Muñoz fastest on day two in Indianapolis 500 Practice

INDIANAPOLIS – Andretti Autosport’s Indianapolis 500 rookie Carlos Muñoz turned the fastest lap during day two of practice for the 97th running of the Indianapolis 500.

Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, A.J. Allmendinger, Team Penske Chevrolet

Photo by: Jay Alley

Defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, No, 1 DHL Andretti Autosport Chevrolet, was second quick in the final order after the six-hour session.

His teammates E. J. Viso (No. 5 Team Venezuela PDVSA Citgo Andretti Autosport HVM Chevrolet) and Marco Andretti (No. 25 RC Cola Andretti Autosport Chevrolet) delivered the third and fourth fastest times respectively.

Another rookie, A.J. Allmendinger (No. 2 IZOD Team Penske Chevrolet) rounded out the top-five fastest on the day.

Other Chevrolet IndyCar V6 drivers in the top-10 fastest today as teams continue to prepare for qualifying and then the May 26, 2013 running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” were Ed Carpenter, and James Hinchcliffe.

Practice will continue Monday, May 13, 2013, from noon to 6:00 p.m. EDT.

CARLOS MUÑOZ, NO. 26 UNISTRAW ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET

FASTEST IN PRACTICE: ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: -" It's really nice to be on top. It just wasn't a tow, but maybe a little bit better tow than my teammates. Its a long week, long race too. Still learning, but I have a great car and need to be confident. My teammates help me a lot, and let me know when I do wrong. "

ON RUNNING IN GRASS IN TURN ONE - " It was just a misunderstanding. Inside the turn I went into the dirt, it was close. In the race I'm going to have those situations. I had 2 tires in the grass, so I was lucky to continue. After that I was more comfortable behind the guys."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY, NO. 1 DHL ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET

ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “It’s just so great to be back at Indy. The feeling of the first day back on track is pretty special. Andretti Autosport has had a good season so far. We have certainly had a strong run, but all that has nothing to do with Indy. It is kind of like you start over here. We really don’t know where we stack up yet compared to everybody because we haven’t had a full-field out there yet.

Today was a good day just to check some things out. We went through some of the bigger changes trying to understand a few things that we were looking at in the winter. Then, we had a chance to run with the teammates. That got interesting at times, but it was fun though. It was fun just getting back in that rhythm of running in traffic at Indy. This place is so special for so many reasons, and it really drives like no other race track. It was good to get back in it; shake a little bit of rust off at Indy, and ready for the week.”

ON HOW THE TEAM TRIES TO FORECAST AND PLAN FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK: "With these cars, the way IndyCar is now, you have no idea who's done what in the offseason. To tell you the truth, what we saw last year from Ganassi and Honda, you had no idea that was going to happen on Race Day. I think qualifying will be one show, then the race, you have no idea what anybody has until you get there.

E.J. VISO, NO. 5 TEAM VENEZUELA PDVSA CITGO ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HVM CHEVROLET

ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Well, first day on track… back to historical Indianapolis; very happy to be here. This is my second home during the year and I’m very proud to be part of the team. I think the job we’ve done as a team has been impressive.

These guys have put together a fast setup for us for this year. Today we realized we actually went pretty fast; we had a good car on our own and a good car in traffic. I think it’s going to be a flawless and smooth month and I’m really looking forward to it.”

MARCO ANDRETTI, NO. 25 RC COLA ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET

ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “So far the RC Cola car is not quite on pace with my teammates, but I’m not too worried being this early in the month. We put in some good laps, and got a lot out of today’s practice. We’re working a lot on trying to find a good setup that will put us up front – a lot of improvements have been made since last year’s DW12, so I’m pleased with where things are going right now. “

A.J. ALLMENDINGER, NO. 2 IZOD TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET

ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Another day in the learning process today and we got a couple different things tested in the No. 2 IZOD Team Penske Chevrolet that should be helpful as we move on. We did a couple of short runs and a full tank run so I could see how the car would feel and I am getting more comfortable with it.

To a certain degree I also got to see how the car is going to react in traffic and I thought that was really good. Obviously the cold conditions are a little different than what we will probably have for the race. But to do a race run the car felt pretty good and I’m happy with the progress we made.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE, NO. 27 GODADDY ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT CHEVROLET

ON RUNNING WITH ALL FOUR OF HIS ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT TEAMMATES (ANDRETTI, MUNOZ, HUNTER-REAY, VISO): “The last time we all ran together on an oval was last September, so to get out there with all the other guys was a good starting point. It was really just, more than anything, blowing some of the cob webs off ourselves as drivers running in a draft at a place as tricky as the Speedway. I think it’s a good starting point. There’s obviously a lot of work to do; we’ve got some things we want to try and I think you’ll see us running together a lot over the week.”

ON THE MINDSET DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RUNNING ON A ROAD COURSE VERSUS AN OVAL: “I think you’ve got to have a lot of respect for each other and the racetrack when you’re here, certainly. Because the speeds we are going are just so much greater than on a road course.

Also the nature of the racetrack – it’s just one groove and it’s a very sensitive place to race. We’re showing each other a lot of respect out there right now, but we’ve got to keep doing it and working to make sure we can be aggressive as we need to be on Sunday (race day).”

ED CARPENTER, NO. 20 FUZZY’S ULTRA PREMIUM VODKA ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET

ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “Yesterday (Saturday) we had a good day and got through everything we wanted to. Today (Sunday) we had a couple of issues we had to work through. They are not a big deal, but they got us sidetracked off our game plan a little. I still feel decent about where our Fuzzy’s car is at right now.

At the same time, we were hoping to get a few more things done on our planning list today. But we can make it up on Monday. I want to wish my mom (Laura) and my wife (Heather) a Happy Mother’s Day. We have spent a lot of Mother’s Days here at IMS over the years and I want to thank the ladies for their continued support here.”

JR HILDREBRAND, NO. 4 NATIONAL GUARD PANTHER RACING CHEVROLET

ON TODAY’S PRACTICE: “We just opened our account. It was nice to get out here and run some laps, but this was mainly just a shake down for us. The National Guard car felt fine out there and we obviously weren’t being very aggressive with the car. It’s always nice to get back out to the Speedway and we’re excited about continuing our program this week.”

Team Chevy