Final Practice Before Carb Day for the Indy 500 Ended After One Hour Due to Lightning and Rain

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

110th Running of the Indianapolis 500
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
PRACTICE NOTES / QUOTES – May 18, 2026

FINAL PRACTICE BEFORE CARB DAY FOR THE INDY 500 ENDED AFTER ONE HOUR DUE TO LIGHTNING AND RAIN

1)         Josef Newgarden         226.198 mph   
2)         Takuma Sato               225.723 mph                 
25)       Louis Foster                221.832 mph   
30)       Mick Schumacher        220.273 mph   
33)       Graham Rahal              218.392 mph               

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I thought we made a few good changes. Obviously, we didn’t get to run as many sets of tires as we wanted; we ran one. We went quite far though, 25-30 laps or so on a set, which is pretty good. But obviously we wanted to run another set and we didn’t get to it due to the weather, but I was happier in the end, for sure, but we didn’t get to do any sort of big lap like everybody else was still trying to do so I know the speeds don’t look great. We do need to get the car to tow up better, and that’s what we’re planning to discuss.. We got to get the car to tow up better and if we can do that, I think we’ll be just fine.”

• FAST FACTS: Will start 28th for his 19th Indy 500… His highest qualifying position in the Indy 500 is fourth in 2009 with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and best finish is third with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing in 2011 and RLL in 2020. Detailed information is available upon request… Has SIX INDYCAR SERIES wins (2008 – St. Pete street course; 2015 – Fontana Super Speedway, Mid-Ohio road course; 2016 – Texas Super Speedway; 2017 Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) and FIVE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street; 2023 – IMS road, Portland) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He is 9th in INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 141 and his pit crew leads the Firestone Pit Stop Challenge.

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Droplight Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We got some stuff done. It wasn’t a great day for us. We struggled quite a lot with the balance at the car but we’ll dig into the data and try to understand why and make sure we’ve got a good car for Sunday.”

• FAST FACTS: Will start 21st for his second Indy 500. In 2025, he qualified 20th and finished 12th. His best series start to date is pole at Road America in 2025 and his best finish came at the previous race — the Sonsio Grand Prix – of seventh place… He is ranked in 19th place in the point standings with 86.

MICK SCHUMACHER, No. 47 ENVE Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We managed to get a couple of runs in, which was good. Just as we went out on a new tire set, they called it for weather. Its unfortunate weather outside, but obviously safety comes first. We’ve just got to understand what we’ve got to do now for Carb Day. Hopefully we’ll get out on track for Carb Day; the weather doesn’t look stable for that either so we’ll analyze everything and then go from there.”

• FAST FACTS: He will start 27^th for his first Indy 500. His best INDYCAR start came on the Phoenix oval with 4th place and his best series finish also came there with 18th place despite having an issue with a wheel gun on a pit stop. He is ranked third in the Rookie of the Year standings and 25th in series standings with 54 points. 

TAKUMA SATO, No. 75 AMADA Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We were very fortunate to have a few runs in dry conditions because we wanted to check on our race package, which worked well, and certainly we made a good step forward. So, it was a good productive day even though it ended early.”

• FAST FACTS: Will start 12th in the race after a car ahead was disqualified and moved to the back of the starting field. After setting the 13th fastest 4-lap average, Sato missed being in the top-12 that would progress to Round 2 to fight for a Fast Six starting position by a mere 0.101 over a 4-lap average. At 10 p.m. that night, Collett was disqualified and moved to the back. Had that happened earlier, Sato would have had a chance to compete for a top-12 spot and possibly a top-six starting spot.… The two-time Indy 500 champion earned his second front-row start for the team (third overall, after 2020) with a career-best starting position of second. He led the first 51 of 88 laps — the most in the race — before a pit error dropped him to a ninth-place finish. Despite the setback, he was the highest-qualifying Honda-powered driver among the 15 Honda entries, starting second. In 2024, he started 10th for his 15th Indy 500 and finished 14th. He competed for RLL full time in 2012 and from 2018-2021 and won the Indy 500 with RLL in 2020. He has earned six NTT INDYCAR SERIES wins, four of which have come with RLL, including the team’s second Indy 500 win in 2020. Sato competed in oval races with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023. Other Indy 500 highlights with RLL include the 2012 where he was alongside eventual winner Franchitti in Turn 1 on the final lap but his race ended due to contact after he was squeezed down on the apron and lost control of his race car. He also finished third for RLL in 2019 and was a contender in the final laps… Has SIX INDYCAR SERIES wins (2013 – Long Beach street course, 2017 – Indy 500 oval, 2018 – Portland road, 2019 – Barber road, Gateway oval; 2020 Indy 500 ) and 10 poles (2011 Iowa oval, Edmonton street; 2013 Houston Race 1 street; 2014 St. Pete street, Detroit Race 2 street; 2017 Detroit Race 2, Pocono oval; 2019 Barber road, Texas oval; 2020 St. Louis – Race 2).