Dalton Kellett has become the first driver to crash while preparing for the Indianapolis 500, ending a streak of six days without major incident.
Kellett crashed with just over 30 minutes remaining in the lone two-hour session of track time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The A.J. Foyt Racing driver lost grip running the outside lane and spun into the outside wall.
Kellett said he had soreness in his feet after the collision, likely from hitting them on the pedal bulkhead. He was evaluated and released from the care centre after the crash. The Canadian watched replays of his crash and felt that Indy 500 rookie Romain Grosjean played a role because Grosjean ran him high rather than pulling in line in front of Kellett.
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“At the end of the day I’m the passing car, but it is also practice, it’s not the last lap of the 500,” Kellett said.
“I still feel like come Sunday, we’ll be ready to go.”
Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske had a slight spin on pit lane but recovered and got back on track in the only other incident of the only practice this week until “Carb Day” on Saturday.
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The horsepower boost that produced record speeds in qualifying went away when teams swapped their engines for the power plants that will be used in Monday’s race.
It meant the speeds drifted back to normal, but the Chip Ganassi Racing gang was still fastest. IndyCar champion Alex Palou paced Monday’s session at 369.249 km/h, while pole-sitter Scott Dixon was second at 368.540 — a considerable drop-off from the 376.661 km/h four-lap average he posted in breaking the 1996 pole-winning speed record.
Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR champion, was third fastest at 367.463 and Ganassi teammates Marcus Ericsson was fifth and Tony Kanaan was 22nd.
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Honda drivers took the top five spots — two-time winner Takuma Sato was fourth fastest — and 11 of the fastest 14 slots. Josef Newgarden (sixth), Conor Daly (seventh) and Sage Karam (ninth) were the best of Chevrolet.
“I might not have executed myself over the weekend, so it’s nice to jump back in here instead of waiting until Carb Day and hoping that it doesn’t rain,” Daly said. “I feel great. I love this practice day, and just the fact that we get to drive is awesome.”
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Meanwhile, a calmer Marco Andretti has forgiven Sato for hindering his qualifying attempt on Saturday.
Sato didn’t exit the track after his run, so when Andretti took off, he had to slow when he closed in on Sato’s car. He was livid after the run and his team petitioned for it to be wiped off the books. IndyCar didn’t budge, but Sato was penalised for interference.
“He’s the nicest guy in the world,” Andretti said. “He sent me a paragraph apologising.”
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