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May 2023 News
Article Index
F1 Drivers Whine About Miami

May 8 - At the F1 Miami race yesterday, In a
break from convention, the grid’s 20 drivers were
brought out one by one past an honour guard of
cheerleaders, announced by the rapper
LL Cool
J while the singer will.i.am conducted a 30-piece,
black-tie orchestra.

It sounds like a nice show of appreciation, but
a chorus of dissatisfaction issued from the
drivers about the introduction ceremony.

Mercedes driver
George Russell, a director of
the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, said, “It is
distracting. I’m here to race, I’m not here for the
show, I’m here to drive and I’m here to win.

“We’re on the grid for half an hour in all of our
overalls in the sun. I don’t think there’s any
other sport in the world that 30 minutes before
you go out to do your do your business, that
you’re out there in the sun, with all the cameras
on you, making a show of it."

Ha ha!  I guess Mr. Russell has never watched

the Indianapolis 500!

(Russel's previous finishes this year are 7th, 4th,
8th and a DNF.  He finished 4th in Miami, so it
doesn't look like the show had any detrimental
effect on his performance.)
The Tribulation F1 Drivers Endured in Miami.
George Russell -  "I'm not here for the show."
Tuesday May 16th                              DAY 1                  Rookie and Veteran Practice
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Friday
Sunday
May 16
May 17
May 18
May 19
May 20
May 21
May 22
May 23
May 26
May 28
INDEX
Wednesday May 17th                                DAY 2                                Indy 500 Open Practice
Thursday May 18th                                DAY 3                                Indy 500 Open Practice
Friday May 19th                                  DAY 4                 Indy 500 Fast Friday Practice
Saturday May 20th                              DAY 5                    Indy 500 First Day of Qualifying
The FAST 12 For Tomorrow's Pole Shootout
SPEED
233.947
233.528
233.398
233.395
233.375
233.347
233.322
233.252
233.147
233.030
232.739
232.719
DRIVER
Felix Rosenqvist
Alex Rossi
Alex Palou
Rinus VeeKay
Scott Dixon
Tony Kanaan
Takuma Sato
Pato O'Ward
Santino Ferrucci
Marcus Ericsson
Ben Pedersen
Will Power
ENGINE
Chevy
Chevy
Honda
Chevy
Honda
Honda
Honda
Chevy
Chevy
Honda
Chevy
Chevy
QUALIFYING ORDER FOR SATURDAY
Sunday May 21st                              DAY 6                    Indy 500 Pole Day Qualifying
The Fast 6 Results
SPEED mph
234.217  =  376.936 kph
234.211
234.114
233.661
233.158
233.151
DRIVER
Alex Palou
Rinus VeeKay
Felix Rosenqvist
Santino Ferrucci
Pato O'Ward
Scott Dixon
ENGINE
Honda
Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Chevrolet
Honda
TEAM
Chip Ganassi Racing
Ed Carpenter Racing
Arrows McLaren
A.J. Foyt Racing
Arrows McLaren
Chip Ganassi Racing
Monday May 22nd                              DAY 7                    Indy 500 Practice
Tuesday - Thursday  May 23-25                                             Track Closed
FRONT ROW
Friday  May 26                         DAY 8                                 CARB DAY
The 500 Festival Mini-Marathon

May 6 - 17,000 runners registered this year to compete in the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.  
The annual foot race is held in downtown Indianapolis and includes a lap around the motor speedway.
Chad Johnson won the
mens wheelchair race
with a time of 55:18
Anna Rohrer (Heiny)
won the women's race
with a time of 1:11:31
Panuel Mkungo set a new
course record - 1:01:44
05/09 -  The 2023 Corvette Z06 hardtop convertible has been selected as the official
Indy 500 Pace Car.   
Pace Car Photos
05/10 -  IMS is using walk-through scanners at pedestrain entrances so fans will no
longer have to stop and show what is in their bags and coolers.
Rainy conditions prevented any on track practice today.
Marcus Ericsson says the design of his Indy 500
helmet honors the black and gold livery of Ronnie
Peterson's "John Player Special" Lotus from the 1970s
5/17 - This weekend's F1 race at Imola, Italy has been cancelled due to heavy flooding.
A nice dry day with temperatures in the 60s,
mostly cloudy.

Scott Dixon came out early and put in a
scorcher - average speed of 229.174 mph!

12:40pm -
Graham Rahal barely brushed the
wall coming out of Turn 4.  He only scuffed the
right rear tire.

2pm - all other drivers have avg speeds be
-
tween 220-226 mph except Callum Ilott who
hasn't gone over 215.54 yet.

3:45pm - temperature has risen to 70 degrees.
Takuma Sato took over fastest lap with a
229.439.

Currently, the four fastest drivers of the day

are all Chip Ganassi Racing drivers.

5:18p -
Josef Newgarden hit 237.125 mph
into Turn 1.

32 cars on track are all within a half-second

of each other.

Colton Herta bumped his way into the top 4.

5:30p - Illot has worked his way up past
Chris
Lundgaard
with a speed of 223.409

Santino Ferrucci has moved into 3rd fastest.

RC Enerson completed the three-phase
Rookie Orientation Program in the No. 50 Abel
Motorsports Chevrolet, as all 34 entries
combined to turn 3,455 laps (8,637.5 miles) in
the busy, six-hour session.
1. Takuma Sato
2. Scott Dixon
3. Santino Ferrucci
4. Alex Palou
5. Scott McLaughlin
229.439 mph
229.174
228.977
228.720
228.473
Fastest Laps of the Day
Stefan Wilson's 500 helmet
Drivers Wait For Dry Track
Top Row: Will Power, Takuma Sato, Simon Pagenaud, Colton Herta
Bottom Row: Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Agustin Canapino, Ed Carpenter
Nice weather like yesterday.

Cars came out to practice at noon.

There were no accidents today, but there was a
close call involving
RC Enerson and Pato
O'Ward
.  IndyCars may use the pitlane around
the short chutes to get off the track before turns
1 and 3 if faster cars are approaching from behind.
While its easy enough to do on the north end, on
the south end, a driver only has a fraction of a
second to switch over between where the pit wall
ends and the grass begins. Worse, a car doing that
cannot see if cars are coming out of the pits.
Today, Enerson switched to the pitlane on the
south end a moment before, O’Ward had just
entered the lane from the pits.  Enterson came up
on O’Ward immediately and at a much faster rate.
He pass him on the narrow lane, barely missing
him.  O’Ward was surprised and angry.

In anticipation of competing in next year's Indy
500 for the first time,
Kyle Larson was on hand,
talking to
Jeff Gordon and observing.

Marcus Ericsson turned the top lap, 39.1974
seconds, 229.607 mph, during the six-hour
session.  He also was the speediest car running
alone, with a best "no-tow" lap of 224.414.

All 34 drivers competing for 33 spots in the
starting field combined to turn 3,159 laps
(7,897.5 miles)
1. Scott McLaughlin
2. Scott Dixon
3. Simon Pagenaud
4. Will Power
5. Colton Herta
229.607 mph
229.186
228.681
228.577
228.240
Fastest Laps of the Day
To prepare for this weekend's qualifying,  the
speeds during practice tomorrow will be faster.  
This is because the cars will receive the additional
100 horsepower they get for
qualifying, which is provided by additional
boost pressure to the engine turbo.
Two Team Penske Cars Haved Special Livery For Indy 500
#3 Scott McLaughlin & #2 Josef Newgarden
IMS Upgrades for Smart Phones

May 19 - IMS has added additional 4G and 5G
service inside the track, throughout the
grandstands, Turns 3 and 4, as well as at Gates 9,
10 and 11.

The Verizon IndyCar App users with a 5G phone
will now have "multi-view" available which
allows them to toggle  between seven different
camera angles of live action, including the live
TV broadcast.
Practice began at noon as weather was 75-degrees
and windy.

Big speeds are apparent immediately thanks to the
added turbo boost.

12:25pm - WOW!  
Pato O'Ward's trap speed
going toward Turn 1 with no tow, hit 243.145 mph!
That is the fastest since IndyCar began keeping
track of it in 2009.

12:54p -
Takuma Sato fastest with lap speed of
234.753 mph.

Teams are doing 4-lap runs prepping for qualifying.

2pm - temperature has risen to 78-degrees.
Kyle Kirkwood just ran fastest 4-laps average-
232.616 mph.
Sato
Ericsson
Newgarden
Power
VeeKay
Herta
Roseqvist
Kirkwood
Rossi
Dixon
233.413
233.113
233.086
233.070
232.898
232.803
232.777
232.616
232.535
232.450
FASTEST 4-LAP SPEEDS
After practice, there will be a lottery to determine qualifying order for tomorrow.
Drivers hope for a low number so they can make an early attempt to avoid rising temperatures.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10
Ganassi
Ganassi
Penske
Penske
Carpenter
Andretti
McLaren
Andretti
McLaren
Ganassi
Takuma Sato Ran the Fastest Lap today, in fact, the fastest since 1996!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Colton Herta
Will Power
Helio Castroneves
Marco Andretti
Marcus Ericsson
Christian Lundgaard
Alexander Rossi
Scott Dixon (car #9)
Simon Pagenaud
Benjamin Pedersen
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
Sting Ray Robb
Felix Rosenqvist
Tony Kanaan
Ed Carpenter
R.C. Enerson
Jack Harvey
Conor Daly
Devlin DeFrancesco
Graham Rahal
Rinus VeeKay (car #21)
Pato O'Ward
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
Callum Ilott
Stefan Wilson (car #24)
Takuma Sato
David Malukas
Santino Ferrucci
Alex Palou
Romain Grosjean
Kyle Kirkwood
Katherine Legge
Scott McLaughlin
Augustin Canapino
Josef Newgarden
8:30 am - The track opened for practice early this
morning with temperature 54-degrees.  Today will
be cooler and sunnier than yesterday.  Only 10
drivers came out to practice.  
Tony Kanaan went
fastest with a lap of 233.026 mph.
Qualifying began at 11 am.,  61 degrees.

11:51 am - Rookie
Benjamin Pedersen for A.J.
Foyt Racing, put in a great qualifier with a 4-lap
average speed of 233.739, positioning himself in
3rd -  between
Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson!
A.J. Foyt was on hand to witness it too.

12:37 pm -
Rinus VeeKay, for Ed Carpenter
Racing qualifies at 233.395 and slots into 2nd
for now.  
Alex Rossi is currently the fastest
with a speed of 233.528.

1:05 pm -
Santino Ferrucci qualified at 233.147
and slots into 5th.  Another great job by A.J.
Foyt Racing!

Next up was
Alex Palou, with Ganassi Racing.
who slots into P2 with a speed of 233.398.

Kyle Kirkwood slots into 14th, but is faster
than his four Andretti Motorsport teammates:
Grosjean, Herta, Andretti & DeFrancesco.

Wow,
Katherine Legge is faster than her RLL
teammates: Rahal, Lundgaard and Jack Harvey.
She slots into 24th.
The 27-fastest race cars today
qualify for the race.

Positions 13-30 from today are
set for the race.

The 4 slowest cars will move
on to tomorrow for bumping.

The fastest 12 from today will
compete tomorrow for pole.
WHAT TODAY MEANS
1:48p - Ryan Hunter-Reay is the first driver
to take a second run.  He slotted into 17th
with a better speed of 232.133 for Dreyer &
Reinbold Racing.

Colton Herta took another crack at it.  He
went 231.288 and is in 19th.

Josef Newgarden then came out for his first
attempt.  He pushes McLaughlin out of the
top 12 with a speed of 232.542.
Top 12 as of 2:36pm
DRIVER
Rossi
Palou
VeeKay
O'Ward
Ferrucci
Rosenqvist
Dixon
Sato
Pedersen
Ericsson
Power
Carpenter
ENGINE
Chevy
Honda
Chevy
Chevy
Chevy
Chevy
Honda
Honda
Chevy
Honda
Chevy
Chevy

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
3:04pm - Tony Kanaan posted the exact same
time as
Ed Carpenter, (232.620) who sits on
the bubble for the Top 12!  Since Carpenter did
it first, he retains 12th position for now.

3:12p - Dixon came out and did 233.375 for 4th.

Agustin Canapino tapped wall with rear wheel
in Turn 1.  He was able to save it and only
suffered a bent toe-link.
Top 12 as of 4:02 pm
DRIVER
Rossi
Palou
VeeKay
Dixon
Sato
O'Ward
Ferrucci
Rosenqvist
Ericsson
Pedersen
Power
Carpenter

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
4:15p - Kirkwood  moves into 12th with a
speed of 232.662.

4:40p - Kanaan jumped into 5th!

It's only 65-degree still.  The weather has been
so constant.  Normally there is a big lull
during the heat of the afternoon and cars don't
come back out until 5pm to make further
qualifying attempts.  But today there has been
constant qualifying attempts!

Felix Rosenqvist jumped to the top with a
233..947!

5:10p - Track temp has gone down 4 degrees.

5:38p -
David Malukas moved from the
bottom up to 23rd and was ecstatic.

The last run was by Lundgaard who hoped to
bump  his way in which would bump Legge
out of the top 29.  He failed.
Graham Rahal
Jack Harvey
Christian Lundgaard
Sting Ray Robb
- Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
- R
ahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
- Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
- Dale Coyne Racing
The 4 slowest drivers will have to try again tomorrow during Last Chance Qualifying.
One driver is going to be bumped from the Indy 500.  Those drivers are:
TEAM
Arrow McLaren
Arrow McLaren
Chip Ganassi Racing
Ed Carpenter Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
Arrow McLaren
A.J. Foyt Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing
A.J. Foyt Racing
Team Penske
POS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
A.J. Foyt, Jr.
Happy with both his drivers cracking Top 12
Rookie Benjamin Pedersen
Makes It Into Top 12
Chip Ganassi
All 5 of his drivers in the Top 12
Doug Boles with 500 Queen Mykah Coleman
Felix Rosenqvist has Fastest 4 Laps
In Top 12 on a One Off,
TK is still Da Man!
The day starts out sunny and cold. Unlike last
several days, there is little wind.
The top 12 cars came out to practice at 11:30

a.m.

Noon - It has warmed up to 66 degrees.
Wow, cars are beginning to turn 'No Tow' laps
over 235!
Fastest was
Marcus Ericsson - 235.692

12:30p - The four slowest drivers come out to
practice.
2 pm - Temp has risen to 73 degrees.
Top 12 Qualifying begins.
Felix Rosenqvist fastest at 234.081 mph.
3 pm - Top 12 qualifying ends.
TOP 12 Qualifying Results
DRIVER
Felix Rosenqvist
Santino Ferrucci
Rinus VeeKay
Alex Palou
Scott Dixon
Pato O'Ward
Alex Rossi
Takuma Sato
Tony Kanaan
Marcus Ericsson
Ben Pedersen
Will Power
POS
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
AVG SPEED
234.081
233.911
233.801
233.779
233.430
233.229
233.110
233.098
233.076
232.889
232.671
232.635
4pm - The four slowest driver from yesterday
will qualify again.  The slowest will not make
the big show.

Three of the cars are Rahal cars.

4:45pm -
Graham Rahal is on the bubble as
team mate
Jack Harvey tries to bump him.
5:03p - Harvey made his final attempt.  
Graham sat in his car knowing there was no
time left for him to respond if Harvey bumped
him.  The tension was palpable.
HARVEY DID IT!  
1/100th of mile an hour difference and Rahal
will miss the 107th Indy 500.
This happened to his father
Bobby Rahal
30 years ago.
Last Chance Results
DRIVER
Christian Lundgaard
Sting Ray Robb
Jack Harvey
Graham Rahal
POS
1
2
3
4
AVG SPEED
230.325
230.064
229.435
229.615
5:23pm - Temperature is 74-degrees as track
temperature begins to come down as Fast 6
Shootout begins.  The six drivers will run in
order from 6th to 1st from earlier qualifying.
Pato O'Ward goes first.

Dixon came out next.  Pole-sitter the past two
years, if he can get pole this year, he will be the
first driver in history to get three poles in a row.

Alas, he was 6/1000 of a second slower than
O'Ward.

5:34pm - Palou jumps to the top of the speed
chart.

5:48 - the final run is made and Palou jumps for
joy, as he is the Indy 500 Pole winner.

This is the fastest field in Indianapolis 500

history. The average speed for the 33-car field
is 232.184, beating the record of 231.023 set
last year.
It was Armed Forces Day at the Speedway.
Rinus VeeKay Helmet
Hoosiers Enlisting Today
A two-hour practice began at 1pm on this sunny
Monday; temperature 76-degrees.

2:12pm - CRASH!  
Katherine Legge drove into
the back of
Stefan Wilson's car at the end of the
front straight.  They spun and hit the Turn 1 Safer
Barrier.  Legge made contact with the back of her
car and Wilson went in nose first, but Legge's
wreck looked a lot worse.  However, Legge exited
her car on her own while the safety crew took 9
minutes to extricate Wilson.  At 6'4",  he is the
tallest driver in the field.  They took him to the
ambulance on a stretcher.  He gave a thumbs up.  
Both drivers are one-off entries.
INDY... The Highs and the Lows
Alex Palou
Graham Rahal
Katherine Legge (left) & Stefan Wilson Crash in Turn 2
2:41p - The track goes green.  Drivers are
given 30 minutes more to practice.

2:50p - Doctor said Wilson is doing well and
speaking.  He has been take to local hospital
for futher tests.

All 33 drivers came out to practice today.
Will Power was fastest.

Cars will next be on the track Friday.
May 23 - It turned out that Stefan Wilson
suffered a vertebrae fracture in yesterday's
crash.  This morning, his team owners,
Dennis
Reinbold and Don Cusick, held a press
conference to announce a replacement driver.

Graham Rahal will be driving the No. 24 DRR
Cusick CareKeepers Chevrolet for the 500.

Reinbold said there were a lot of hurtles to

overcome to put the deal together, from
sponsors to manufacturers.  He said both of
their entries will look a little different now as
some sponsors logos will transfer.

Rahal has only driven Honda-powered cars.  
He will not only need to adapt to the Chevrolet,
he will have to learn all of the changes that exist
between RLL cars and Wilson's Dreyer and
Reinbold car, such as switches and buttons.
He will be relying on friend and new teammate,
Ryan Hunter-Reay to help get him up to speed.
He will not be able to use his steering wheel
which he has used for the past 12 years.  They
also cannot use an RLL chassis per the rules.
D&R Racing will repair the damaged car.  He
will be able to bring over his seat, as both cars
chassis are made by Dallara.

Rahal will have the two hour practice Friday to

begin getting familiar with the car.  He said he'll
then have 500 miles during the race to help fine
tune things.

Rahal has certainly been put through an
emotional roller coaster over the last several

days!  He thought he would spend the rest of
this week relaxing and playing golf, but instead,
it will be back to work!
Dennis Reinbold
Graham Rahal
Don Cusick
May 23 - Actor Adam Driver will wave the green flag on race day to start the Indy 500.
Adam Driver played
Kylo Ren in recent Star Wars movies.
Driver grew up in Indiana, graduating high school in Mishawaka.  He later attended
college in Indianapolis.
May 24 - IndyCar has announced a special 15-minute
session Thursday for the two cars involved in the practice
incident Monday.  Both cars were heavily damaged.

The 15-minute session will take place from 4:30-4:45 p.m.
Graham Rahal is driving the No. 24, while Katherine
Legge
is behind the wheel of the No. 44.

Each team will be allowed unlimited install laps (out and in)
within the time frame. They will not be allowed to stay on
the track to cross the start-finish line and the Yard of Bricks.

That is very little time.  I guess it's better than nothing.
Nice sunny day with moderate temperatures and
low humidity.  

IndyCars came out to practice from 11 am - 1 pm

Takuma Sato was fastest with a avg lap speed
of 227.855 mph.
The Pit Stop Competition started at 2:30pm.

Scott Dixon's Chip Ganassi team won it in the
final round, beating
Will Power's Penske team
May 17
May 18
May 19
May 20
May 21
May 22
May 26
Takuma Sato
Marcus Ericsson
Takuma Sato
Tony Kanaan
Marcus Ericsson
Will Power
Takuma Sato
229.439 mph
229.607
234.753
233.026
235.692
229.222
227.855
Date
Driver
Speed
FASTEST LAP SPEED IN PRACTICE
May 17

May 20

May 22
Graham Rahal

Agustin Canapino

Katherine Legge
& Stefan Wilson
Brushed wall T4, no harm done.

Brushed wall T1, bent toe link.

They came together and hit Turn 1 wall.
Legge is ok, Wilson suffered verebrae
fracture and won't make race.
PRACTICE MISHAPS THIS MONTH
Winner Josef Newgarden won $3,666,000 of the $17 million purse.

Indy 500 Rookie of the Year is
Benjamin Pedersen.  
He was in 18th position when he wrecked on the 196th lap.

Pato O'Ward coined the term, "Getting Lit in the Pit"

A tire torn off of Kyle Kirkwood's car flew over the catch fence in Turn 2
and landed on a lady's car, smashing the left front corner.  
Roger Penske
said he'd buy her a new car.
Stylish drivers Kyle Kirkwood and
Benjamin Pedersen won the Bus
Lot Pickleball Tournament!
Marco Andretti's helmet
Benjamin Pedersen Helmet