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IndyCar: Power tops opening day for Indy 500 at the Brickyard

Posted by AR1 staff

The top drivers all put up their fast times on Day 1 of practice for the 2021 Indy 500 using the slipstream to their advantage.

The Penske Chevys looked the most stable of all the cars running and Will Power showed the way in the #12 Penske Chevy at 226.470mph.

Two previous 500 winners – Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takuma Sato were 2nd and 3rd, the only other drivers over 226mph.

“Just a big tow,” Power said of the aerodynamic pull of leading cars. “It’s as simple as that – trying to catch that train. But as far as in traffic, I felt pretty good. Running with two or three cars in front, I felt as comfortable as I have in a while.”

2014 “500” winner Ryan Hunter-Reay was second at 226.371 in the No. 28 DHL Honda, while two-time and reigning winner Takuma Sato was third at 226.132 in the No. 30 Panasonic/PeopleReady Honda.

2nd quick for Hunter-Reay

Sage Karam was the fastest non-“500” winner on the speed chart, fourth at 225.942 in the No. 24 DRR-AES INDIANA Chevrolet. Conor Daly rounded out the top five at 225.640 in the No. 47 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet.

Takuma Sato – 3rd quick

INDYCAR introduced a regulation in 2021 that requires teams to fill in the front half of the “hole” in the underwing of the Dallara chassis with a carbon fiber clam-shell piece. This increases downforce and reduces the reliance on the front wing, which will create more passing. After just one day in traffic, 2014 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Power thinks the changes will generate even more action on Race Day, Sunday, May 30.

“It’s promising,” Power said. “I think adding that downforce is certainly going to help the racing. I think you’re going to have one of the old-style races where the front three are just swapping positions constantly because you can follow so close now. I think it will be good. It’s good for the fans.”

Power was the busiest and fastest of the 35 drivers on track today, turning 87 laps. The field combined to turn 2,369 laps overall.

Graham Rahal led the morning session for veteran drivers, which was interrupted by three times by light rain. His top lap was 223.449 in the No. 15 United Rentals Honda, and that stood as his top speed of the day.

After a rain delay of two hours, 20 minutes, the track opened for two hours for the Rookie Orientation Program and veteran refresher tests.

JR Hildebrand and Stefan Wilson completed their refresher tests in the No. 1 ABC Supply Foyt Stewart Racing Chevrolet and No. 25 LOHLA SPORT/Cusick Motorsports Honda, respectively. RC Enerson was the only one of the three rookies assigned to cars who didn’t complete his rookie test during testing in April, and he was nearly finished with the second of the three phases of his test when mechanical trouble struck his No. 75 Top Gun Racing Chevrolet.

Enerson will return to the track at 11 a.m. Wednesday to try and finish the second and third phases of his rookie test. The track is scheduled to be open from noon-6 p.m. for open practice

Day 1 Practice Speeds

Pos No Name Time Diff Gap Laps Speed Engine Team
1 12 Will Power 39.7403 39.7403 0.000 57 226.470 Chevy Team Penske
2 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 39.7578 0.0175 0.0175 43 226.371 Honda Andretti Autosport
3 30 Takuma Sato 39.7998 0.0595 0.0420 58 226.132 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
4 24 Sage Karam 39.8332 0.0929 0.0334 43 225.942 Chevy Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
5 47 Conor Daly 39.8865 0.1462 0.0533 65 225.640 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
6 22 Simon Pagenaud 39.9592 0.2189 0.0727 64 225.230 Chevy Team Penske
7 5 Pato O’Ward 39.9740 0.2337 0.0148 56 225.146 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP
8 9 Scott Dixon 40.0021 0.2618 0.0281 48 224.988 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
9 18 Ed Jones 40.0621 0.3218 0.0600 58 224.651 Honda Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan
10 8 Marcus Ericsson 40.0686 0.3283 0.0065 55 224.615 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
11 48 Tony Kanaan 40.0725 0.3322 0.0039 58 224.593 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
12 86 Juan Pablo Montoya 40.1099 0.3696 0.0374 44 224.384 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP
13 16 Simona De Silvestro 40.1373 0.3970 0.0274 71 224.230 Chevy Paretta Autosport
14 2 Josef Newgarden 40.1714 0.4311 0.0341 37 224.040 Chevy Team Penske
15 21 Rinus VeeKay 40.2158 0.4755 0.0444 69 223.793 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
16 29 James Hinchcliffe 40.2180 0.4777 0.0022 67 223.780 Honda Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
17 7 Felix Rosenqvist 40.2246 0.4843 0.0066 45 223.744 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP
18 20 Ed Carpenter 40.2377 0.4974 0.0131 57 223.671 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
19 98 Marco Andretti 40.2980 0.5577 0.0603 52 223.336 Honda Andretti Herta-Haupert w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian
20 26 Colton Herta 40.2993 0.5590 0.0013 72 223.329 Honda Andretti Autosport
21 06 Helio Castroneves 40.3480 0.6077 0.0487 44 223.059 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
22 27 Alexander Rossi 40.3581 0.6178 0.0101 63 223.004 Honda Andretti Autosport
23 10 Alex Palou 40.3792 0.6389 0.0211 53 222.887 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
24 11 Charlie Kimball 40.3938 0.6535 0.0146 36 222.806 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
25 3 Scott McLaughlin 40.4133 0.6730 0.0195 50 222.699 Chevy Team Penske
26 15 Graham Rahal 40.4344 0.6941 0.0211 63 222.583 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
27 4 Dalton Kellett 40.4729 0.7326 0.0385 59 222.371 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
28 1 JR Hildebrand 40.4928 0.7525 0.0199 22 222.262 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
29 60 Jack Harvey 40.5199 0.7796 0.0271 56 222.113 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
30 59 Max Chilton 40.5606 0.8203 0.0407 56 221.890 Chevy Carlin
31 51 Pietro Fittipaldi 40.7657 1.0254 0.2051 52 220.774 Honda Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing
32 45 Santino Ferrucci 40.7761 1.0358 0.0104 24 220.718 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
33 14 Sebastien Bourdais 40.8837 1.1434 0.1076 23 220.137 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
34 25 Stefan Wilson 41.1762 1.4359 0.2925 25 218.573 Honda Andretti Autosport