Good morning from Long Beach (Update)
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| E.J. Viso |
We ran into E.J. Viso in the paddock here at Long Beach this morning. We asked the Venezuelan veteran of 100 IndyCar starts if he had anything working for the Indianapolis 500. Viso noted that nothing was signed but did say "we're working on it."
And for what it's worth, Viso spent some time in the Dale Coyne Racing paddock area this morning. So make of that what you will.
Speaking of Dale Coyne Racing, the team has of course been in the news a lot over the past week. Yesterday, they shocked the paddock with the announcement that Rocky Moran, Jr. would replace Carlos Huertas for the weekend. As you know by now, Moran broke his hand yesterday and has been replaced by Conor Daly, who was here driving the two-seater for Indy Racing Experience.
"We're not here to set the world on fire," said Daly, whose team borrowed a seat from Marco Andretti for today's practice sessions. We're here to learn. At least I’ve been on the track this weekend. I should be ready to go and excited for it. I've always wanted to race (an Indy car) on a road course, and especially here at Long Beach."
Daly finished 22nd in today's session which was led by Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud.
Of note: Graham Rahal has been the fastest Honda in two of the three practice sessions, posting the sixth fastest time in the most recent session. Also, James Jakes, who finished third last weekend is having a tough weekend having been 19th, 15th and 20th respectively in the three sessions.
Brian C. reporting from Long Beach
04/18/15 It's another perfect, idyllic day in Long Beach. The Pirelli World Challenge cars are about to take to the track, and we're off to breakfast.
Follow along for all the updates from Long Beach in our AR1 Long Beach Event Summary. The first Verizon IndyCar Series practice is at 10 a.m. today local time.
Brian C. reporting from Long Beach