Testing report
IndyCar Indy 500 April testing
Indy 500 test day ends early after third pit-exit incident
The first day of Indy 500 testing was halted 45 minutes early after a third baffling incident on the exit of pit road.
David Malsher-Lopez
Edited: Apr 21, 2022, 6:21 PM
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Alexander Rossi had a harmless spin exiting pit road for an installation lap in the morning session that involved the 22 veterans plus two rookies – Romain Grosjean and Jimmie Johnson – that had already concluded their orientation program to IndyCar’s satisfaction.
The eight-car ‘rookies and refreshers’ session went without a hitch in the early afternoon. However, as four-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves sped up on the pit-out warm-up lane on the inside of the short chute between Turns 1 and 2 and, his Meyer Shank Racing-Honda snapped into a spin. The momentum carried him across the grass that separates that warm-up lane from the racing surface at Turn 2, across the track and into the outside wall, heavily damaging the right side of his car.
Trackside Online has confirmed with Meyer Shank that the wrecked machine was last year’s winning car and it will not be back on track tomorrow, nor will Castroneves run a spare car.
Barely 20mins after the Brazilian veteran’s incident, 2018 Indy winner Will Power’s Team Penske Chevrolet suddenly spun as the car left pitlane. He partially crossed the strip of grass that divides pit-out from the track at Turn 1, and the rear of the car jutted out onto the racing line. Colton Herta, running full speed on track moved up half a lane to avoid striking the Penske, and this was enough to turn the Andretti Autosport-Honda into a long drift which became a spin.
Following long inspection of the recently sealed pit exit lane, IndyCar officials elected to shut down the day’s on-track activities.
That left four-time Indy polesitter and single-time winner Scott Dixon at the head of the speed charts, the #9 Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda turning a 227.187mph lap to finish up ahead of Conor Daly’s Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet.
Although the foreshortened track time meant lap speeds were largely inconclusive, Juncos Hollinger Racing could be highly satisfied that its rookie Callum Ilott was third fastest in the 226mph speed bracket. The former Formula 2 ace had also topped the rookie and refreshers course.
Santino Ferrucci, just like in this morning’s session, was highly impressive in his first ever run for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet, clocking fourth fastest, ahead of Ganassi’s Marcus Ericsson who had to swerve to avoid the shunts for both Castroneves and Herta.
His NASCAR legend teammate Jimmie Johnson was very fast in this morning’s practice, so his P25 time this afternoon was entirely unrepresentative of his potential.
P
No
Name
FTime
FL
Laps
FSpeed
Engine
Team
1
9
Scott Dixon
39.6150
9
11
227.187
Honda
2
20
Conor Daly
39.6502
24
26
226.985
Chevy
Ed Carpenter Racing
3
77
Callum Ilott
39.7688
10
11
226.308
Chevy
Juncos Hollinger Racing
4
23
Santino Ferrucci
39.7910
16
21
226.182
Chevy
Dreyer & Reinbold
5
8
Marcus Ericsson
39.9394
9
16
225.341
Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing
6
27
Alexander Rossi
39.9624
25
27
225.212
Honda
7
06
Helio Castroneves
39.9723
5
10
225.156
Honda
8
11
JR Hildebrand
39.9813
8
9
225.105
Chevy
AJ Foyt Enterprises
9
26
Colton Herta
40.0531
33
35
224.702
Honda
Andretti Autosport
10
51
40.0664
11
12
224.627
Honda
Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR
11
10
40.0947
14
17
224.469
Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing
12
29
40.1411
4
5
224.209
Honda
Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
13
21
40.1418
4
11
224.205
Chevy
Ed Carpenter Racing
14
60
40.2563
22
24
223.567
Honda
Meyer Shank Racing
15
28
Romain Grosjean
40.3130
30
34
223.253
Honda
Andretti Autosport
16
5
40.3213
4
23
223.207
Chevy
17
3
40.4964
8
15
222.242
Chevy
Team Penske
18
7
40.5600
5
12
221.893
Chevy
Arrow McLaren SP
19
12
Will Power
40.5782
8
12
221.794
Chevy
Team Penske
20
33
Ed Carpenter
40.6656
11
16
221.317
Chevy
Ed Carpenter Racing
21
45
40.7314
15
21
220.960
Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
22
1
40.8475
7
8
220.332
Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing
23
15
40.9498
4
26
219.781
Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
24
2
41.1004
4
10
218.976
Chevy
Team Penske
25
48
Jimmie Johnson
41.1363
9
21
218.785
Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing
26
6
No Time
--
1
---
Chevy
Arrow McLaren SP
27
14
No Time
--
---
---
Chevy
AJ Foyt Enterprises
28
30
No Time
--
---
---
Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
29
18
No Time
--
---
---
Honda
Dale Coyne Racing with HMD
30
98
No Time
--
---
---
Honda
Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco & Curb
31
4
No Time
--
---
---
Chevy
AJ Foyt Enterprises
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