Indy 500 test day ends early after third pit exit incident

Alexander Rossi spun harmlessly off pit road for an installation lap in the morning session which involved the 22 veterans plus two rookies – Romain Grosjean and Jimmie Johnson – who had already concluded their orientation program to the satisfaction of IndyCar.

The eight-car rookies and refreshers session went off without a hitch in the early afternoon. However, as four-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves accelerated down the warm-up lane inside the short chute between Turns 1 and 2 and his Meyer Shank Racing-Honda spun. The momentum carried him through the grass that separates this warm-up lane from the racing surface at Turn 2, across the track and into the outside wall, severely damaging the right side of his car.

Trackside Online has confirmed with Meyer Shank that the wrecked machine was last year’s winning car and will not be back on track tomorrow, nor will Castroneves be using a spare car.

Just 20 minutes after the Brazilian veteran’s incident, 2018 Indy-winning Will Power’s Penske Chevrolet team suddenly spun as the car left pit lane. It partially crossed the strip of grass that separates the pit exit from the track at Turn 1, and the rear of the car moved over the racing line. Colton Herta, speeding down the track, pulled up half a lane to avoid hitting the Penske, and that was enough to turn the Andretti Autosport-Honda into a long drift that turned into a spin.

After a lengthy inspection of the recently sealed pit exit lane, IndyCar officials decided to halt on-track activities for the day.

That left four-time Indy poleman and one-time winner Scott Dixon leading the speed charts, the #9 Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda revving 227.187 mph to finish ahead of Conor Daly’s Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet.

Although the shortened track time meant lap speeds were largely inconclusive, Juncos Hollinger Racing could be very pleased that rookie Callum Ilott was third fastest in the 226mph speed bracket. The former Formula 2 ace had also dominated the rookie and refresher course.

Santino Ferrucci, just like in this morning’s session, was very impressive in his very first race for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet, with a fourth fastest time, ahead of Ganassi’s Marcus Ericsson who had to swerve to avoid shunts of Castroneves and Herta.

His legendary NASCAR teammate Jimmie Johnson was very fast in practice this morning, so his P25 time this afternoon was completely unrepresentative of his potential.