Indianapolis 500 open testing began with its defending winner atop the scoring pylon and its marquee outside attraction just behind him with the second fastest overall time.
Josef Newgarden 228.811
Kyle Larson 226.384
The actual running order six and a half weeks away from the Greatest Spectacle in Racing doesn’t mean a whole lot, of course, but the narrative was meaningful, nonetheless.
Both world class racing drivers had a tow with their fast laps, meaning that they caught a sniff of draft due to cars ahead of them, on a day where everyone was spaced out to get up to speed by themselves before racing in a group.
What it does mean that Larson, as if there was any doubt, could drive the car and that Team Penske’s ace would, as if there was any doubt, have a fast car for the Month of May.
2008 Indianapolis 500 winner and six-time series champion Scott Dixon was third at 226.346 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, followed by reigning series champion and teammate Alex Palou, whose best lap was 226.201 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Scott McLaughlin completed the top five at 225.379 in the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet.
Again, this was just the first session for teams to unload and go through basic checklist type stuff, but there were no major issues beyond the rain that ended this first day of open testing five hours before its scheduled conclusion.
Marco Andretti, Pietro Fittipaldi and Katherine Legge completed their mandated refresher tests while Christian Rasmussen, Kyffin Simpson and Nolan Siegel completed their rookie orientation programs.
Testing is scheduled to resume on Thursday at 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. but rain remains in the forecast.