IndyCar: Power tops opening day for Indy 500 at the Brickyard

The top drivers all put up their fast times on Day 1 of practice for the 2021 Indy 500 using the slipstream to their advantage.

The Penske Chevys looked the most stable of all the cars running and Will Power showed the way in the #12 Penske Chevy at 226.470mph.

Two previous 500 winners – Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takuma Sato were 2nd and 3rd, the only other drivers over 226mph.

“Just a big tow,” Power said of the aerodynamic pull of leading cars. “It’s as simple as that – trying to catch that train. But as far as in traffic, I felt pretty good. Running with two or three cars in front, I felt as comfortable as I have in a while.”

2014 “500” winner Ryan Hunter-Reay was second at 226.371 in the No. 28 DHL Honda, while two-time and reigning winner Takuma Sato was third at 226.132 in the No. 30 Panasonic/PeopleReady Honda.

Sage Karam was the fastest non-“500” winner on the speed chart, fourth at 225.942 in the No. 24 DRR-AES INDIANA Chevrolet. Conor Daly rounded out the top five at 225.640 in the No. 47 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet.

INDYCAR introduced a regulation in 2021 that requires teams to fill in the front half of the “hole” in the underwing of the Dallara chassis with a carbon fiber clam-shell piece. This increases downforce and reduces the reliance on the front wing, which will create more passing. After just one day in traffic, 2014 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Power thinks the changes will generate even more action on Race Day, Sunday, May 30.

“It’s promising,” Power said. “I think adding that downforce is certainly going to help the racing. I think you’re going to have one of the old-style races where the front three are just swapping positions constantly because you can follow so close now. I think it will be good. It’s good for the fans.”

Power was the busiest and fastest of the 35 drivers on track today, turning 87 laps. The field combined to turn 2,369 laps overall.

Graham Rahal led the morning session for veteran drivers, which was interrupted by three times by light rain. His top lap was 223.449 in the No. 15 United Rentals Honda, and that stood as his top speed of the day.

After a rain delay of two hours, 20 minutes, the track opened for two hours for the Rookie Orientation Program and veteran refresher tests.

JR Hildebrand and Stefan Wilson completed their refresher tests in the No. 1 ABC Supply Foyt Stewart Racing Chevrolet and No. 25 LOHLA SPORT/Cusick Motorsports Honda, respectively. RC Enerson was the only one of the three rookies assigned to cars who didn’t complete his rookie test during testing in April, and he was nearly finished with the second of the three phases of his test when mechanical trouble struck his No. 75 Top Gun Racing Chevrolet.

Enerson will return to the track at 11 a.m. Wednesday to try and finish the second and third phases of his rookie test. The track is scheduled to be open from noon-6 p.m. for open practice

Day 1 Practice Speeds

Pos	No	Name	Time	Diff	Gap	Laps	Speed	Engine	Team
1	12	Will Power	39.7403	39.7403	0.000	57	226.470	Chevy	Team Penske
2	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	39.7578	0.0175	0.0175	43	226.371	Honda	Andretti Autosport
3	30	Takuma Sato	39.7998	0.0595	0.0420	58	226.132	Honda	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
4	24	Sage Karam	39.8332	0.0929	0.0334	43	225.942	Chevy	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
5	47	Conor Daly	39.8865	0.1462	0.0533	65	225.640	Chevy	Ed Carpenter Racing
6	22	Simon Pagenaud	39.9592	0.2189	0.0727	64	225.230	Chevy	Team Penske
7	5	Pato O’Ward	39.9740	0.2337	0.0148	56	225.146	Chevy	Arrow McLaren SP
8	9	Scott Dixon	40.0021	0.2618	0.0281	48	224.988	Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing
9	18	Ed Jones	40.0621	0.3218	0.0600	58	224.651	Honda	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan
10	8	Marcus Ericsson	40.0686	0.3283	0.0065	55	224.615	Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing
11	48	Tony Kanaan	40.0725	0.3322	0.0039	58	224.593	Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing
12	86	Juan Pablo Montoya	40.1099	0.3696	0.0374	44	224.384	Chevy	Arrow McLaren SP
13	16	Simona De Silvestro	40.1373	0.3970	0.0274	71	224.230	Chevy	Paretta Autosport
14	2	Josef Newgarden	40.1714	0.4311	0.0341	37	224.040	Chevy	Team Penske
15	21	Rinus VeeKay	40.2158	0.4755	0.0444	69	223.793	Chevy	Ed Carpenter Racing
16	29	James Hinchcliffe	40.2180	0.4777	0.0022	67	223.780	Honda	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
17	7	Felix Rosenqvist	40.2246	0.4843	0.0066	45	223.744	Chevy	Arrow McLaren SP
18	20	Ed Carpenter	40.2377	0.4974	0.0131	57	223.671	Chevy	Ed Carpenter Racing
19	98	Marco Andretti	40.2980	0.5577	0.0603	52	223.336	Honda	Andretti Herta-Haupert w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian
20	26	Colton Herta	40.2993	0.5590	0.0013	72	223.329	Honda	Andretti Autosport
21	06	Helio Castroneves	40.3480	0.6077	0.0487	44	223.059	Honda	Meyer Shank Racing
22	27	Alexander Rossi	40.3581	0.6178	0.0101	63	223.004	Honda	Andretti Autosport
23	10	Alex Palou	40.3792	0.6389	0.0211	53	222.887	Honda	Chip Ganassi Racing
24	11	Charlie Kimball	40.3938	0.6535	0.0146	36	222.806	Chevy	AJ Foyt Enterprises
25	3	Scott McLaughlin	40.4133	0.6730	0.0195	50	222.699	Chevy	Team Penske
26	15	Graham Rahal	40.4344	0.6941	0.0211	63	222.583	Honda	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
27	4	Dalton Kellett	40.4729	0.7326	0.0385	59	222.371	Chevy	AJ Foyt Enterprises
28	1	JR Hildebrand	40.4928	0.7525	0.0199	22	222.262	Chevy	AJ Foyt Enterprises
29	60	Jack Harvey	40.5199	0.7796	0.0271	56	222.113	Honda	Meyer Shank Racing
30	59	Max Chilton	40.5606	0.8203	0.0407	56	221.890	Chevy	Carlin
31	51	Pietro Fittipaldi	40.7657	1.0254	0.2051	52	220.774	Honda	Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing
32	45	Santino Ferrucci	40.7761	1.0358	0.0104	24	220.718	Honda	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
33	14	Sebastien Bourdais	40.8837	1.1434	0.1076	23	220.137	Chevy	AJ Foyt Enterprises
34	25	Stefan Wilson	41.1762	1.4359	0.2925	25	218.573	Honda	Andretti Autosport