As reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon expected, the competition on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway circuit is razor close. He just happened to produce the best timed lap in the second practice session May 8 for the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 10.4654 seconds on the course that was revised from the one used in the past by Formula One, MotoGP and sports cars.
Five different teams were represented in the top five of the 45-minute session, and the top 24 cars were separated by less than a second under a canopy of blue sky and summer-like temperature.
Each of the three Verizon IndyCar Series races this season has had a different pole sitter and winner.
Simon Pagenaud was second in the session -- .0191 of a second back -- in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports car, while series championship points leader Will Power was third (1:10.5672) in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske entry. Sebastien Bourdais, driving the No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing car, was quickest in the morning session (1:10.5150) and third overall.
DAY 1 NOTEBOOK:
The Verizon IndyCar Series will compete in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, a 82-lap race at 3:50 p.m. (ET) Saturday.
The three Mazda Road to Indy series - Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda, will compete in doubleheader events this weekend.
The Indy Lights races are scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Friday (30 laps or 40 minutes) and 1:30 p.m. Saturday (40 laps or 60 minutes). Pro Mazda races are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Friday and 12:10 Saturday (Both are 20 laps or 35 minutes). USF2000 races are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday (Both are 18 laps or 35 minutes).
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At a press conference earlier today, Pennzoil announced the return of an iconic look for its brand in the Verizon IndyCar Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Helio Castroneves will carry the "Yellow Submarine" scheme to celebrate the launch of Pennzoil Platinum® and Pennzoil Ultra Platinum™ Full Synthetic motor oils with PurePlus™ Technology.
RUSTY BARRON (Vice President North America of Lubricants Marketing): "Pennzoil has a long and storied history with the IndyCar Series. Together, these three gentlemen represent 10 Indy 500 victories, and that's just a snapshot of the history Pennzoil has in open wheel racing. Let me share a little bit of history with you. Pennzoil first appeared at this track as a sponsor of the successful car driven by Russell Snowberger in the 1930s. His success over a five year period attracted 27 other race teams and drivers to voluntarily select Pennzoil as a race engine. Now, fast forward to the 1980s and the oil used by the team of Johnny Rutherford and Rick Mears was also Pennzoil. It was the same oil that you could by right off the shelf and use in your own car. In the 1990s and the 2000s, that was a time when a specialty blend was made for the team and the engines. However, coming back to Team Penske in 2012, we went back to the off-the-shelf technology. This year, we are proud to be racing with a product we just launched - Pennzoil Ultra Platinum with PurePlus Technology. It's the first of its kind motor oil made from natural gas. This oil will be used by all twin turbo V6 Chevy engines across the series. It's the same formulation that you can buy off the shelf and use in your car. Since 2012, engines carrying Pennzoil have won more poles and more races than any other engine oil racing in this series. We're proud to be back here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and we think you are going to be excited about the car piloted by Helio Castroneves in the 98th running of the Indy 500."
HELIO CASTRONEVES (Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner): "For me, it's an inspiration. Right now, it's an honor to be wearing the yellow color, not because of Dancing With the Stars but it helps. But just to see this, what an honor having these guys around helping me out to unveil the car. I want to thank Pennzoil with the new product and I'm excited to be representing you guys. It sounds like it's a good luck charm. I feel like a small fish in a big ocean right now with those two legends over here. At the end of the day, Penske has a great history here at the Speedway. I can't wait to be sitting in that car at the beginning of practice after the Indianapolis GP and I can't wait to go race with these colors. And a special thanks to Rick for allowing me to use the colors of his helmet. I'm extremely thankful and honored to be wearing not only the Pennzoil colors but Rick's helmet colors, too."
RICK MEARS (Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner): "The yellow Pennzoil car is such an iconic figure, iconic sponsor for this event and this racing period. To get it back here in the sport with us with Team Penske and all of the great fortune it brought me, hopefully it will roll right into Helio and do the same for him." (Is there a little sense of emotion when you see the car sitting there): "Absolutely, it's a gorgeous car. It brings back a lot of memories. You wish you could do it again, but you know you can't."
JOHNNY RUTHERFORD (Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner): "It's always good to be back in the month of May for the Indianapolis 500 and to be here to represent Pennzoil with Helio (Castroneves) and Rick (Mears). It's a great thrill. It's a lot of fun. We had some good times. They were one of the best sponsors I ever had in racing and I've always enjoyed the people at Pennzoil and the fact that my favorite color for a race car is yellow." (How did it get the name of the Yellow Submarine?) "Jim Hall had three cars built in England and brought them over and he had a tight connection with Pennzoil. He went to them to try and get them to be a sponsor and of course their colors are yellow. It was just natural. The car was the start of the ground effects and that was a brand new era in racing as having a car you could flat foot around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at over 200 miles per hour. It was fun, enjoyable, the car was great. It opened up a whole new avenue of the way you drove them and the way things happened."
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Everything is a bit more familiar now for Carlos Huertas, who enters his fourth Verizon IndyCar Series race in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing car.
A break in the series schedule between the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis this weekend has given the Illinois-based team the opportunity to change the primary and complementary colors of the car to Huertas' favorites.
"Since I started racing in Europe I always had the blue and white that my dad and I, with the sponsors, to keep as an identity," said the 22-year-old from Bogota, Colombia. "When we came to the States, we wanted that but the team was red and white and we had to wait a bit because of the race after race."
Actually, the preferred blue and white pre-dates Huertas moving to Europe to compete in Formula BMW UK in 2007. It's the colors of his favorite Primera A football (soccer) team in Colombia, Millionarios.
"My whole family supports them and my dad and I have been big fans, so I've always liked (those colors) it since I was a kid," he said.
Red and white are the colors of Millionarios' rivals from Bogota, Santa Fe.
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A.J. Foyt Racing teammates Martin Plowman and Takuma Sato spoke about the newly modified road course and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Plowman is already a winner in the Month of May, claiming the win in the Martin Plowman Celebrity Kart Race with a team representing his sponsor Alfe Heat Treating. He joked that the race was not fixed.
MARTIN PLOWMAN (No. 41 Alfe/ABC Supply Honda): "I love this track, It's really going to create a lot of good racing come Saturday -- really long straights, heavy braking in the turns, so many technical parts of the track, too, so it's got a good flow to it." (Have you done many standing starts?) It's been a very, very long time ago. I think the last time I did a standing start was July of 2008, back in my Junior Formula days. Then we had a manual clutch and a sequential gearbox, so it was all in the feel of your feet. Now we have to do it with paddle shifts and paddle clutches. I'm just going to focus on not stalling it."
TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply/A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "We are really enjoying the new layout. With the turns and the layout, the Speedway did a really good job. The car was not quite what we wanted in the first run. We should be able to find more speed with this program, but today we were a little bit down. I think we'll be OK with the standing start by this time. We did some last year and we had one at Long Beach this year.I do like a standing start, but we need to get it just right."
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Austin Cindric and Colton Herta are competing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time as part of the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship, but they've been coming to races at the track for most of their lives with their fathers. Herta, 14, is the son of six-time Indianapolis 500 starter Bryan Herta, while Cindric, 15, is the son of Team Penske President Tim Cindric.
COLTON HERTA (No. 98 JAY Motorsports/USF2000): "I have been here for every race since I was little. The biggest advice (my dad) has given me is not to get frustrated when you get down and to always try to make the car better. It is amazing, going down the frontstretch, seeing the grandstands and The Pagoda. There is so much history here. I cheered for (my dad) and now he can cheer for me."
BRYAN HERTA (co-owner BHA/BBM with Curb-Agajanian): "I'm very proud of how (Colton) is doing, in and out of the car. He's a great kid. It is with a great sense of pride for me to watch him race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Do you get nervous?): "All the time; it's much harder for me to watch him race than it was for me to race. I haven't talked to him today. I've got a lot going with this (No. 98 Verizon IndyCar Series) team and the Indy Lights team. He's with his team. When he races, I just get to be a fan."
AUSTIN CINDRIC (No. 77 Pabst Racing / USF2000): "He (father Tim Cindric) spots for me during my sessions, qne tells me what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing better than the other guys. I try to work on that. He is there for support obviously; he's my dad. Whatever I can learn from what the IndyCar Series guys are doing on the track, or the Pro Mazda or Indy Lights, I learn from watching them. (About racing on the road course): "The course will be great for racing because of the long straightaways; you can get a run on the other cars. It's really flat and smooth which I like. I'm really excited to get to race. (About his racing background): "A little bit different that the rest of the drivers. I started out in Bandoleros at 10 and then to Legends Cars. I've done very little kart racing which is a little different. I did the 2012 Skip Barber School and then made the choice to move up to USF2000 because I wasn't old enough to run the F1600. This is a tough car to learn and the series is so hard because the competition is so tight. I have good teammates to learn from. I look at all forms of racing as race cars; I'd like to drive any of them.
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Multiple Grammy Award-winning country music superstar LeAnn Rimes will sing the national anthem during pre-race ceremonies at the 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 25, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
One of the world's most successful country music entertainers with a career spanning more than 20 years, Rimes was the youngest person to ever win a Grammy Award and was the first country artist to win the Grammy for Best New Artist.
"To sing the national anthem at one of the most prestigious racing events is truly an honor," said Rimes. "The adrenaline at the Speedway is felt around the world and I know I am one of millions who is so excited to hear those six legendary words 'ladies and gentlemen, start your engines.' "
"The pre-race pageantry of the Indianapolis 500 is one of the most exciting traditions in sports and a highlight of those activities is the singing of our national anthem," said J. Douglas Boles, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president. "We are looking forward to LeAnn Rimes' performance and hearing her amazing voice as we pay tribute to our great nation and the men and women who have served to defend our freedoms."
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Previous winners of major inaugural races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: Ray Harroun (1911 Indianapolis 500), Jeff Gordon (1994 Brickyard 400), Michael Schumacher (2000 U.S. Grand Prix Formula One), Valentino Rossi (2008 Indianapolis MotoGP race), Sebastien Bourdais and Alex Popow (2012 Grand-Am race).
The first motorsport event at the Speedway was a motorcycle race on Aug. 14, 1909, on the 2.5 mile oval.
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Juan Pablo Montoya, the 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner who also made multiple NASCAR Sprint Cup starts on the oval, made six starts in F1 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He also was a passenger on the road course on a MotoGP two-seater.
Montoya, in his first Verizon IndyCar Series season driving the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske car, has a best finish of fourth at Long Beach last month.
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VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES POST-PRACTICE QUOTES:
SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "The cars are on a knife edge. The straights are so long that you're trimming the car out to levels that I think we've only seen once before in Brazil on a street course with another really long straight. That there makes it tough, the window of being on the edge and going for the quick time is uncomfortably small, but it's a lot of fun. You're constantly chasing the track, and the conditions, today it is very windy, tomorrow it might open up and rain, and then for the race, I hope everyone comes out for that, but I like it. They did a hell of a job with this track."
MIKE CONWAY (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): "It was a tough day for us. We are struggling to get the grip level right now. We thought we had some things figured out at the test, but it didn't work out today. It is very exciting to run the road circuit at IMS for the first time. It's a beautiful circuit. I think it will be a very entertaining venue for the race fans on Saturday. We'll work hard overnight to improve the car and get it better for qualifications. There is rain in the forecast for Friday and that could change a lot of things for everyone here."
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Verizon Team Penske): "The day was good. We tried a few things, some of them were a little crazy, but we're trying to prepare for qualifying tomorrow. We weren't as fast as we would have liked to be but we still have a practice session in the morning to work some things out. Overall, with today being our first official practice sessions on the road course I'm happy with where the No. 3 Verizon Chevy ended up. I really want to be the first winner of this race so we are going to give it all we have!"
CARLOS HUERTAS (No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "We tried something at the front (of the car) in the second practice and it didn't really work so it was hard to drive. We had some issues this morning on certain parts of the track and we tried to fix the car and we tried something different and it didn't really work at all. I am getting comfortable with the track but we need to get the car working the way I want to. That is the biggest problem at the moment."
GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 National Guard Honda): "I think we are starting to figure some things out with the National Guard car. We're getting it into a better zone, and definitely more competitive. I'm proud of these guys for keeping their heads down and getting it done. There is still work to be done but its work to be done coming from sixth (in afternoon session) versus coming from the back which is a good change for us. Hopefully we can improve on Friday, hopefully it will stay dry and we'll see what happens." (About the track): "It's (track) fast. I think that's what this place has over others. This is the fastest road course that we will go to this season. The top speed is 196, 197 mph which is pretty quick for these things on a road course. I'm pretty impressed. The facilities are phenomenal as you would expect; this is Indy. It's IndyCar Country and I hope the fans come out and support this. It's by far the closest field you have seen in IndyCar history this weekend. It's very, very competitive."
ORIOL SERVIA (No. 16 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): "Graham and I started the day with the same setup and had the exact same grip on the car but in the second practice, we tried two different solutions and I think Graham is happy with his and I wasn't happy at all. It's a benefit of having two cars. I'm pretty sure we will end up moving towards the solutions the National Guard team found." (About changes to the track since the Open Test:) "They have done a good job finishing all of the small details. They painted the curbs and they look great. It's funny how just a little bit of color and aesthetics change the whole feel. They've painted the curbs in three different color tones which look really nice. I'm sure the fans are going to like it and they will look great on TV."
JUSTIN WILSON (No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "I think we found a little bit of performance. The car feels a little bit better but there is still more to come. I'm not completely happy with the car yet, we have to keep searching and I think we'll get there. We have a couple of ideas. I like this track. It's a lot of fun to drive. It's pretty high commitment for such a low downforce track."
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA (No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "The track was pretty hot today, so we had to change the car over a little bit from what we had in the test session last week. Last week was frigid compared to what we have for conditions today. We spent the first session just trying to figure out what we needed because it was almost like starting over. I felt we really gained a lot in the second session. It's hard to judge where we are because I think other teams used more tires than we did. We haven't really used any tires today so it doesn't really show how good we are, but I think we have a really good No. 2 Verizon Chevrolet."
SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 11 Hydroxycut KVSH Racing): "It was a very good day for the Mistic E-Cigs team until the last run. We tried something on new tires and it didn't work out, but overall the car was really strong. The Mistic crew did a really good job. We were kind of tippy toeing through the changes trying to see what we could get, but it is supposed to rain tomorrow so everything goes back up in the air and we will see where we land."
CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet): "We made some huge steps forward from practice one to practice two. The speed was there in practice one, but we just didn't quite get the lap time we wanted. We're really focused on getting as much work in terms of setup on the No. 83 NovoLog FlexPen Chevrolet done today because the weather looks a little uncertain for tomorrow. We'll just have to react to those conditions, but the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing guys are ready rain or shine. We'll be in good shape for qualifying and focused on getting a good starting position for the Inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis on Saturday."
RYAN BRISCOE (No. 8 NTT DATA Chevrolet): "I'm pretty happy with how today went. I mean our lap time doesn't really show how good of a day we actually had. We did some race prep when the track was getting faster so we probably missed putting together a fast lap time when the track was at its quickest. We just spent a lot of our time today doing laps and getting adjusted to these hot conditions since it is so much warmer here today than it was when we tested last week. Hopefully once we trim it back and get it ready for qualifying, we'll have the speed."
TONY KANAAN (No. 10 GE Reveal Chevrolet): "We had a good day today overall. Not where we wanted to be speed-wise but we are improving the Lexar car. We had to make some changes between sessions today to stop the brakes from locking. I think we have everything until control now and are headed in the right direction for qualifying tomorrow."
WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "The No. 12 Verizon Chevy team did a great job today and at the end there the car was definitely getting close to where we need it to be. Overall, we had a good day. We definitely made some gains and have a little bit more to go. Tomorrow, I think the weather will be a lot different than today, but we'll do our best."
MIKHAIL ALESHIN (No. 7 SMP Racing Honda): (On being a Russian IndyCar Driver living in Indianapolis) "Well, about Indy, I mean, it's hard to compare because it's a different country, first of all. Yeah, different traditions. Many different things. But I think I really like the people here, that's for sure. Everybody is very nice, very friendly. I think that's very important when you change the place where you live like I did this year. IndyCar was never showed on Russian TV so much. We had a couple Indy 500 races a long time ago. But from this year it is on TV already, so people start to follow. Actually, they start to open this category also, and they comparing it to Formula One. Actually, a lot of people say to me it's a little bit more interesting in case of fighting, activity on the track, which I can actually completely agree. Yeah, for example, for the 500 race, there is a lot of media coming here from Russia, as well."
SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Racing Honda): "It's a nice racetrack. It's flowing. There's a nice rhythm to it. It's in Indy, it's at home. It feels good. The cars are nice to drive here, the IndyCars. It's the smoothest track we go to. I have to thank IMS for doing a good job for us."
JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 United Fiber & Data Honda): "Solid first day, I guess. This is a tricky track to set up for. It's kind of the trim wars right now out there on figuring out what the right downforce level is. The weather's changing a lot, the track's still changing a lot, so at the end of the day, we're pretty pleased to have the United Fiber and Data car in the Top-5. It's hard to get that lap time, so we need to work on a race car that's good and consistent. We're not sure what the weather's going to do tomorrow-could very well be rain, and that throws a whole wrench in for qualifying, but race day is what pays the points, and that's what we're trying to work on today. I think we're going in the right direction."
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 25 Snapple Honda): "I think we definitely have a clearer picture after practice two, than practice one. I think our potential is definitely better. I hit the tub in Turn 8. I got too much curb, so we lost two and a half tenths on a quick lap which if you give me that that is right where we need to be."
RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): "It was a good day for all the Andretti Autosport cars. I think we are all very competitive. It's going to be a mix of getting down the straights, versus getting through the corners, downforce versus low drag. I think we have a good car right now, so we'll see how tomorrow goes with this weather they are expecting."
CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 34 Cinsay AndrettiTV.com HVM Honda): "I think we are looking pretty good for tomorrow. It seems that the weather is going to be different from today, so everything's going to change, but I think we're pretty solid. In IndyCar you have to time it really well, putting everything together. Tomorrow we'll see how it is. If it's raining, obviously it will be a lot different tomorrow."
FRANCK MONTAGNY (No. 26 Suretone Honda): "It's not too bad after two years off-just seven-tenths off-but we're still not there, not where we would like to be. We are P20. It's not where an Andretti car should be. I'm giving my best, and I hope tomorrow's going to be better after one night off. It's always good when you get in the car after a long while to have a break to think about things. So I hope tomorrow will be better, but today I'm a little disappointed. I'm happy with the car; I like the job that we've done, but I don't like to see P20 on the monitor."
SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 17 AFS KV AFS Racing Chevrolet): "I absolutely love it. It's a very dynamic track and I love to drive it. It's very different from what we have in Indy Car, which makes it even better. It introduces something new to the series and I'm very excited to be here. It's a different way around and I completely approve it. (The standing start) is something I grew up with in Europe, so I do enjoy them. It's also a little bit more fun for the fans to watch. We had a good practice, and we were right there in the top 12. We're shooting for the top five and that's important because it's going to rain (Friday. I'm hoping that conditions (Saturday) will be similar to today."
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SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE (all times local):
10- 10:45 a.m.
Verizon IndyCar Series practice #3
2 - 3:10 p.m.
Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying for Verizon P1 Award (knockout qualifying and Firestone Fast Six), NBCSN (Taped, 3 p.m)
