The second test day was canceled before running was scheduled to begin. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
The second day of IndyCar’s Indy 500 open test session has been canceled before it even had a chance to begin.
A band of rain moved through the Indianapolis area early Friday morning, and is predicted to stick around long enough to interrupt running for the rest of the day.
Rather than making teams, drivers, and media wait for a possible chance at one or two hours of running in the afternoon, officials called off the day preemptively.
That means that Thursday’s running was the only chance drivers will get to sample the 2.5-mile oval before official practice sessions get underway the week of May 15.
There was nearly eight hours of track time available on the first test day, and many drivers took full advantage of that time by putting in a bevy of laps.
Many teams reported making it through most or all of their checklists, giving them plenty of data to sort through back at the shop before the race next month.
Josef Newgarden set the fastest time throughout the day, completing a lap at an average speed of 227.686 MPH.
Gusty winds gave everyone an extra bit of uneasiness, but there were no accidents due to the tricky conditions. The winds did lead to extraordinarily high turn 3 trap speeds, with Newgarden topping 237.841 MPH at the end of the back straight.
Before returning to the high-speed oval, teams will first head down to Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama for the first natural terrain road course of the season.
They will then come back to IMS for a run around the infield road course before setting up shop for the two week event that is the Indianapolis 500.
Keyword: Second Indy 500 test day canceled due to weather