Indy Fast Friday Practice 2:30 Report

Bryan Clauson

Practice is at a pause in order to town in the stalled car of Bryan Clauson, but prior to that we've seem some impressive speeds here at Indy. As you race fans all know, the IMS / IndyCar people turned up the boost for qualifying, and the extra-special wings have come out, so speeds have responded according. Since the point of all of this is to predict how qualifying will go this weekend, let's just post the non-tow-aided speeds: Will Power, Townsend Bell, Carlos Munoz, Simon Pagenaud and Marco Andretti are all over the 230 mph mark. So, it's Andretti and Penske to the front so far. Thirty-one cars are within a second of the top un-assisted speed.

Townsend Bell is one of the surprises for the month. He normally is fast prior to the race, but not THIS fast. "The car has been just meticulously presented every day. The guys haven't made any mistakes, and they're very methodical with the preparation of the car…"

So far today no one has come close to an incident. Rain was supposed to be a non-factor today, but right now the skies are overcast, and the radar looks like someone spilled green guacamole all over the screen. Once again everyone here as turned into a meteorologist.

The Honda teams are still waiting for the Chevy teams to show their true speeds, and are just sure that they'll end up slower by comparison. But so far today, that hasn't been the case. Honda's had a solid month, but two of their new generation engines have failed so far. One Honda rep commented that Hunter-Reay's engine contributed to the local mosquito eradication program yesterday.

When you get to the track, swing by the Sam Schmidt garages. They've done the unthinkable — had an interior decorator for their garage. It's now common in F1 and WEC, and so far as anyone knows, this is a first in IndyCar. Behind the decorative walls are tools, tires, and even 3 dressing rooms. The cars are now "sideways" during work, which means that the engines are nowhere near as visible to prying eyes and long lenses.

— Tim Wohlford and Lucille Dust, reporting from Indy