Defending Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves became the first driver to top the 227 m.p.h. mark in practice for this year’s Greatest Spectacle in Racing, leading the charts for the second straight day.
Castroneves busted off a lap of 227.046 m.p.h. in his primary No. 3 Team Penske machine, once again coming out ahead of the Target Chip Ganassi Racing duo of Scott Dixon (second; 226.202 m.p.h.) and Dario Franchitti (third; 226.044). IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Will Power was fourth-fastest on the day with a lap at 225.600 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske entry and Tony Kanaan went P5 again — this time, in his own No. 11 7-Eleven/Andretti Autosport car, with a lap at 225.524 m.p.h.
Rain caused multiple short yellows throughout the afternoon and then cut the action short by about a half-hour ahead of the scheduled end at 6 p.m. ET.
The lone major incident of the day took place during the four o’clock hour, when Dan Wheldon of Panther Racing lost control in Turn 4 and crashed into the front-stretch wall. He was checked and released from the infield care center and according to the team’s Twitter page, the crash damage on Wheldon’s No. 4 National Guard machine is “honestly not that bad.” Multiple reports say that Wheldon’s bruised right foot will be re-evaluated.
MORE TO COME…
