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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowTeam Penske was fastest on opening day of practice for the Indianapolis 500, a day shortened at the front and back end because of weather.
Will Power and two-time defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden went 1-2 in Chevrolets for Penske in Tuesday’s abbreviated session. Cars ran only about three hours, first because of morning rain and then a lightning strike ended the session with about 30 minutes remaining.
Power turned a lap at 227.026 mph around Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while Newgarden went 226.971 mph.
Alex Palou, winner of four of the first five races this season and the current IndyCar points leader, was third fastest for Chip Ganassi Racing. The Honda driver is the two-time reigning IndyCar champion and has won three of the last four series titles. He went 226.673 mph.
He was followed by Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon and then Scott McLaughlin, another Penske driver. Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves was sixth fastest for Meyer Shank Racing, and new father Alexander Rossi, who welcomed his first baby last week, was seventh fastest.
The birth of Rossi’s son was a surprise to many in the industry as he and wife, Kelly, deliberately did not reveal her pregnancy to many people.
“Because why would we?” he asked. The boy, named Benjamin Kenneth, was born last Wednesday. His first name was the only name they could decide on, and his middle name is after her late father.
Marcus Armstrong of Meyer-Shank was eighth fastest, Marcus Ericsson, a former Indianapolis 500 winner, was ninth, and Marco Andretti, in his only scheduled IndyCar race of the season, was 10th for Andretti Global.
Pato O’Ward’s special helmet
Pato O’Ward’s special Indianapolis 500 helmet was finally released from customs after it was withheld from delivery over a dispute in fees the driver apparently owed in customs fees.
Tuesday’s rain delay bought O’Ward additional time to sort the issue concerning the helmet he had designed and shipped from Germany for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
O’Ward at one point claimed the helmet was being held “ransom” as he insisted he’d already paid the customs fees. O’Ward argued had he not paid the fees, the helmet never would have cleared customs. He was willing to pay a second time, he said, as he impatiently awaited the information needed to disperse the funds.
“I’ve been on the phone 48 minutes and they won’t send me a link to pay the customs,” he grumbled.
He initially thought the delivery delay was because the package required a signature, but insisted there were people at his house awaiting the helmet.
“I kept telling the driver to ring the bell! There’s people there!” he said. “But then they said it is a customs fee and they won’t deliver it until it’s been paid.”
O’Ward was adamant it was a mix-up and was willing to pay twice. Drivers often unveil special helmet designs for the Indianapolis 500 to replace the ones they wear the rest of the season. The idea is to showcase meaningful and fun designs that represent their culture, personality or other things that have personal meaning.
When he got on track Tuesday he was wearing his normal helmet.
A woman on the Arrow McLaren team is married to a high-ranking UPS official who helped him sort the issue and the Indy 500 helmet has been delivered to his house.
O’Ward will debut the helmet Friday.
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