues in Wednesday’s session had been reconditioned, the action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway looked more like race day for the Indy 500 than a test session.
Thirty-one of the 32 cars entered in the 106th Indy 500 were on track, many times running in large groups. The only driver/car combination that wasn’t on the course Thursday was defending winner Helio Castroneves. The four-time Indy 500 was one of three former winners to spin out and crash while leaving the pit warmup lane on Wednesday.
Castroneves’ No. 06 Honda was sent back to Meyer-Shank Racing in Pataskala, Ohio – a suburb of Columbus, Ohio — for repair. It was the same car Castroneves drove to victory in last year’s 105th Indianapolis 500.
By the end of the frantic four-hour test session that ran from 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time to 6:30 p.m., it was Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden on top with a fast speed of 229.519 mph around the 2.5-mile oval.
“It was very productive actually,” said Newgarden, who became a father for the first time on Monday. “Once we got into the swing of it, we were really making a lot of progress on our race car specifically, which I was happy about. I really wanted to get into some race work this afternoon. We spent a lot of the time doing that, probably the majority of it.
“It was a positive test for us. We try to divide and conquer on Team Penske, get through as much as we could with all three cars.
“I’m happy about it. The weather conditions turned pretty beautiful there at the end. It was just about perfect. So pleased. Happy to be here with Team Penske as always. I like the new Shell car this year with the extra gold, I think it looks pretty racy. I think Team Chevy has done their homework, too.
“We’ve been feeling positive to start this year. Big thing for us is to carry that into the month of May.”
Team Penske had two Chevrolets in the top five, including Newgarden in the No. 2 and Scott McLaughlin, who was fifth fastest at 228.397 mph in the No. 3 Chevrolet.
Two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato was second quick aboard the Dale Coyne Racing with RWR No. 51 Honda at 229.427 mph, while Tony Kanaan was third fastest in the No. 1 American Legion Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing at 228.767 mph.
“For us, we took it really slowly,” said Kanaan, the 2013 Indy 500 winner. “We’re a new team as far as my car. We had to just get everybody together in the groove.
“Obviously, the guys are working with me, I mean, half of them worked on my 10 car when I was at Ganassi. We just took it easy. We did a lot of race work, like everybody else.
“My teammates did a pretty good job giving me something to start. That was pretty decent. It was an easy day really. I think we had a lot of information gather. The guys went through it. We were just trying — a lot of my guys are working on the IMSA side this year. Just to get really in the groove, get everybody working together.
“I’m comfortable in the car. It had been, what, nine months I hadn’t run. Yesterday was a little — took me a little bit, especially with the conditions. I was like, Whoa. Today just felt like home.
“So good day for us. Obviously lap times, nice to be here, but it doesn’t really matter.”
Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon was fourth at 228.689 mph.
There were 3,267 laps run by the 31 cars in the four-hour session that ran incident free.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, driving with a pin in a broken right hand, was eighth-fastest at 227.900 mph in the No. 48 Carvana/American Legion Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. He also ran 138 laps.
“I think we’re all paying attention to that scoring pylon,” Johnson said. “We’re all trying. As long as the session is green, we’re all trying to be the fastest car out there. When any car was on new tires, people were trying to create a gap, trying to put up a fast lap time.
“I think our cars do have a lot of speed. For myself, it was really just trying to understand how to get that gap and pull up to the group in front of you, pop off a lap.
“It looks nice on the scoreboard, but there were a few cars that could really pass. I think that’s what we’re all deep down inside focused on, and going to debrief and work on, is to figure out how to get off of turns two and four and make better passes.”
Marco Andretti was sixth in the No. 98 Honda at 228.185 mph and defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou’s No. 10 Honda at 228.058 mph.
Marcus Ericsson ran 148 laps, the most of any driver on Thursday. Palou ran 147 laps.
Track maintenance crews at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway worked throughout the night to treat the hazardous area of the pit warmup lane that caused several incidents during Wednesday’s Indy 500 Open Test.
According to IndyCar, extensive tire dragging, and brushing was performed using two 800-pound tractor tires to put rubber down and remove any extra Rapid Penetrating Emulsion treatment.
RPE was used on the track in 2018 to seal the surface. The pit warmup lane had that treatment applied over this offseason.
A key part of what makes RPE effective is its penetrating, air-void-filling capability.
Unlike a crack seal that simply covers the surface of a crack, RPE soaks into the pavement itself and decreases the permeability of the surface to which it’s applied.
The process on the pit warmup lane was concluded past 12 midnight Eastern Time.
Heavy rain swept through the Indianapolis area overnight and concluded around 9 a.m. ET.
IndyCar had to completely dry the track from the overnight rain and then Firestone officials had to re-scan the warmup lane to evaluate the affected areas.
Former Indy 500 winners Alexander Rossi, Castroneves and Will Power lost control of their cars on the pit warmup lane in three separate crashes during Wednesday’s test session.
Once Firestone completed the rescan, the dark, rainy clouds had been replaced with bright sunshine and warmer temperatures. That allowed the teams and drivers to participate in one of the more impressive speed session at IMS in recent years.
According to Kanaan, however, there remain some issues on the pit warmup lane that need to be addressed before the teams return in May.
“It’s better in one lane, but they have a lot of work to do,” Kanaan said. “They know that. If there’s a track that’s going to make it happen, it’s going to be this one, so…”