Monday's Practice in Photos

Graham Rahal peels out of the pits

Takuma Sato waits for more track time

Owner Roger Penske watches on as Ryan Briscoe is serviced

Tony Kanaan

Ed Carpenter with a Dan Wheldon tribute on his HANS device

Jean Alesi discusses passing ROP

General Newgarden Tops Practice, Again

Josef Newgarden just before setting the month's top speed

For the second time out of three practice sessions, rookie Josef Newgarden topped the charts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  With a top average of 222.486 mph, the Tennessean once again established the strength of his Dollar General #67.  The Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing entry has been fast since Rookie Orientation Practice on Thursday, and as the week goes on should remain a legitimate contender for the prized Pole Position.  Andretti Autosport teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay (221.639) and Marco Andretti (221.519) were second and third on the speed charts, respectively.  These times, along with Saavedra and Hinchcliffe also inside the top 10, show that the Andretti cars may have a leg up on their fellow Chevrolet engine partners.

The first non-debris caution of the month was thrown when Ganassi Racing's Graham Rahal blew his Honda motor.  A small fire and quite a bit of smoke could be seen coming out of the rear of his #38 entry as he crossed the famed yard of bricks. It was reported by various outlets, however, that Rahal was approaching a motor change anyway, so this should not set him back very much.

With nice weather on the forecast for all days leading up to Pole Day on Saturday, speeds should continue to steadily climb as teams figure out the new DW12. Be sure to keep visiting "Seanny D Covers Indy" as the cars continue to pound laps around the 2.5 mile oval.

Notes:

• The top 24 cars, from Newgarden's hot lap down to Alex Tagliani's 217.445, were within one second on the time charts.
• Formula 1 veteran Jean Alesi passed his 3rd and final stage of Indianapolis 500 Rookie Orientation on Monday.
• Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais and Katherine Legge have still yet to hit the track in preparation for the 96th Indianapolis 500 due to the legal battle over engines.

Sunday in Photos

Ana Beatriz focuses on the job at hand

Justin Wilson gets service

Ryan Hunter-Reay unstraps his helmet. Visible on the side is his tribute to the late 2-time 500 winner Dan Wheldon

Dario Franchitti eyes his ride

Tony Kanaan, Oriol Servia, and Rubens Barrichello discuss matters

James Hinchcliffe squeezes into his DW12

Young Guns Pace the Field

Saavedra's helmet after the fastest lap of May

For the second straight day of Indy 500 practice, to be fast you had to be young.  This time the fastest lap of the day went to AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport's Sebastian Saavedra.  The 21 year old Colombian drove his #17 Chevrolet-Dallara around the 2.5 mile speedway at a blistering 221.526 mph.  Following closely behind were Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing teammates Josef Newgarden (221.173) and Bryan Clauson (221.158).  Hondas once again dominated the top of the speed charts, with Saavedra being the only Chevy in the top 5.

The 6-hour incident free session featured heavy running during the final hour.  After a day of occasional lapping by 30 different drivers, things finally began to pick up during "happy hour".  Within a 10 minute period, the 221 mph barrier was broken by not one, not two, but three different drivers.  Of course, all three hot laps were aided by tows from other cars.  Rounding out the top 10 were Dixon, Wilson, Hunter-Reay, Hildebrand, Jakes, Hinchcliffe, and Kimball.

With just five practice days remaining until Pole Day on Saturday, can Chevy bridge the gap between itself and Honda? Can Lotus muster anything better than 205 mph?  Stay tuned to Seanny D Covers Indy and @SeannyDIndy for coverage of the 96th Indianapolis 500!

Notes:

• Marco Andretti and Ana Beatriz split duty in Beatriz's #25 entry, with both drivers running the exact same lap time down to the ten-thousandth of a second (41.9101 sec or 214.745 mph)
• Sunday saw the debut of Hinchcliffe, Hunter-Reay, Wade Cunningham, and Townsend Bell.
• Dragon Racing's Sebastien Bourdais and Katherine Legge are still waiting for motors after owner Jay Penske sued Lotus for breach of contract.  Their rumored acquisition of Chevy motors has not come to fruition yet.

Opening Day in Photos

JR Hildebrand discusses the car with his crew

Ryan Briscoe (@Ryan_Briscoe) returns to the pits

Simon Pagenaud (@simonpagenaud) prepares

Will Power (@12WillPower) gets a ride from 4-time Indy champ Rick Mears

Michel Jourdain Jr. (@MichelJourdain) sports Mexico's colors

Charlie Kimball (@racewithinsulin) checks his glucose level before practice

"Rookie" Rubens Barrichello (@rubarichello) waits for more track time

New(garden) Kid on the Block

For the second time in as many years, the Dollar General #67 owned by Sarah Fisher paced the field on opening day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  This time, however, the car was piloted by IndyCar rookie Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden).  The 21 year old Tennessee native, who replaced Ed Carpenter during the offseason, was the only car to break the 220 mph barrier, with a top average speed of 220.250 mph.  The lap put him .1 sec ahead of Panther Racing's JR Hildebrand (@JRHildebrand).  The sophomore star, who was just one corner away from winning last year's "500", benefited from the same draft that put Newgarden to the top.  Rounding out the top 5 were Bryan Clauson (@BryanClauson), James Jakes (@JamesJakes), and Tony Kanaan (@TonyKanaan).

Notes

• Honda dominated the opening day of practice, claiming 7 of the top 10 spots.  Their single turbo design, compared to the twin turbos of the Chevrolets and Lotuses, seems to have a slight advantage during early practice for the 96th annual "Greatest Spectacle in Racing".  
• The incident free session saw 25 of the 33 cars take to the track, with notable absences from James Hinchcliffe (@Hinchtown), Wade Cunningham (@WadeCunningham) and both Dragon Racing drivers, Sebastien Bourdais and Katherine Legge (@katherinelegge).
• The fastest four (Newgarden, Hildebrand, Clauson, and Jakes) have a combined 1 prior Indianapolis 500.

Practice begins tomorrow at noon for another 6-hour session.  Speeds will be sure to climb as teams continue to figure out the new DW12s and engines.

Checkered Flag for Newman/Haas

Newman/Haas Racing will close down operations at the beginning of the 2012 calendar year.  As first reported by Marshall Pruett of Speed.com, the long-time IndyCar powerhouse will not compete in next year's IZOD IndyCar Season.  The Lincolnshire, Illinois based team has long been considered one of the most competitive in the series.  Fielding drivers like Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Sebastien Bourdais, Cristiano da Matta, and Graham Rahal, the team was always found near the top of charts.

Newman/Haas was on the CART side of the 1996 split, and did not fully rejoin the IndyCar series until the re-unification in 2008.  In their first ever road course race in the new series, they broke through and won at St. Petersburg with the young Rahal.  Another win that year by Justin Wilson indicated the team was a force to reckon with no matter the car or series.  In this past year, the team powered veteran Oriol Servia to a fourth place finish in the points, and led rookie James Hinchcliffe to the Rookie of the Year award.

Update: Co-owner Carl Haas on why his team will not compete in next year's IZOD IndyCar Series, "The economic climate no longer enables Newman/Haas Racing to participate in open wheel racing at this time"