Indy 500 Practice Finally Gets Underway in Earnest After Wet Conditions Tuesday and Part of Wednesday

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
108th Running of the Indianapolis 500
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
PRACTICE DAY NOTES / QUOTES – May 15, 2024

INDY 500 PRACTICE FINALLY GETS UNDERWAY IN EARNEST AFTER WET CONDITIONS TUESDAY AND PART OF WEDNESDAY

1)           Scott McLaughlin             229.493 mph                     
12)         Graham Rahal                   225.906 mph                     
17)         Takuma Sato                     225.194 mph       (fastest on the No Tow list)
24)         Pietro Fittipaldi                 224.422 mph
27)         Christian Lundgaard        224.147 mph      

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was the first real day of running here and so far, so good for the United Rentals No. 15 Honda. We did a lot of running today and ended up P12 on the charts. We didn’t really get the big tow lap that we were hoping for like most guys get. I tried briefly and it was looking good but I had to bail out. The balance is quite good. There is a little bit of understeer in traffic, but I think a lot of guys are probably saying that. We’ve got a little bit of work to do tonight or before race running, in that regard but tomorrow we will try a little qualifying stuff and see if we get speed.”

• FAST FACTS: Was bumped for the 2023 Indy 500 by then-teammate Harvey but competed in the race as a replacement for the injured Stefan Wilson and finished 22nd after mechanical issues on the starting grid. Will be his 17th Indy 500. His best 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 Indy 500 information 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 12th in INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 71.

PIETRO FITTIPALDI, No. 30 5-hour ENERGY Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We finished up our first official day on track. It was pretty good I would say. We were just focused on running in traffic in race trim and it felt pretty comfortable out there. But I’m just looking forward to doing even more laps tomorrow and hopefully we don’t get hit with rain.”

• FAST FACTS: This will be his second Indy 500 race. Prior to the 2024 season, he had made nine series starts combined in 2018 (3 ovals, 3 road) and 2021 (3 ovals). In 2021, his best qualifying effort came in his Indianapolis 500 debut of 13th place, which earned him the “Fastest Rookie Award” and his best finish was 15th in Race 2 at Texas Motor Speedway.  He is ranked 22nd in the point standings with 45.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The first day is done. It was not quite the day I think anybody had really hoped for or anticipated but overall, I think we’re making improvements. I would’ve liked to have gotten some more running in and just a better understanding and ticking off the rest of the boxes of things we want to accomplish. Especially if Friday is going to have rain. I think tomorrow will be a very busy day. But overall, I’m quite happy with the balance of the car but we just need to see if we can find a little bit more speed.”

• FAST FACTS: This will be Lundgaard’s third Indy 500. In 2023, he qualified 30th and finished 19th. He started 31st and finished 18th in 2022 while becoming the first Dane driver in the race… in 2022… He is ranked in 9th place in the point standings with 84.

TAKUMA SATO, No. 75 AMADA Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “At last we get some running in! It was a very limited amount of time due to the weather, so it was naturally a lot of teams and drivers who worked on the race setup, and my teammates as well, but since we had a number of items to experiment with, we stuck to the qualifying sim on my side. It was a very different program, but I will rely on my three teammates for race setup data and vice versa they can use my data for qualifying. It was a productive day. I wish I could have made the last run because there was one more item I really, really wanted to test but there was nothing we can do about the weather.”

• FAST FACTS: The two-time Indy 500 champion will make his 15th Indy 500 start and sixth with the team, whom he competed for fulltime in 2012 and from 2018-2021 and whom he won the Indy 500 with 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. Most recently, 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).

NEXT UP: Practice will resume tomorrow and the schedule has been revised to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to allow for two more hours of practice time after an abbreviated schedule due to rain.