Practice report

Will Power leads rain-affected Indy 500 practice at 227mph

Day 1 of an abbreviated Indy 500 practice is complete, and it was Team Penske leading the way

After a lengthy rain delay, the Indy 500 field finally got on track just after 2:30pm EST. The circuit was made available to all teams, with drivers able to fit about three hours of practice into their day until a nearby lightning strike ended things about 30 minutes early. The next on-track action will be Tony Kanaan's veteran refresher test at 10am EST on Wednesday.

During the delay, we got a fairly humorous moment as Pato O'Ward was on hold (for over 40 minutes) with UPS, who were tasked with delivering his Indy 500 helmets, which got held up due to a dispute over custom fees. Thankfully, the issue was later resolved.

There were no incidents during the three hours of on-track action as the Team Penske Chevrolets led the way. It was Will Power posting the fastest lap, reaching 227.026mph on his 61st lap on track. He was followed by teammate Josef Newgarden at 226.971mph, while championship leader and Chip Ganassi Racing Honda driver Alex Palou timed in third at 226.673mph.

Will Power, Team Penske

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

“I think we’ve got a pretty good baseline,” said Power. “My teammates are pretty good. I learned a thing or two off them. It’s (Indianapolis 500) almost its own championship in itself. You’ve got to look for your weaknesses and improve.”

Scott Dixon and Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top five with Helio Castroneves, Alexander Rossi, Marcus Armstrong, Marcus Ericsson, and Marco Andretti filling out the remainder of the top ten.

The Prema Racing cars were a bit late to get on track and ended the session as the slowest cars in the field with Robert Shwartzman 33rd and Callum Ilott 34th (last) on the speed charts.

As for no-tow speeds, Kyle Kirkwood led that column at 219.497mph, which came on his sixth flying lap. He was followed by Josef Newgarden and rookie Jacob Abel.

Kyffin Simpson ran the most laps with 84 total laps completed by the Chip Ganassi Racing driver. Coming over to Indianapolis after a dominant NASCAR Cup win at Kansas, Kyle Larson ran 45 laps, timing in 24th at 221.207mph. He is attempting to complete the rare 'Double' this year after a failed attempt in 2024 (due to weather), running both the Indy 500 and Coke 600 on the same day.