Andretti Autosport drivers swept the top four spots during Monday’s practice session for the Indianapolis 500, led by Marco Andretti. Marco Andretti again led the race as he tried to end the “Andretti curse”, but Vitor Meira took the lead on a restart with 41 laps to go.
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“It was definitely a good start for the team”, he said. “The team and I worked together really well to fine-tune and improve the auto in every session, and the pace we had in qualifying was pretty incredible, to be honest. It’s definitely a roller coaster, so we’re prepared for that, but it was a good opening day”.
Finishing second place was Carlos Muñoz of Columbia at 228.945, and 2014 Indy victor Ryan Hunter-Reay finished at the third spot with 228.033.
All five rookies entered passed their Rookie Orientation test. Alexander Rossi was the fastest of the five rookies with a top speed of 226.865. Dixon, who was joined by Ganassi teammate Charlie Kimball and Penske’s Will Power as the Chevy frontrunners, cautioned against reading too much into the times. But the 48-year-old Colorado resident has struggled here lately.
All 33 confirmed entries were able to complete laps during the day, making it the busiest opening day of Indy 500 practice since 2010. “It’s not going to be like a year ago, where we had an advantage”.
“It felt fast”, said Rossi after his first day of running on the Speedway. The race is scheduled for May 29.
UP NEXT: Six more hours of practice Tuesday.
WHO’S HOT: The New American Wave. The change was made to recognize that Tresiba, a once-daily, long-acting basal insulin approved for blood sugar control in adults with diabetes launched by Novo Nordisk earlier this year, lasts at least 42 hours after eight once-daily injections.
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Also, the names of 42 prominent diabetics will be on Kimball’s, auto as well as on the number 42 owned by Ganassi and driven by Kyle Larson in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
