IndyCar testing in Sonoma

UPDATE It is 3:00 pm here in Sonoma. The session started slow and had a red flag at 2:17 when Alexander Rossi stopped on the main straight. The safety team towed the car back to pit lane while an unhappy Rossi walked back to his pit. A lot of Honda Engine techs in the pit but they were not sure why Rossi's car stopped unexpectedly.

The session went green at 2:28 pm. More cars are starting to hit the track as the peak time of 3 pm approaches.

09/14/17 Hello from the beautiful hills in Sonoma, California. Home to Sonoma Raceway and the season finale of the 2017 IndyCar Championship. We will experience temperatures in the high 60's and sunshine today for the test that all the IndyCar teams are participating in.

There are not very many cars out in the 10 am to noon session. The rookie, Zachary Claman DeMelo, who is driving the number 13 entry for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, was out for 26 laps in the session testing his light green car sponsored by Paysafe. DeMelo, who is from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, earned four podium finishes in the 2017 Indy Lights series.

The fastest driver of the two hour session was Team Penske's Will Power, who ran four laps. Power was the only Team Penske driver to take to the track. Graham Rahal was second, followed by Tony Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Carlos Munoz. Scott Dixon did not run any laps yet today.

So what is the reason the drivers are not all out on track? Two reasons. It is too early in the day to test because the race will be run at 3:30 pm local time on Sunday. And the teams were not allowed enough tires to complete laps to test for six hours.

Scott Dixon, the Ganassi Racing driver who is second in the championship race, commented on the tire situation. "I think most test days we generally use about six sets. And today we are allotted three. Each track is different to get a proper lap together and get the most our of the test. It is such a shame to come out here early and the team spend all that money. It would be easier to buy tires if you wanted to. It is the cheapest things to put on the car."

We will keep you updated today as the day unfolds.

Lucille Dust reporting live from Sonoma Raceway.