IndyCar: Friday Morning Report from Sonsio Grand Prix

Good morning from the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a place steeped in racing history, as we kick off the month of May.  The weather is a cool 52 degrees at the moment, but we can expect it to warm up to the mid-60s later this afternoon.

This weekend, we’re taking a unique turn, quite literally, on the European-like 2.439-mile road course.  The NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers are particularly fond of this track.  Unlike the past few years, where the IndyCars shared the spotlight with the NASCAR CUP SERIES in a doubleheader, this season, this circuit will host the exclusive race.

This week, the buzz was about the penalties given to four Team Penske employees after the recent Push-to-Pass scandal. Roger Penske has suspended four key team members from this race and the Indy 500 later this month.

Autoracing1 spoke with Will Power about the decision to suspend the people that help him run his race.

“It is certainly a big race to take some key people away.  But Roger felt that he had to do something to show that he understood that a mistake was made due to an oversight.  And this would be just punishment.”

“It just happened to be that the manager of the IndyCar side is on my car.  And the Dag that was originally on my car way back in August when we were doing the Hybrid test, was doing something to get the software to work with the Hybrid.  Nothing malicious at all.  It just happened to be on my stand at that test.”

Today’s schedule is pretty packed due for the two days.  All times in Eastern

9:30 – 10:45 am     IndyCar Practice 1

1:10 – 2:10 pm        IndyCar Practice 2

4:20 – 5:50 pm        Firestone Fast Six Qualifying

Stay tuned for updates during the day.

Lucille Dust reporting live from Indianapolis