IndyCar noon update from Sonoma

The first practice session of the weekend ended this morning with no outstanding issues for anyone. You may have noticed that the Team Penske drivers did not put in many laps today. Earlier in the season, it was announced by Indycar that there would be promoter test days on the Fridays on road and street courses.

With the temperatures only in the 60s and a green track, Team Penske only put in a handful of laps to save some tires. Will power stated "It was cool, so that made the car a lot better. You know, the wind direction wasn't quite right. We were trying to save some tires. It didn't make sense to run very much this morning. I think this next session is going to be real telling. I think everyone is going to run a lot because around the time we're qualifying the temperatures are going to be the same, and hopefully the wind is. We'll get more of an idea then."

I ran into Memo Gidley in the pits this morning. Gidley drove for various teams in Champ Car and the IndyCar series from 1999-2004 and also drove in the American Le Mans series for a handful of races between 1999-2012.

In the 2014 24 Hours of Daytona, Gidley suffered serious injuries when his Corvette DP slammed into the back of a Ferrari being driven by Matteo Malucelli. Malucelli's car had lost power and had rolled to a near stop on the track, when Gidley hit him at approximately 120 miles per hour. Gidley was taken by ambulance to Halifax Hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with a broken back and leg and arm injuries. The list of a dozen significant injuries included his lower back, right kneecap, left heel and foot, left tibia and fibula, nose, left finger and double compound fracture of the left elbow, plus assortment of nerve damage and bruising that takes too long to explain

I asked Gidley what his plans for the future are. The Sausalito resident answered, "I have made huge improvements since my accident two and a half years ago. I had another surgery on my back nine months ago and I am down to the last couple of months of healing. I have a new go cart being built up in the shop right now. And that is absolutely the thing I want to get back in and start driving again. I am working hard. A lot of training and physical therapy. I want to get back out there and drive."

"I would love to go back into sports car, the IMSA cars but you can never say where you are going back into because you are basically looking for opportunities. What I dream about and fantasize about is getting back into my go cart and doing some laps. The rest of it will come along, as far as where it's going to be and what I am going to drive. There will be opportunities. I just have to take those first laps in the next couple of months."

Lucille Dust reporting from Sonoma Raceway…