Sage Karam leads rain-marred Indy 500 practice at 225.802mph

INDIANAPOLIS - 30 cars took to the famed Indianapolis circuit today for practice and just the second opportunity to test out these superspeedway aero kits. The four hour session was delayed by rain three times throughout the day, but eventually, we got to see cars on track.

At the end of the day, Chip Ganassi led the way with Sage Karam, Scott Dixon, and Tony Kanaan on top. Karam went quickest with a fastest lap of 225,802mph.

"It's only the first day, so it's not about how fast you are today," said Karam. "It's about how fast you are on Sunday in two weeks. It definitely feels good, though. It's the first time I've ever been P1 at (IMS) so it's a good feeling."

"We have a lot of work to do," Karam admitted. "The car's not anywhere near where we want it to be for race day or qualifying. I've got a great team. They worked really hard. They are making it a lot easier on us drivers by being as prepared as they are. We are picking this new aero kit apart and we're figuring it out every time we go out."

Three of the four Team Penske cars never ran a flying lap and brought up the rear on the time sheets with laps ranging from 137 to 150mph. Simon Pagenaud was the only Penske pilot to put down a competitive lap at 222.885mph.

Josef Newgarden ran the most laps at 83 total while four cars never even fired up, being those of Buddy Lazier, Jack Hawksworth, Alex Tagliani, and the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing entry, which does not yet have a 500 driver.

Some drivers also toyed around with drafting with teammates Ed Carpenter and Newgarden working together quite a bit. The session went under caution twice, both due to moisture.