Thursday update from Indy (2nd Update)

UPDATE The rain that fell here in Indianapolis from noon to 2 pm put an end to the track activity today. Pit lane is still pretty wet and so we will not see any pit stop practice from the IndyCar teams.

The drivers are really ready to get racing. There is only one more hour of practice left tomorrow. After that, there are many sponsor dinners and media events planned for the remaining days before the big race. Which leaves them little time to relax before the Sunday.

Isolated thunderstorms are now in the morning forecast for Carb Day tomorrow. We will just have to wait and see what the weather does as to how much activity we will see tomorrow.

Lucille Dust reporting from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

05/26/16 As Media Day continues rain has hit the speedway.

Veach practicing in Indy Lights

05/26/16 Good morning from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The sky is overcast now but hopefully the clouds will move out today. I know I packed my clothes for all kinds of weather for this weekend, due to the forecast of rain all weekend. But most of the storms that are predicted are forecast for late night and Carb Day looks clear now.

The sound of cars on track this morning are the Indy Lights practicing. Today is their qualifying at 1:15 pm. The series has 16 entries for the Freedom 100, which will be run on Carb Day at 12:30 pm. Country music star Reba McEntire – the mother of Indy Lights driver Shelby Blackstock – will give the command to fire the field of Mazda engines for the 40-lap, 100-mile race.

Experience at IMS valuable to any driver. As you hear the drivers talk about their laps around this historic 2.5 mile oval, they give the track a personality like no other track. Every corner is different and the winds make you adjust your driving in for every turn. Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe, Charlie Kimball and Josef Newgarden are all graduates of the Lights series. And you have a couple of Indy 500 winners within that list.

Life is not the same after winning the Indy 500. Bobby Rahal won this race 30 years ago. His son Graham Rahal recently commented, "For me as an individual, as a family, the Indy 500 is it. It's the one that matters the most. It changed our family name forever. Hopefully I can get a victory and be another father/son combo, which I think only the Unsers have done."

More to come from Media Day later.. Lucille Dust reporting from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway