Photo Credit: Shawn Gritzmacher/IndyCar
Marco Andretti , driver of the No. 27 Snapple Honda, was fastest in the first practice of the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the speed of 228.978 mph.
“As a team, because of weather, we kind of accelerated our program and moved some things forward that we had planned for the end of the week,” Andretti said. “I think that’s why we look pretty stout right now. By Fast Friday you’ll see things where they really pan out across the field. I’m pretty happy with the behavior of the Snapple car but there’s some work to do still. The thing about this track is, you can be on top one day and then have to completely start over the next.”
Carlos Munoz, driver of the No. 26 United Fiber and Data Honda, was second with the speed of 228.945.
“I’m excited it’s the first day of 500,” Munoz said. “All of the cars from the teammates had around the same speeds, but today is the first day – there is still a long way to go. We still have a lot of things to try. I think it is good that we start the week with good pace in the United Fiber & Data car. Compared to last year, I know for sure we have made a big improvement this year overall. It is too early to talk but the car feels good, we still have some work to do. It’s a long week ahead so there is a lot of work.”
Ryan Hunter-Reay, driver of the No. 28 DHL Honda, was third with a speed of 228.033.
“Good day – I think we had a good run in traffic,” Hunter-Reay said. “I think the No. 28 DHL Honda was one of the best cars in traffic, if not the best out there. I was pretty happy with it. This is about as good of conditions as it’s going to get and we need to be prepared for worse conditions and for when the full field settles in.”
Alexander Rossi, driver of Castrol Edge/Curb Honda, was fourth with the speed of 226.865.
“Today was good, the car felt fast,” Rossi said. “This morning was definitely eye-opening in terms of not having any kind of prior comparison to a place like this. I was glad we got through ROP without any real issues and this afternoon we got to work and I think it was a very good day for the team in general. I think the biggest thing for me is the group running and getting comfortable with that. That was another new experience for me this afternoon. Overall, it was a good start to May. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the week and settling in with the track.”
Scott Dixon, driver of the No. 9 Target Chevrolet, was fifth with the speed or 226.835.
“It was a good opening day on the oval for Team Target,” Dixon said. “We had Kyle Larson here this morning as well from Team Target for a cool team announcement with Charlie. He came by the pit for a while so it was good to catch up with him after nearly winning the Cup race yesterday in Dover. We tried a number of things today with the car but no one is going for big numbers this early out there. No issues overall and looking forward to getting closer to qualifying trim tomorrow.”
Townsend Bell, driver of the California Pizza Kitchen Honda, was sixth with the speed of 226.724, followed by Charlie Kimball, Graham Rahal, Will Power and Bryan Clauson.
