Rain Shortens Opening Day Indy 500 Practice

Opening Day of practice for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 was essentially a washout on Tuesday.

With weather fast approaching, there was a small window of opportunity that most teams and drivers were able to take advantage of. There was roughly 23 minutes of green-flag running before a mist descended upon the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That mist ultimately turned to a steady rain.

Scott Dixon topped the abbreviated practice session at 229.107 mph. The 2008 Indy 500 winner had the fastest trap speed, and was followed by Marco Andretti, Takuma Sato, Pato O’Ward, and Christian Lundgaard on the overall speed chart.

Four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves was sixth-fastest, with Colton Herta, Felix Rosenqvist, Kyle Kirkwood, and Sting Ray Robb rounding out the top-ten. The top non-tow speed was 219.656 mph by Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin.

Kyle Larson managed just two laps before the rain in the No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Larson, who is racing for Arrow McLaren/Rick Hendrick, is attempting to become the fifth driver to complete the “double” of racing in the Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same day. Kurt Busch was the last to achieve the feat, in 2014.

“It’s good to finally have the Indy 500 here,” Larson said. “I’ve known about this for a couple of years now, so it’s been a lot of waiting. Just happy to get this experience underway. The weather is getting in the middle of things today, but once we get through today, it should be good.”

This is the second consecutive year rain hampered the first day of practice. Last year’s opening day was a washout, with no laps turned.

There were a total of 219 laps completed at the Speedway. Officially, 31 of the 34 drivers hit the track today, but only 26 of them turned laps above 214 mph.

Practice will continue tomorrow, which is scheduled from 10 AM to 6 PM.

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