IndyCar: Weather triggers two more Indy 500 schedule changes
By Asher Fair
After Tuesday's opening day practice session for the 108th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was shortened to 24 minutes due to rain, the start of Wednesday's session was moved up from 12:00 p.m. ET to 10:00 a.m. ET.
Unfortunately, that session did not start on time, and it is unlikely that it will get underway even close to its initial 12:00 p.m. ET start time, again due to rain.
As a result, IndyCar has responded by announcing two further schedule changes.
Indy 500 practice schedule changed twice more
When (if) today's practice session does finally get underway at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) oval in Speedway, Indiana, it is now scheduled to last until 7:00 p.m. ET instead of 6:00 p.m. ET.
Additionally, tomorrow's session, which is (at best) now the only full day of race trim running this week, has also been extended. It was scheduled to run from 12:00 p.m. ET to 6:00 p.m. ET, but its start time has now been moved up to 10:00 a.m. ET, in the hope that this change will actually make a difference, unlike today's.
The Weather Channel predicts that today' rain will stop shortly after 12:00 p.m. ET. But as we all know, no weather predictions for Speedway, Indiana at this time of year can be taken with much more than a grain of salt.
There is currently a 22% chance of rain on Thursday, a 65% chance of rain on Friday for the "Fast Friday practice session", and a 48% chance of rain on Saturday for the first day of qualiyfing. There is a 15% chance of rain on Sunday for the second day of qualiyfing.
There is a 48% chance of scattered thunderstorms on race day, Sunday, May 26.
Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon topped the speed chart in yesterday's abbreviated session with a top lap speed of 229.107 miles per hour behind the wheel of his No. 9 Honda.
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All practice sessions are set to be shown exclusively on Peacock. The same is true for Saturday's qualifying session, starting at 11:00 a.m. ET. Sunday's three qualifying sessions are all set to be shown on both Peacock and NBC beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. The race itself is set to be shown live on NBC beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET.
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