Following an eventful qualifying weekend, the 33 qualified drivers returned to the track on Monday for a couple hours of practice in race trim.
The track was busy from the drop of the green flag, as everyone looked to make near-final adjustments to their cars before the biggest race of the season.
The fastest lap of the afternoon was set by Alex Palou, who turned a lap at 226.765 MPH. The reigning series champion has looked strong all week, and appears to be a legitimate contender for the Indy 500 this year.
Four time winner Helio Castroneves set the second best lap in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, followed by two time winner Takuma Sato in third.
The two DRR-Cusick Motorsports entries of Jack Harvey and Ryan Hunter-Reay were fourth and fifth on the charts, showing good pace with only minimal time remaining before the race itself.
Experience was clearly the name of the game in race traffic, and it was valuable while the crew performed mock pit stops as well.
The PREMA team struggled during a few round of pit stop practice, and will certainly be working on cleaning up that process over the next six days.
Late troubles at IMS
There was one incident during the two hour session, as Christian Rasmussen hit the wall coming out of Turn 2.
A light tap to the outside barriers broke the toe link on the #21 ECR Chevy, which sent him spinning down the back stretch. He bounced off the inside wall with a direct hit on the attenuator, but the car was spared from more serious damage.
Rasmussen should be able to use the same car for the race and take up his earned spot of 18th on the grid.
Another driver that had trouble was Scott McLaughlin, though the Team Penske driver’s problem was mainly just pace.
The team sent McLaughlin out in his backup car for the first time on Monday, having stayed at the track until 10:00 PM preparing the spare chassis following his devastating crash the day before.
The #3 entry was only 31st fastest, however, despite turning 65 laps. Still work to do to make the car as competitive as his primary car was.
Will Power and Callum Ilott tied for the most laps completed at 88 apiece, while Scott Dixon turned the fewest after suffering from reported hybrid overheating issues.
After being on track for every one of the past seven days, drivers will finally get a small rest.
There is one final practice session for Carb Day on Friday, followed by thein 109th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 25.
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