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After having a delicious pork tenderloin dinner with my friend John Oreovicz at Dawson’s on Wednesday night, I finally hit the wall. After getting up at 3:00 am (central time) Wednesday morning, having an extra long trip up to Indianapolis, then dodging raindrops all afternoon – it was a very long day.

I climbed in bed at 9:00 pm (eastern time) Wednesday night and immediately went to sleep. My hotel had been renovated since I stayed here for the practice week. There is now no carpeting in the rooms, which made for a very loud echo. I feel quite certain that my neighbors on each side of me were serenaded by my heavy snoring.

I woke up yesterday morning at 7:43, after almost eleven hours of sleep. I immediately looked out the window and saw what I expected – rain, and lots of it. I checked my e-mail and social media. I assumed the plan was to have everyone show up in case that infamous window over Terre Haute ever showed up. I showered and went downtown for the free breakfast. I wasn’t going to venture out into the rain to go to Charlie Brown’s. While I was eating the obligatory waffle, I got the e-mail – the test was cancelled. It wasn’t postponed until Friday, it was cancelled.

In all honesty, it didn’t upset me. I had gotten to see about an hour of race cars on-track. I got to see a lot of friends I had not seen since Gateway, some since last May. I had no hotel for Thursday night, and did not really want to burn another vacation day, when I will need a lot for May. This way, I was able to get home at around 4:30 pm CDT on Thursday, even though I drove through some attention-getting thunderstorms and wind throughout Kentucky. I hope our May trips back and forth, are less-eventful than this one was.

As far as Wednesday’s practice goes, Kyle Larson opened the eyes of some who were watching from afar, when he posted the second-quickest time of the morning session. Josef Newgarden ran the quickest lap of the morning, with a speed of 228.811 mph. Larson was second quick in the session, running a lap at 226.384 mph. Everyone was all aghast that in the very first practice session for May, Larson was already second-quick. Those who know better, knew that Larson had gotten a massive tow and that was an inflated speed. Still, Newgarden was also the beneficiary of a tow when he posted his fast time. I guess the NASCAR fans got a charge out of seeing their driver beating the IndyCar regulars at their own game. Maybe that means more of them will watch in May.

The Top-Ten of the morning session produced no other surprises. It was made up of the usual suspects, except for rookie Christian Rasmussen who was ninth quick in the morning with a speed of 223.591 mph. The entire Top-Ten of the morning session was Newgarden, Larson, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, Colton Herta, Scott McLaughlin, Ed Carpenter, Kyle Kirkwood, Rasmussen and Felix Rosenqvist.

Perhaps the only other surprise was the absence of any other Arrow-McLaren cars, other than Larson. Pato O’Ward was eighteenth quick at 222.447 mph. Callum Ilott was twenty-seventh at 221.085 mph and Alexander Rossi was twenty-eighth at 220.938 mph. Last year’s bumped driver, Graham Rahal, was much improved at nineteenth quick with a speed of 222.366 mph. That’s not outstanding, but at least he’s in the ballpark. Last year, he knew he was in trouble when he left last year’s Open Test.

The rain-shortened second session produced more predictable results. Larson was twelfth quick with a speed of 221.702 mph. Rasmussen was a more pleasant surprise, being fifth quick at 223.591 mph. He is my early pick for Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, but recent history shows it will probably be Larson, unless he falls off of the map.

O’Ward and Christian Lundgaard both entered the Top-Ten during the second session. O’Ward was eighth quick at 222.200 mph, while Lundgaard was tenth at 221.862 mph. Newgarden came back to earth, running a speed of 220.193 mph, good enough for fifteenth quickest time of the session.

How much stock do we put into these times? Not much. From what I understand, being strong at the test does not necessarily mean you will be strong in May. But if a multi-car team lands their cars in the bottom five for both sessions – you are most likely going to struggle in May. Agustin Canapino and Ryan Hunter-Reay both landed in the bottom-five for both sessions. I’m not worried about Hunter-Reay and Dreyer & Reinbold, but I do have concerns about Canapino, since the Juncos Hollinger cars struggled last May.

Katherine Legge got track time on Wednesday, just after being confirmed with Dale Coyne Racing on Tuesday. She was twenty-ninth in the first session with a speed of 220.664 mph, just avoiding the bottom five. She was nineteenth quick in the afternoon session with a slower time of 217.375 mph.

We had the exact same scenario for this test last year, where they ran the first day, but rained out the second. Last year, I went to the museum to pass the time. That option is not available this year with the massive renovation project going on. Thursday, I went to the track to the makeshift gift shop to the east of the museum, just to see what I couldn’t live without. Unfortunately, I was turned away at the guard station just inside the track. It seems that all of the rain caused flooding in the gift shop overnight, and it was closed for the day,

As I came into town on Wednesday, I noticed that the Mug-n-Bun was still open for business. If you recall, a little over a year ago, it was announced that the property was up for sale. It seemed like a matter of time before the old landmark would be leveled in  favor of a convenience store or parking for Allison down the street. Thursday on my way out of town, I stopped by for one of their famous root beers.

As I paid my bill, I asked what the status was of the sale. She told me that the owner has taken it off the market, is going to make several upgrades, then put it back on the market to sell it only  as the Mug-n-Bun. If a buyer plans to do anything else, besides continue it as the Mug-n-Bun, there will be no sale. So if you’re coming to Indianapolis this May, rest assured the root beer is still just as cold and good as ever. Now it sounds like it will remain that way for a while.

I headed south on I-65, then stopped at the famous Edinburgh Diner for one of their famous tenderloins for lunch. It did not disappoint.

Then I headed home through the thunderstorms to arrive home safely mid-afternoon. It was a successful trip. I got to visit IMS for the first time since August, I saw friends I’ve not seen in a while, I saw racecars up-close and on-track at speed, I went to the IMS gift shop and I had two breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches on the trip. That’s not a bad way to spend two days in the middle of the week in April. It made me even hungrier for May.

I will close with just a few more photos from Wednesday. Thanks to those who followed along.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on April 12, 2024 at 4:02 am and is filed under Indianapolis 500, IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.