Yeah, they debuted the hybrid system at Mid-Ohio after the 500 last year. They’ve run it on ovals before, but not for the 500.
Also Kyffin just put it in the wall, thankfully he missed the wall separating pit lane.
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I’ll DM you the link to the streams I use Dom, so they don’t get shut off…
That was a tough hit for Kyffin (former national level kart racer). Hope they get that back up car together.
Wind is nuts, boost is nuts, hot track is nuts… Going to be a fun day. Well, for us. Not the drivers. All are struggling just to put 4 laps together.
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Thank you 20 go karts racing
They just said today is the hottest turn 1 track temp on record (since 2015) - 137 I believe?? That’s crazy - talking about 50 degree less track temps tomorrow.
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Pato said that the temperature change for tomorrow translates to 200 pounds of downforce based on air density. That certainly changes how you approach setup.
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Very impressed with Prema so far. Shwartzman just laid down a killer 4-lap run. A rookie with a team trying their first 500 going 4th quickest and faster than Dixon is huge right now. Prema is a world class race team, but the 500 is totally foreign to them. They clearly did their homework.
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Just got massive rain at the Speedway, qualifying tomorrow with big boost and trimmed out cars on a washed off track is going to be very interesting
Dude, I’m so stoked for them. The 83 group in particular. For all the shit talk they’ve had to listen to, they put in an absolute workmanlike 3 days. Rolling through processes and procedures, keeping expectations (and humans) in check and just sticking to a plan - it’s been so much fun. There was an audible woah! When he threw down those times at the end of the day. Not quite Connor Daly cheers, but people that pay attention are starting to take notice.
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Washed off track, 20 degrees cooler and 20 mph less wind gusts. It’ll be big HP weather for sure!
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Well that was an eventful day. Was rooting for Daly so hard on that last run! Sooo close to the top 12 and probably would’ve been in it if not for the mistake on the weight-jacker on the last lap. Still good pace though.
Malukas threw it down a couple times out there and that car looks hooked up.
Shame for Herta and Armstrong with those big wrecks, but incredible to see them get the cars back together and go again at the end. I hope Armstrong gets in and I hope they don’t fix his pieced-together livery. I love the hodge-podge body panels.
The DCRs are just hopeless unfortunately. If Veekay can’t get any speed out of them, Abel is in real trouble. To see them both in the bottom four is rough. Marco too. The car is just not dialed in. Rahal got so lucky to stay in the show there. I think if Marco would’ve gotten out one more time he would’ve bumped him.
Yeah some great storylines today!
The huevos it takes for guys like Herta and Armstrong to go right from the infield care center to a qualifying run without even a shakedown lap is just otherworldly. Those were monster hits and to think the next time they rolled out it was straight back to the button is just crazy.
I really wish Graham and Marco were both in the last row shootout tomorrow just for the storyline and TV interest. Marco as actually way more tolerable on the radio out of the two surprisingly. They both just have slow cars that just will not roll mid corner speed. The amount of drag they have whether aero or parasitic is just nuts. Only ones worse are the Coyne cars. You can’t exit a corner at 223 when others are at 230+ and hope to have any chance in hell.
Penske and Ganassi are just different than most of the rest. Watch the mid corner rolling speeds - that’s where all the difference is. They just don’t scrub…
Was really pulling for Santino and then Connor to break in to the top 12. Both worked exhaustingly this week - one to overcome an evil car and the other to fine tune a package capable of running with the big dogs on a fraction of the budget.
Love the format - it was a great day at the track! Can’t believe more people don’t go - so much going on and just so damn cheap.
The storyline of the day though….
One of these things is not like the others… lol Have been on the radio listening to these guys all week and it has been a slow, methodical burn with purpose. You don’t fluke 233+, pace is earned - you can’t get lucky and find it. Couldn’t be happier for my kid and his first time here on the box. To go from the car everyone thought most likely to not make the race to being firmly in the top 12 is just crazy.
Can’t wait for Sunday!
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Holy cow what a run from Shwartzman! Insane that the new European team that’s been back to midfield all season is suddenly on top of one of the biggest races in the world. It also makes an early day for me since that was the only non-client team in the fast 6.
Newgarden and Power failed pre-qualifying tech, so we have a Penske fourth row lockout. If it was up to me I’d put them at the back of the grid but I can’t imagine them doing that.
Next week should be spicy, 70° and cloudy but only a 20% chance of rain at the moment. We’ll see if anyone walls it tomorrow or Friday, McLaughlin going into the wall this morning shows even the top guys were struggling out there.
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Just floored at how the day went! Couldn’t be happier for the 83 crew. Both runs today you just knew it was going to be special watching those mid-corner roll speeds on lap 1 pop up.
Race wins are for the drivers, Poles are for the engineers. 
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That car/driver was hauling the mail. I was almost expecting to see 239 coming into T1
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The coverage went over what Team Penske had done which was not a sideskirt it was a clear violation of the rules. I am truly disappointed how ICS handled it.
Great job by the #83 team, unbelievable.
NEWS: The Nos. 2 and 12 entries of Team Penske have been penalized for violating Rule 14.7.8.16 related to the discovery of modified attenuators. The cars will be moved to the 32nd and 33rd starting positions for this year’s Indianapolis 500.
Additionally, INDYCAR is suspending the team strategists for the Nos. 2 and 12 for the remainder of the event. Both cars will forfeit their qualification points and each entry has been fined $100,000.
They’ve changed the penalty and sent the Penskes to the rear of the field. I think that is the most fair option.
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As a non-indy car person, can someone explain to me what they were doing? Were they in the grey area? Were they blatantly cheating and got caught? Is this type of “searching for speed” typical in Indy car? I grew up a NASCAR guy and love the folks that are “pushing the limits”, but I have no context/background here to understand.
Doug Boles explains it in more detail in this video:
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The rear attenuator carbon has a lip on it where two of the pieces of carbon meet. That is a spec part and is not allowed to be modified in any way according to the rules. Penske filled in that lip and smoothed it out with filler to reduce drag.
That is illegal in itself. But it was missed in pre-run tech. Someone caught it when they saw the car in the pit lane. So the Penske crews decided to try and fix it in the pits, which is also not allowed by the rules. As Pato noted in his presser, if it was illegal for Fast 12 qualifying, it was probably illegal all week.
Another black eye for the Penske teams after the push-to-pass scandal last year.
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https://x.com/marshallpruett/status/1924535569800995055?t=zwSgxWUO2iF0nuB6iq31fA&s=19
Certainly has made Indycar more i interesting this year.
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