-

Chaves Confirmed To '500' Ride With New Team

The worst kept secret in INDYCAR was finally announced...

Napa Returns With Rossi

A.J. Foyt Racing announced...

Carpenter Signs Pigot

Ed Carpenter Racing announced...

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

2,000 Megapixel Image From The Indianapolis 500

If you've been following this site over the last several weeks you've probably seen one of the couple thousand megapixel images that I've posted. One from the Indianapolis 500 Public Drivers Meeting can be viewed HERE, an image from the INDYCAR Grand Prix can be seen HERE and a giant photo from a test at IMS can be viewed HERE.

Being the largest attended sporting event in the world, I was super excited to try out the technique at last Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Unfortunately, I was unable to secure an ideal location to get the most out of the large photo. But, I still think it's pretty cool.

To explore the image, just click the '+' and '-' buttons in the upper right corner. The diagonal arrows will expand full screen, while the circle arrow will pull the image back to it's home position. I highly recommend going full screen!



Sunday, May 28, 2017

Sato Wins At Indianapolis

Andretti Autosport's Takuma Sato has won the 101st Indianapolis 500.

Sato drinks the milk in his 8th try, his first with Andretti. In his previous 7 appearances his average finish was 20th.

Andretti Autosport continues their domination of Indianapolis with back-to-back wins and their 3rd in 4 years.

101st Indianapolis 500 Finishing Order

1 - Sato
2 - Castroneves
3 - Jones
4 - Chilton
5 - Kanaan
6 - Montoya
7 - Rossi
8 - Andretti
9 - Chaves
10 - Munoz
11 - Carpenter
12 - Rahal
13 - Aleshin
14 - Pagenaud
15 - Saavedra
16 - Hildebrand
17 - Mann
18 - Pigot
19 - Newgarden
20 - Davison
21 - Servia
22 - Hinchcliffe
23 - Power
24 - Alonso
25 - Kimball
26 - Veach
27 - Hunter-Reay
28 - Karam
29 - Lazier
30 - Daly
31 - Harvey
32 - Dixon
33 - Howard

The biggest incident of the day came in the Turn 1/2 short chute where Jay Howard got up into the marbles. After contacting the wall, Howard collected Pole sitter Scott Dixon. Dixon took flight sending him into the inside fence. It was scary, but both drivers walked away.

One of the biggest stories heading into the day was the reliability of Honda's engines. By the end of the day 3 of their power plants expired.

The first came at the expense of Ryan Hunter-Reay. The second to Charlie Kimball. And the third took out the biggest story of the month, Fernando Alonso.

Stats:

- 35 lead changes
- 15 different leaders

Most laps led - Max Chilton (50)

Saturday, May 27, 2017

3,800 Megapixel Image From The Public Drivers Meeting

Were you at the Public Drivers Meeting for the 101st Indianapolis 500 Saturday morning? If so, find yourself.

Bonus points for locating IMS President Doug Boles, pace car driver Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 1963 Indianapolis winner Parnelli Jones, the JW Marriot, Mari Hulman George, red Indy 500 Flyer wagon, ESPN's Marty Smith, 1998 Indianapolis 500 Pole Winner Billy Boat and NHRA driver Courtney Force.

To explore the image, just click the '+' and '-' buttons in the upper right corner. The diagonal arrows will expand full screen, while the circle arrow will pull the image back to it's home position. I highly recommend going full screen!



Friday, May 26, 2017

Carb Day Wrap Up

The one hour final Verizon IndyCar Series practice Friday morning was nearly without incident.

There were no accidents during the 960 laps turned, but the engine of James Hinchcliffe went up in smoke with just a few minutes left in the session.

The attrition rate of Honda engines throughout the month has been nothing but startling. At least 5 Honda power plants have now prematurely expired, leaving the 18 car's equipped with the Japanese manufacturer waiting for disaster on Sunday.

Carb Day's Time Chart

1 - Castroneves - 227.377
2 - Sato - 226.802
3 - Kanana - 226.757
4 - Dixon - 226.685
5 - Alonso - 226.608
6 - Rahal - 226.386
7 - Rossi - 226.355
8 - Newgarden - 226.203
9 - Montoya - 226.187
10 - Hunter-Reay - 225.903
11 - Power - 225.848
12 - Aleshin - 225.691
13 - Daly - 225.557
14 - Hinchcliffe - 225.082
15 - Pagenaud - 225.049
16 - Davison - 225.018
17 - Servia - 224.969
18 - Karam - 224.852
19 - Andretti - 224.793
20 - Carpenter - 224.630
21 - Chilton - 224.625
22 - Howard - 224.541
23 - Jones - 224.526
24 - Kimball - 224.372
25 - Hildebrand - 224.347
26 - Munoz - 223.935
27 - Chaves - 223.688
28 - Harvey - 223.222
29 - Mann - 223.062
30 - Veach - 222.579
31 - Pigot - 221.732
32 - Lazier - 221.397
33 - Saavedra - 221.197

The Indy Lights Freedom 100 was won by Carlin Racing's Matheus Leist.

The 2017 Pit Stop Competition was won by Team Penske's Will Power. The win was Penske's 17th. Of the current teams only Rahal and Ganassi have multiple wins with two.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

2017 Indianapolis 500 Milk Selections

Below is the milk of choice for each 2017 Indianapolis 500 driver should they pull into victory lane on Sunday, courtesy of the American Dairy Association. 

The chart also lists each driver's choice back to 2013.

2017 Driver Selection Breakdown
Whole - 17
2% - 12
Fat-Free - 3
No Pref -  1

Changes From 2016
Aleshin - Whole to 2%
Rahal - 2% to Whole
Pigot - Fat Free to Whole

Whole
2017 - 51.5%
2016 - 51.5%
2015 - 45.5%
2014 - 27.3%
2013 - 24.2%

2%
2017 - 36.4%
2016 - 39.4%
2015 - 42.4%
2014 - 48.5%
2013 - 48.5%

Fat Free
2017 - 9.1%
2016 - 9.1%
2015 - 12.1%
2014 - 15.2%
2013 - 12.1%

No Pref
2017 - 3%
2016 - 0%
2015 - 0%
2014 - 9.1%
2013 - 15.2%


Sunday, May 21, 2017

Dixon Wins Pole At Indianapolis

The starting grid for the 101st Running of the Indianapolis 500 is set.

Scott Dixon captured the pole with a 4-lap average of 232.164mph, the  quickest qualifying speed seen at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 21-years. You would have to go back to 1996 when Arie Luyendyk set the all-time qualifying record of 236.986mph.

Dixon's pole win was his 3rd, tying Johnny Rutherford, Mario Andretti, Tom Sneva and Arie Luyendyk for 5th all time. Only Rick Mears (6), Rex Mays (4), A.J. Foyt (4) and Helio Castroneves (4) have more.

The field is made up of

4 - Rookies (Alonso, Jones, Harvey & Veach)
12 - Teams
12 - Countries (New Zealand, USA, Japan, Spain, Brazil, Australia, Dubai, Russia, England, Canada, Colombia, France)
7 - States (Indiana, California, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Tennessee, Colorado)
7 - Former Winners (Rossi, Montoya, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Castroneves, Dixon & Lazier)

The Starting Field

1 - Scott Dixon - 232.164 mph
2 - Ed Carpenter - 231.664  mph  
3 - Alexander Rossi - 231.487 mph  
4 - Takuma Sato - 231.365 mph    
5 - Fernando Alonso - 231.300 mph  
6 - JR Hildebrand - 230.889 mph
7 - Tony Kanaan - 230.828 mph  
8 - Marco Andretti - 230.474 mph  
9 - Will Power - 230.200 mph
10 - Ryan Hunter-Reay - 231.442 mph  
11 - Ed Jones, Honda - 230.578 mph
12 - Oriol Servia, Honda - 230.309 mph  
13 - Mikhail Aleshin 230.271 mph
14 - Graham Rahal - 230.253 mph
15 - Max Chilton - 230.068 mph
16 - Charlie Kimball - 229.956 mph  
17 - James Hinchcliffe - 229.860 mph  
18 - Juan Pablo Montoya - 229.565 mph
19 - Helio Castroneves - 229.515 mph
20 - Jay Howard - 229.414 mph
21 - Sage Karam, Chevrolet - 229.380 mph  
22 - Josef Newgarden - 228.501 mph
23 - Simon Pagenaud - 228.093 mph
24 - Carlos Munoz - 227.921 mph
25 - Gabby Chaves - 226.921 mph  
26 - Conor Daly - 226.439 mph  
27 - Jack Harvey - 225.742 mph  
28 - Pippa Mann - 225.008 mph  
29 - Spencer Pigot - 224.052 mph
30 - Buddy Lazier - 223.417 mph  
31 - Sebastian Saavedra - 221.142 mph
32 - Zach Veach - 221.081 mph    
33 - James Davison - no speed

James Davison To Replace Bourdais

Dale Coyne Racing has tapped James Davison to pilot the No. 18 car left vacant by the injured Sebastien Bourdais.

Davison has previously started the "500" two times. In 2014 he ran with KVRT and in 2015 with Dale Coyne. He's started 28th & 33rd and finished 16th & 27th.

Stefan Wilson, who gave up his ride with Andretti to make way for Fernando Alonso, was seen entering and leaving the Coyne garage Sunday morning.

Saturday, May 20, 2017

Indianapolis 500 Qualifications Day 1

The first day of qualifications for the 101st Indianapolis 500 was filled with ups and downs. But mainly downs.

The biggest news of the day came about halfway through qualifications when Sebastien Bourdais lost control of his No. 18 Honda on his 3rd of 4 qualifying laps.

After running the two quickest laps of the day, Bourdais' back end got out from under him near the apex of Turn 2. The car overcorrected, sending the French driver directly into the SAFER barrier. While sliding down the back straight, the Dallara turned, flipped, flipped back, spun, and eventually came to a stop. After a few minutes Sebastien was extricated from his car, placed on a backboard and transported to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

According to the INDYCAR PR Staff, Bourdais was awake, alert and never lost consciousness.

UPDATE 5/20 8:09 - Bourdais suffered multiple fractures to his pelvis and a fracture to his right hip. He will undergo surgery tonight.

UPDATE 5/21 11:25am - According to INDYCAR Medical Director Dr. Geoffrey Billows “Surgery went well. I’ve met with Sebastien this morning and he was doing even better than I expected”

31 of the 33 entered cars made qualifying attempts today. Zach Veach, who crashed late in the day on Friday did not make an attempt and the No. 18 car of Bourdais did not have a time.

The quickest 9 cars are locked into the front 3 rows and will re-qualify tomorrow for their starting positions.

Those currently in positions 10-33 will also re-qualify tomorrow for the back 8 rows.

Fast 9

1 - Carpenter
2 - Sato
3 - Dixon
4 - Hildebrand
5 - Rossi
6 - Power
7 - Alonso
8 - Kanaan
9 - Andretti

Friday, May 19, 2017

Indianapolis 500 Practice Day 5

The first problem of the day happened early, when the No. 50 entry of Jack Harvey appeared to have an engine issue. Harvey had a crash in Turn 3 earlier in the week.

The second incident came at the expense of Spencer Pigot. The Juncos driver lost control in Turn 2 and continued down the back stretch. Pigot got out under his own power and has been cleared to drive.

The third and final incident came late in the day at the hands of rookie driver Zach Veach. Without spinning, Veach hit the wall at the exit of Turn 1.  His Chevrolet powered car slid through the chute and into the Turn 2 wall. After a few seconds, the Ohio native exited under his own power and has been cleared to drive

Fast Friday's Chart

1 - Bourdais - 233.116
2 - Hunter-Reay - 232.132
3 - Sato - 231.969
4 - Alonso - 231.827
5 - Montoya - 231.682
6 - Hinchcliffe - 231.517
7 - Aleshin - 231.447
8 - Howard - 231.255
9 - Jones - 231.252
10 - Rossi - 231.191
11 - Kanaan - 231.054
12 - Dixon - 231.016
13 - Castroneves - 230.982
14 - Servia - 230.887
15 - Andretti - 230.769
16 - Power - 230.717
17 - Carpenter - 230.712
18 - Chilton - 230.636
19 - Hildebrand - 230.627
20 - Kimball - 230.335
21 - Mann - 230.103
22 - Rahal - 230.007
23 - Pagenaud - 229.973
24 - Newgarden -228. 624
25 - Harvey - 228.426
26 - Karam - 228.159
27 - Munoz - 227.956
28 - Daly - 227.225
29 - Chaves - 227.168
30 - Veach - 227.082
31 - Saavedra - 226.224
32 - Pigot - 226.170
33 - Lazier - 219.640

Qualification Order

Qual Order

1 - Pippa Mann
2 - Juan Pablo Montoya
3 - Tony Kanaan
4 - Will Power
5 - Jay Howard
6 - Ed Jones
7 - Helio Castroneves
8 - Sage Karam
9 - Ryan Hunter-Reay
10 - Scott Dixon
11 - Simon Pagenaud
12 - Zach Veach
13 - James Hinchcliffe
14 - Conor Daly
15 - Graham Rahal
16 - Fernando Alonso
17 - Spencer Pigot
18 - Max Chilton
19 - Charlie Kimball
20 - Sebastien Bourdais
21 - Alexander Rossi
22 - Marco Andretti
23 - Takuma Sato
24 - Josef Newgarden
25 - Sebastian Saavedra
26 - Jack Harvey
27 - Oriol Servia
28 - Buddy Lazier
29 - Ed Carpenter
30 - Carlos Munoz
31 - Mikhail Aleshin
32 - JR Hildebrand
33 - Gabby Chaves

Thursday, May 18, 2017

Indianapolis 500 Practice Day 4

With about 40 minutes left in the 6-hour practice, Buddy Lazier strapped into his entry for the first time this week. The No. 44 machine turned 1 lap.

The first  incident of the day came at the expense of Josef Newgarden.

The newest Team Penske driver lost control of his No. 2 Dallara at the exit of Turn 1. The car snapped around, smacking the outside wall with the left side of his chassis. The car continued down the short chute, making light left side contact with the Turn 2 wall.

Newgarden exited the car under his own power and has been checked, released and cleared to drive.

Later in the day the track went yellow due to a large amount of smoke emitting from the No. 18 car of Sebastien Bourdais. It appeared to be an engine issue.

2,362 Laps were turned by 33 drivers.

1 - Howard - 226.744
2 - Hunter-Reay - 225.826
3 - Andretti - 225. 709
4 - Alonso - 225. 619
5 - Newgarden - 225.455
6 - Karam - 225. 185
7 - Kimball - 225. 141
8 - Servia - 224.837
9 - Sato - 224.771
10 - Bourdais - 224.725
11 - Aleshin - 224.611
12 - Power - 224.563
13 - Rossi - 224.503
14 - Montoya - 224.471
15 - Castroneves - 240724.
16 - Dixon - 224.388
17 - Rahal - 224.351
18 - Jones - 224.331
19 - Munoz - 224.291
20 - Carpenter - 224.051
21 - Chilton - 223.783
22 - Hildebrand - 223.610
23 - Pagenaud - 223.440
24 - Kanaan - 223.123
25 - Mann - 223.048
26 - Hinchcliffe - 222.670
27 - Daly - 222.620
28 - Veach - 222.463
29 - Harvey - 221.279
30 - Chaves - 220.366
31 - Pigot - 220.204
32 - Saavedra - 219.560
33 - Lazier - 8.494

Of Note:

- Tony Stewart, who's foundation is working with Jay Howard's program for the '500' was at the track today.

- With Stewart was Camping World Truck and dirt driver, Rico Abreu.

- Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer, Chad Smith, was at IMS today as the band toured through Indianapolis. He spent a lot of time in the pit box of Team Penske's Will Power. Power is also a drummer.














Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Indianapolis 500 Practice Day 3

Wednesday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway could be summed up with one word. Windy.

Team Penske announced around 2:30 that their 5 car stable would not turn laps at speed in the 6-hour session due to wind. Many other teams followed suit.

On the day 405 laps were turned by 21 drivers. Many of those laps weren't at speed, as teams are allowed to practice hot pit stops from 2-4 each day. For comparison, 1,306 and 2,404 laps were turned the first two days of practice.

1 - Carpenter - 222.894 - 52 Laps
2 - Dixon - 222.599 - 47 Laps
3 - Hildebrand - 220.553 - 54 Laps
4 - Alonso - 219.533 - 39 Laps
5 - Daly - 219.233 - 22 Laps
6 - Chilton - 218.872 - 23  Laps
7 - Munoz - 218.840 - 28 Laps
8 - Veach - 218.636 - 46 Laps
9 - Kimball - 218.122 - 12 Laps
10 - Howard - 217.299 - 9 Laps
11 - Kanaan - 217.057 - 8 Laps
12 - Rahal - 216.866 - 5 Laps
13 - Aleshin - 216.844 - 2  Laps
14 - Hinchcliffe - 216.333 - 8  Laps
15 - Newgarden - 159.591 - 11 Laps
16 - Harvey - 156.680 - 18 Laps
17 - Karam - 151.130 - 9 Laps
18 - Sato - 109.878 - 2 Laps
19 - Rossi - 107.319 - 3 Laps
20 - Andretti - 102.752 - 4 Laps
21 - Servia - 61.301 - 6 Laps

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Indianapolis 500 Practice Day 2

Prior to the noon green flag, INDYCAR announced a slight change in today's schedule.

Rather than an all-skate from 12 to 6, the first 15 minutes were allotted to Jack Harvey and Zach Veach, who have yet to complete ROP.

In that 15 minute stretch 9 laps were turned by the two drivers.

Harvey - 5 laps - 214.072mph
Veach - 4 laps - 214.016mph

At 12:15 all drivers were allowed onto the track. By the end of the day 32 drivers ran, with 33 different car/driver combinations. Everyone but Lazier hit the track, while Marco Andretti ran 6 laps in Jack Harvey's No. 50

Day 2 Chart

1 - Power - 224.656
2 - Castroneves - 224.287
3 - Chaves - 223.991
4 - Hunter-Reay - 223.960
5 - Karam - 223.641
6 - Sato - 223.556
7 - Aleshin - 223.471
8 - Pagenaud - 223.420
9 - Hildebrand - 223.352
10 - Newgarden - 223.156
11 - Carpenter - 222.842
12 - Munoz - 222.774
13 - Dixon - 222.550
14 - Rossi - 222.480
15 - Jones - 222.251
16 - Bourdais - 222.249
17 - Kanaan - 221.959
18 - Servia - 221.921
19 - Kimball - 221.789
20 - Rahal - 221.738
21 - Montoya - 221.696
22 - Veach - 221.629
23 - Chilton - 221.229
24 - Alonso - 221.029
25 - Andretti - 221.011
26 - Pigot - 220.630
27 - Saavedra - 220.289
28 - Daly - 220.283
29 - Hinchcliffe - 220.131
30 - Howard - 220.123
31 - Harvey - 218.943
32 - Mann - 218.589
33 - Andretti (No. 50) - 214.828

Notes:

- The Buddy Lazier entry has switched to No. 44. They were No. 49 on the original entry list.

- The Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced Tuesday morning that Bebe Rexha will perform the national anthem for the the 101st Indianapolis 500.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Indianapolis 500 Practice Day 1

Monday 5/15/17 - Indianapolis 500 Practice Notes

Rookie Orientation Program - 12pm-2pm
Rookies who need to take ROP (Ed Jones, Zach Veach & Jack Harvey).
Fernando Alonso already passed ROP May 3rd.

In total 13 cars hit the track during the 2-hour ROP and Refresher Program session. 195 laps were turned in total with Fernando Alonso topping the charts with a quickest speed of 221.634mph.

Complete ROP/Refresher Chart

1 - Alonso - 221.634mph
2 - Servia - 220.759mph
3 - Jones - 219.288mph
4 - Howard - 217.069mph
5 - Saavedra -216.598mph
6 - Harvey - 214.353mph
7 - Veach - 192.605mph

Six veterans also hit the course for installation laps, those were Sato, Carpenter, Hildebrand, Munoz, Rahal and Pigot

All Practice 2pm-6pm

Veach, who was only able to turn 3 laps in the earlier session, was allowed to continue his Rookie Orientation with the veterans in the second session. Veach went on to run 20 more laps on the day.

The first incident of the month came just before 4pm when an apparent equipment failure sent the No. 50 Honda of Rookie Jack Harvey into Turn 2 wall as he was leaving the pits. The car appeared to get high in the corner sending the Dallara into the SAFER Barrier. After relatively light contact with the wall, Harvey continued toward the inside wall where he purposefully spun to avoid another wall impact.

Harvey was checked, released and cleared to drive.

The second incident came late in the day when Graham Rahal's No. 15 machine began smoking down the back stretch. The car made it to his pit under it's own power, but an on board fire and oil caused a yellow.

By the end of the day 32 of the 33 entered cars hit the track, Buddy Lazier did not.

1,306 laps were turned.

The Day 1 Chart

1 - Andretti - 226.338
2 - Dixon - 225.296
3 - Carpenter - 224.969
4 - Bourdais - 224.775
5 - Hunter-Reay - 257624.
6 - Rahal - 224.407
7 - Power - 224.106
8 - Kanaan - 223.936
9 - Aleshin -223.715
10 - Sato - 223.587
11 - Servia - 223.547
12 - Montoya - 223.508
13 - Rossi - 223.481
14 - Karam - 223.398
15 - Chilton - 223.235
16 - Pagenaud - 223.195
17 - Hildebrand - 223.194
18 - Kimball - 223.164
19 - Alonso - 223.025
20 - Munoz - 222.789
21 - Saavedra - 222.593
22 - Jones - 222.533
23 - Howard - 222.508
24 - Newgarden - 222.492
25 - Hinchcliffe - 221.269
26 - Castroneves - 220.708
27 - Mann - 220.257
28 - Daly - 220.192
29 - Pigot - 218.065
30 - Veach - 215.897
31 - Harvey - 214.473
32 - Chaves - 207.672












3,750 Megapixel Images From The INDYCAR Grand Prix

Below is a 3,750 megapixel photo taken during last Saturday's INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

On the far left side of the image you can find the Turn 5/6 viewing mounds, then down Hulman Boulevard and into the Turn 7/8/9/10 sequence. If you attended the race and watched from any of those locations try and find yourself!

To explore the image, just click the '+' and '-' buttons in the upper right corner. The diagonal arrows will expand full screen, while the circle arrow will pull the image back to it's home position. I highly recommend going full screen!

Just below the Grand Prix image is a 3,500 megapixel image taken during one of April's oval tests. Can not wait to give a similar angle a try when the stands are packed with 300,000+ fans.





 

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Power Dominates INDYCAR Grand Prix

Will Power started on top finished at the top as well.

Leading 61 of the race's 85 caution-free laps, Power won his 30th Verizon IndyCar Series race by over 5 seconds.

The Verizon IndyCar Series stars will return Monday to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway following a Mother's Day break. The return, however, comes on the famed 2.5 mile oval for Indianapolis 500 practice.

Race Results

1 - Will Power
2 - Scott Dixon
3 - Ryan Hunter-Reay
4 - Simon Pagenaud
5 - Helio Castroneves
6 - Graham Rahal
7 - Max Chilton
8 - Alexander Rossi
9 - Spencer Pigot
10 - Juan Pablo Montoya
11 - Josef Newgarden
12 - Takuma Sato
13 - James Hinchcliffe
14 - JR Hildebrand
15 - Carlos Munoz
16 - Marco Aandretti
17 - Conor Daly
18 - Mikhail Aleshin
19 - Ed Jones
20 - Tony Kanaan
21 - Charlie Kimball
22 - Sebastien Bourdais

Mazda Road To Indy Results

Indy Lights Results
1 - Kyle Kaiser (Juncos)
2 - Santi Urruita (Belardi)
3 - Matheus Leist (Carlin)

Pro Mazda Results
1 - Victor Franzoni (Juncos)
2 - TJ Fischer (Pelfrey)
3 - Carlos Cunha (Pelfrey)

USF2000 Results
1 - Oliver Askew (Cape)
2 - Rinus VeeKay (Pabst)
3 - Kaylen Frederick (Pelfrey)

Photos by James Black














Photos By Paul Dalbey











Friday, May 12, 2017

INDYCAR Grand Prix Qualifications

In a change from the previous IndyCar races on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, practice and qualifying has been condensed down to just one day of activity.

Friday's opening day of Verizon IndyCar Series action at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway consisted of two 45-minutes practice sessions with qualifications following.

It was no surprise to find the Chevrolet powered Team Penske dominating qualifications. The Penske organization will hold 5 of the top 7 positions, including the top 3 spots.

Power's Firestone Fast Six pole winning lap of 1:07:7044 also broke the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course track record set last season by Power. The 1:08:6746 lap in 2016 was also broke in practice sessions earlier in the day.

Top 12 to advance from the first round:
- Newgarden
- Pagenaud
- Rossi
- Andretti
- Kanaan
- Hinchcliffe
- Power
- Castroneves
- Bourdais
- Dixon
- Montoya
- Hunter-Reay

Firestone Fast Six
- Montoya
- Power
- Bourdais
- Dixon
- Newgarden
- Castroneves

Pole Winner
- Will Power

Saturdays INDYCAR Grand Prix Starting Field

1 - Power
2 - Castroneves
3 - Newgarden
4 - Dixon
5 - Montoya
6 - Bourdais
7 - Pagenaud
8 - Hunter-Reay
9 - Rossi
10 - Hinchcliffe
11 - Andretti
12 - Kanaan
13 - Jones
14 - Chilton
15 - Daly
16 - Pigot
17 - Aleshin
18 - Munoz
19 - Kimball
20 - Rahal
21 - Hildebrand
22 - Sato

Mazda Road To Indy Race Results

Indy Lights
1 - Nico Jamin (Andretti Autosport)
2 - Zachary Claman De Melo (Carlin)
3 - Kyle Kaiser (Juncos)

Pro Mazda
1 - Victor Franzoni (Juncos)
2 - Anthony Martin (Cape)
3 - TJ Fischer (Pelfrey)

USF2000
1 - Oliver Askew (Cape)
2 - Calvin Ming (Pabst)
3 - Ricky Donison (Cape)