By Austin Lawton, Staff Writer
Monday’s practice session for the 110th Indianapolis 500 saw only 34 minutes and 47 seconds of green flag running, along with the first major incident of the month.
Teams saw their first action of race simulations once the green flag flew at 1pm ET. Overall, it was Josef Newgaden who led the abbreviated session at 226.198mph. The driver of the No.2 Chevrolet for Team Penske will start 23rd for race day, but looks to have a good car in traffic and at the lead of the pack.
“Very happy to get some practice in before the weather got here,” Newgarden said. “The Shell Fuel Rewards Chevy was very strong today in race trim. These next few days will be very important to come up with a good plan for Carb Day practice because we still have a few things to improve on. Obviously, we wish we had a better starting position, but we can move forward on Sunday.”
Takuma Sato was just behind Newgarden at 225.723mph. The two-time “500” winner will start 12th, with another sneaky fast Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.
Dennis Hauger, the 2025 Indy NXT by Firestone champion struggled with his qualifying car over the weekend and starts 29th. The car in race trim is good for the young Dane, ending up third on the charts at 224.554mph.
“I think it’s the best we’ve felt so far since we started, so that’s encouraging,” Hauger said. “I think we have a good race car compared to, you know — we’ve had struggles in qualifying, but it seems like we’ve always been getting in race mode, so we’ll just keep doing some small tunes.”
The same could be said for Ryan Hunter-Reay as well. The 2014 “500” winner has been behind on his race car after the team changed the hybrid unit on Thursday, and had electrical issues a week ago, but ended Monday’s practice in fourth on the charts at 224.415mph. Spirits are still high for Hunter-Reay, who has enjoyed working with the Arrow McLaren crew and piloting the No.31.
“I’ve had such a great time with this team and getting to know everybody and really put a lot of effort into being a regular within the team prior to coming here as a one-off,” Hunter-Reay said. “You know, these things happen. Day one, electrical issues. You know, these cars are — they’re complex to run. You really have a — you get a greater appreciation for that every time, if the computer won’t talk to the car and vice versa, telemetry, and all this other stuff. They have to see what is going on. Especially Chevy has to see what’s going on with the engine at all times in order to run. When you have a hiccup on that, we spent a lot of time on Tuesday sitting in the pit box trying to sort that.
“So good news is we have all that sorted. Unfortunately on Thursday we had a hybrid issue, had to change that out, had to split the car in half. Then Friday gear box issue. So not ideal. We’ve definitely faced our challenges, but they’ve been very resilient, and the crew has been working so hard. So it’s great to get into race running, because I’ve always said, like I told them before the week started, for me the number one goal is always just focusing on the race car.”
Marcus Ericsson was the fifth fastest at 224.376mph and despite the No.28 Andretti Global car not performing to expectations in qualifying, the Swede and 2022 “500” winner is excited about the race ahead.
“High confidence,” Ericsson said. “I think we’ve had — like these guys have said, we had good practice last week. We were strong cars in traffic and felt comfortable running with the best out there. Qualifying didn’t go as we would have liked, but it’s a long race, and we know we have good race cars. So I’m super confident we can go up and fight our way to the front. Yeah, fight for the win, that’s what we’re here for. It makes me excited thinking about next weekend.”
SEE: Indianapolis 500 Practice Seven Results
The first major wreck of the month halted the early running in Monday’s two-hour session. While running in a pack, Alexander Rossi entered Turn Two and the No.20 Java House Chevrolet got caught out from underneath him, causing Rossi to spin, with the left-side of the car hitting the outside wall.
The car would catch air but not roll completely over. Pato O’Ward and Romain Grosjean were collected in the incident as well. O’Ward attempted to slow his No.5 Arrow McLaren car down at over 220mph, but would end up spinning and the rear of the car would hit Rossi’s right side.
Grosjean was an innocent victim, spinning in an attempt to slow down and avoid the incident. All three drivers were able to walk out under their own power. Grosjean was seen and released from the medical center. Rossi was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. Per IndyCar, Rossi was “awake and in good spirits.”
O’Ward and the Arrow McLaren crew will go to a backup tub, with the team rebuilding the car until Carb Day.
“I’m alright. Just ugh, wrong place, wrong time,” O’Ward told the media after being seen and released from the medical center. “I saw Rossi spinning and it’s really tough to stop these cars in the middle of a corner when you smash the brake. We don’t really have a lot of stopping power. I knew Rossi was going to bounce off the wall. Just feel for the guys to rebuild a new car, but I’m sure they’re gonna build me something that’s gonna feel like the old car.”