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Saturday morning at Barber - The IndyCars hold their 2nd practice of the weekend…

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…and this one was critical, as it was the last chance to get things ready for qualifying. A number of cars managed to spin off and or hit things, the worst being Alexander Rossi for Andretti Autosport, who spun in Turn 17 and clouted the barrier, mangling his Honda enough to require an engine and trans change. They are doing an “all-hands-on-deck” with 17 mechanics hitting it, trying to get the car ready for qualifying.

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Here was the order of speed for the IndyCar P-2 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing - time of 01:05.9264s for a speed of 125.595mph
Rinus

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2 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:06.0136s for a speed of 125.429mph
PatoO'Ward150-2

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3 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:06.0434s for a speed of 125.372mph
ColtonHerta150-5

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4 - Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske - time of 01:06.1233s for a speed of 125.221mph
ScottMcLaughlin150-4

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5 - Romain Grosjean, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:06.2170s for a speed of 125.043mph
RomainGrosjean150-2

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6 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
7 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
8 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
9 - Callum Ilott [R], Juncos Hollinger Racing
10 - Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

11 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
12 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
13 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
14 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises
15 - Christian Lundegaard [R], Rahal Letterman Lanigan
16 - Will Power, Team Penske
17 - David Malukas [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ HMD Motorsports
18 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
19 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner
20 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport

21 - Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
22 - Takuma Sato, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
23 - Jimmie Johnson, Chip Ganassi Racing
24 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
25 - Simon Pagenaud, Meyer Shank Racing
26 - Tatiana Calderon [R], AJ Foyt Enterprises

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Notable:

  • Rinus was close to the track record at the end. His was one of 4 Chevys in the TOP TEN. Teammate Conor Daly is also improved, so ECR is doing very well.

  • Alexander Rossi was TOP FIVE when he spun, so if the guys can restore his car this might be one of his better visits to Barber - a track he notoriously dislikes. That makes Andretti very strong, as a team. The Ganassi boys are also very strong.

  • Also spinning into the gravel were Romain Grosjean and Will Power. Helio Castroneves hit some of Rossi’s debris, but that appeared to do only quickly-repairable damage. Josef Newgarden and Kyle Kirkwood both went off but then back on in Turn 5. Everyone is pushing.

  • The Penskes seemed to have come closer to finding what they need, with Scotty McLaughlin still leading the team.

  • Jack Harvey made TOP TEN and Graham Rahal isn’t far behind. Both may get into the Fast 12 in qualifying for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, and that wasn’t in the cards yesterday.

  • Pato O’Ward was very fast but looked like he was working very hard to be so. It’s as if he is pulling the car up to this level by sheer willpower. It would be unsustainable over a race as the tires wouldn’t make it.

  • Callum Ilott is once again TOP TEN and the best rookie, despite the one-car effort of the team. The kid is quietly impressing everyone.

Callum Ilott
CallumIllott150-3

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The IndyCars will do knock-out qualifying starting at Noon local time. Next up, USF2000 qualifies for Race 2…

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