IndyCar: Sato tops opening practice day for Indy 500

With the help of a tow that means absolutely nothing in terms of raw speed for qualifying, Takuma Sato ran a lap of 228.939 mph to top opening practice for the 2022 Indy 500 in his Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR #51 Honda.

What counts is the no-tow laps speeds.

“We had a big tow,” Sato said. “In Happy Hour, if you have new tires, I think you can do that. I’m pretty happy today.

“To be honest, this morning wasn’t as smooth as we wished. We had to go back to the garage and check up on lots of things because there was something we were not very happy with. But in the end, in the afternoon we quickly turned on good speed. I’m very happy with the 51 car. Dale Coyne Racing did a good job.”

Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon was second at 227.768 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, leading four Chip Ganassi Racing drivers in the top six.

Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson opened preparations for his first start in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” by ending up third at 227.722 in the No. 48 Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

“We have a really good race car,” Johnson said. “It’s just trying to work through extremes for me. What is a low trim setting? What’s a high trim setting? What’s mechanically tight? What’s mechanically free? Just trying to work through some of those big-picture things.

“All in all, a really good day. I feel like where we ended in this session gives me a lot of confidence for working forward.”

Hondas ran 1-2-3-4 because all the Chevys are still sandbagging.

Marcus Ericsson was fourth at 227.094 in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing, with Rinus VeeKay rounding out the top five at 226.995 in the No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile Chevrolet.

Reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou completed the Chip Ganassi Racing domination of the top of the speed chart, ending up sixth at 226.973 in the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

In total fans got to see the cars go around, and around, and around for a total of 3,229 blistering laps.

Tomorrow looks like it could be a wash out.

Day 1 Results