IndyCar: Andretti Autosport Leads Indy 500 Practice Again

After practice was rained out yesterday at Indianapolis, Andretti Autosport found themselves atop the leaderboard again in Indy 500 practice today.

Two days of practice, and now two days of the same team on top of the Indy 500 practice charts. But it is not a team that you would expect to be showing their dominance in speed this season, after all it’s not Penske or Ganassi on top, but Andretti. Yes, the same Andretti team seemingly in disarray after failing to put a driver in the top ten at Barber has put Ryan Hunter-Reay on top of the scoring pylon.

Practice was rained out on Tuesday, making Wednesday’s session even more crucial, ahead of two final practice days and then qualifying this weekend. Hunter-Reay would post the fastest speed at 228.202 mph, with his teammate Carlos Munoz second with a speed at 228.066 mph. The two would be the only ones to break into the 228 mph category, with the next closest being Will Power in third at 227.733 mph.

The sole incident of the practice session occurred when Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Spencer Pigot lost control of his car past the bumps in turn one, crashing into the outside wall. Practice would be stopped for cleanup, while the rookie will be heading to a backup car.

Honda-powered teams made up six of the top ten fastest times on the day, while notably absent from the top of the speed charts were Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske, who each only put one driver in the top ten. With this lackluster performance from the two dominant teams of the last two years, and Honda’s surprising dominance early this month, could Chevy teams be sandbagging in an effort to protect their speed for qualifying this weekend?

Here are the full results of practice today for the Indianapolis 500:

Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, Andretti Autosport, 228.202 mph
Carlos Munoz, Honda, Andretti Autosport, 228.066 mph
Will Power, Chevrolet, Team Penske, 227.733 mph
Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, 226.998 mph
Gabby Chaves, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing, 226.889 mph
Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing, 226.770 mph
Townsend Bell, Honda, Andretti Autosport, 226.755 mph
Sage Karam, Chevrolet, DRR-Kingdom Racing, 226.419 mph
Marco Andretti, Honda, Andretti Autosport, 226.327 mph
Graham Rahal, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 226.244 mph
Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, KVSH Racing, 226.227 mph
Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, Team Penske, 226.109 mph
Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, Team Penske, 225.904 mph
JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, 225.514 mph
Alexander Rossi, Honda, Andretti Autosport, 225.436 mph
Max Chilton, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing, 225.365 mph
Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing, 225.284 mph
Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, Team Penske, 225.224 mph
Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing, 225.194 mph
Mikahil Aleshin, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, 224.999 mph
Alex Tagliani, Honda, A.J. Foyt Racing, 224.830 mph
Takuma Sato, Honda, A.J. Foyt Racing, 224.696 mph
Pippa Mann, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing, 224.191 mph
Conor Daly, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing, 223.968 mph
Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 223.667 mph
Bryan Clauson, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing, 223.383 mph
Matt Brabham, Chevrolet, Pirtek Team Murray, 223.306 mph
James Hinchcliffe, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, 223.138 mph
Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, 223.121 mph
Stefan Wilson, Chevrolet, KV Racing Technology, 222.781 mph
Oriol Servia, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, 222.373 mph
Buddy Lazier, Chevrolet, Lazier-Burns Racing, 220.104 mph
Jack Hawksworth, Honda, A.J. Foyt Racing, 217.789 mph

While practice is not being televised, you can watch it live tomorrow and Friday from noon to 6 pm eastern on IndyCar.com. Qualifying comes your way from IMS for the greatest spectacle in racing on Saturday and Sunday, with live coverage on ESPN3 and ABC.