INDIANAPOLIS — There was a frantic element to the start of Tuesday’s Indianapolis 500 Opening Day as teams and crews realized rain would hit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at some point during the first day of practice.
It didn’t take long.
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After just 23 minutes, 37 seconds of green flag time, the yellow flag came out as rain began to fall around 9:26 a.m. Eastern Time. Nearly five hours later, IndyCar officials finally called the session complete.
Wednesday’s practice has been extended from six hours to eight, beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern Time and running to 6 p.m. without a break.
As for Tuesday’s dramatically abbreviated activity, 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon was the fastest driver at 229.107 miles per hour in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. He the same number of laps as his car number – 9.
Marco Andretti, the 2020 Indy 500 Pole Winner, was second at 228.399 mph in the No. 98 Honda for Andretti Global. Two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato was third at 225.551 mph in the No. 75 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward of Monterey, Mexico was fourth in the No. 5 Chevrolet at 224.993 mph. He had the only Chevy in the top nine.
Christian Lundgaard rounded out the top five in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda at 223.844 mph for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Felix Rosenqvist, Kyle Kirkwood, and Scott McLaughlin all completed 13 laps, the most of any of the 29 drivers that hit the track on Tuesday.
Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, completed just two laps, installation runs on his No. 17 Arrow McLaren Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet that were at slow speed for a system check.