Indy 500 Monday: Penultimate practice & Penske fallout

Credit: Josh Hernandez

A dramatic day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway concluded with the penultimate practice session ahead of the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500, drawing to a close seven successive days of on-track running as teams turned their attention to race preparation.

It was a frantic two-hour session of 2067 combined laps, with the majority of the field on track at the same time for large portions of the running as teams fine-tuned their race cars.

The most dramatic moment on track came from Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR)’s Christian Rasmussen, who slid into the Turn 2 wall in the early exchanges - much like a similar incident he had last Thursday. The contact was enough to damage a toe link, ultimately sending Rasmussen into a spin despite his best efforts to save the car.

The Danish sophomore got away with only light rearwards contact with the inside wall before coming to a rest. Major damage was avoided.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Álex Palou, who will roll sixth on Sunday, was the quickest driver in the session. His teammate Scott Dixon was confined to only six laps due to a hybrid issue.

“A great day,” Palou said. “Back to traffic running and the car felt really good. We ended up P1… it doesn’t mean much but you always take a P1 in any session at the Speedway. There’s still a lot of work to do. It’s not easy to be in traffic and overtake but I’m really comfortable. I’m able to overtake. I’m ready for Carb Day [final practice on Friday].”

While the speed charts are not overly important, it still somewhat shows which cars are handling well in traffic. 

Multiple Indy 500 winners Hélio Castroneves and Takuma Sato were second and third, followed by Indy-only Dreyer & Reinbold Racing pair Jack Harvey and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Credit: Joe Skibinski

In light of being moved to start 32nd and 33rd as a result of a qualifying illegality, it was positive for Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Will Power to be eighth and seventh after 88 and 87 laps respectively. Teammate Scott McLaughlin was 31st but logged a valuable 65 laps in his back-up car after a heavy crash on Sunday.

PREMA Racing pole-sitter Robert Shwartzman was 26th as he continues to learn the nuances of oval racing. 

Drivers weigh in on Penske’s penalties

The paddock has been rocked by news that Newgarden and Power have been moved to the back of the field - with a $100,000 fine and their strategists suspended - after illegal modifications to their attenuators saw them fail technical inspection in qualifying on Sunday. 

Rinus VeeKay was forced to fight to make the field with Dale Coyne Racing teammate Jacob Abel, who was bumped from the field of 33 on Sunday. There have been some insisting Abel deserves to be in the field knowing two starters were found in illegal configuration.

“I would have thought it was fair if they had to go to Last Chance Qualifying and deserved to fight their way into the field,” VeeKay said. “It’s even a more unfortunate situation for Jacob now. Of course what they did was wrong there. 

“I’m not totally sure how to justify the situation. It’s a weird situation. You don’t see this every year. For me, if you told me a week ago I’d be starting on the same row as two Penskes, I would have been very happy. Unfortunately we’re at the tail end of the field.”

Credit: Joe Skibinski

Castroneves, a former Penske driver, does not believe there was any malicious intent.

“I believe they did something to look good,” he said. “I don’t think that little lip is going to make them 3 mph faster. I know how Roger [Penske, team and series owner] operates. He wants to make everything beautiful, perfect, shiny. 

“I believe it was a mistake, touching an area, in the rule book, they’re not supposed to touch. I believe what the series is doing is right. But they don’t need anything like that to go fast. I don’t see this as a situation that people are creating and making a big deal. In terms of performance, I don’t think it would have changed anything.”

Kyle Larson has been exposed to similar sagas in NASCAR but did not have an opinion on the Penske situation.

“I don’t even know what it was and don’t really care,” he said. “It doesn’t affect me in our team. I don’t really get too involved when it’s other teams. Did you guys see Josef out there today? He’ll be just fine.”

READ MORE: All of the key questions about Penske’s penalties answered

VeeKay feeling “better” in race trim

VeeKay ended up scraping into the field in 33rd on Sunday. But the team suffered a dramatic loss of speed, seeing him over 2 mph off Marcus Armstrong in 32nd. Now back in race trim, VeeKay is feeling more comfortable after finishing 27th on Monday.

“Definitely felt better than qualifying trim,” he said. “We were not that far off. I felt like we found a good balance to race with. Because we did so many qualifying runs in the weekend, to save the engine we had to drive with lower power settings - we didn’t always look as racy. 

“Once we put the actual race power on, it was good. I feel like I can actually move forward in the race.”

Credit: John Grainda

VeeKay will start 31st in light of the Penske penalties - still on the back row. He was concerned about his prospects for the race on Sunday night but is more encouraged heading into the final practice on Carb Day in four days’ time.

“I was worried it was going to be a hard race,” said VeeKay, who had never qualified lower than seventh for the Indy 500 in his five previous attempts with ECR. “We are not as quick as what I’m used to at the 500. But actually going out there being in race trim, feeling how the car felt, we have a stable car, one that works pretty well in traffic.

“I think we can at least stay with the field and pass a car once there are stack-ups going on and stay out of trouble. I think we actually have decent pace to race.”

It is still unclear why the Dale Coyne Racing team struggled so dramatically for pace, with more still to find to reduce drag even in race trim. It led to the unpleasant situation of two close friends and teammates fighting one another to make the field.

“It’s a lose-lose situation,” VeeKay said. “Unfortunate position to be in. With two cars being that far off the pace, we were both pushing hard, trying our best. Like Dale said, we were playing chess with two Queens. I saw Jacob last night - he’s doing well. Of course bummed. I’m sure he’s eager to get going again.”

Larson adapting to shift in balance

Compared to his maiden Indy 500 attempt last year, the balance of the Indy car with added hybrid weight has been a challenge for Larson to get used to. He suffered a crash in testing and again on Fast Friday but safely made the field without needing a back-up car.

“I thought it was decent,” said Larson after finishing 11th in Monday practice. “I feel like when you’re out there, everybody looks pretty similar. Just try to get a little racy at times to learn a little bit for the race. But it’s so different in practice. I feel like there’s more accordion and all that that opens up passing, where the race is a little bit more difficult to pass. 

“Balance definitely feels a little different than last year. There’s more of a balance shift throughout the run that I remember having. It’s fun. It seems more challenging.”

Credit: Amber Pietz

The NASCAR superstar will start 19th for next weekend’s race as he undergoes his second attempt at completing ‘The Double’ of the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 with Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports.

“It definitely presents challenges [starting mid-pack],” he said. “I had that horrendous restart last year. I fell back to close to where I’m starting. We were able to get closer to the front by the three-quarter point of the race. 

“If you just do normal race stuff, execute good restarts and pit stops and things, you can work your way forward without having to work too hard. Hopefully myself and our team can do a good job on Sunday and just chip away at it.”

Castroneves: Experience “definitely helps”

Castroneves described his run to second in practice on Monday as “decent” having overcome some unexpected hurdles.

“We had some stuff that we thought was going to be different… not gearbox but the numbers we’ve chosen unfortunately were not the right one,” he said. “We have to lose a little bit of time on this to fix it. Once we fixed it, no problem - the car seemed to be handling well. We just continue to pile in laps, tweaking here and there, getting better.”

As he continues his pursuit for a historic fifth Indy 500, Castroneves continues to lean on his vast experience at the Speedway.

“[It] definitely helps,” he said. “I’ve seen some people do some very interesting lines and movements that, if you do the same thing in the race, I don’t think they’re going to come out in a good way. Sometimes when they’re young, you need to learn the hardest way.

“Right now, the shifting of the balance of the car, it makes it a little bit harder as well. Sometimes people go and be a little impatient so take advantage when the tyres are good. That could be chaotic in the start of the race and restarts.”