2018 Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power led a Team Penske 1-2 on the speed charts in a weather-shortened session at 227.026 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Team Penske’s Will Power and Josef Newgarden flipped the horsepower script on Chip Ganassi Racing ace Alex Palou during Tuesday’s rain-delayed, Opening Day of practice for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

The 2018 Indy 500 champion, Power topped the speed chart during the weather-shortened session at 227.026 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet _ a hot lap recorded in the last 30 minutes of practice. Power was trailed by two-time/reigning Indy 500 winner Newgarden at 226.971 mph in the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden is bidding to become the first driver to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in three consecutive years.

Practice around the famed 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval started two hours, 32 minutes late due to intermittent rain and damp track conditions. The session ended 32 minutes early due to lightning strikes within the vicinity.

SEE: Practice Results

“Not bad. Definitely, a good change at the end,” said Power, a 44-year-old native of Australia and senior member of the juggernaut founded/owned by Roger S. Penske. “I felt more comfortable. I’m not sure where we stand, we’ll know that Saturday (during qualifying). I’m in a more comfortable place than where I was last year and we made some big philosophy changes from last year.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good baseline. And my teammates are pretty good. I learned a thing or two off them. It’s (Indianapolis 500) almost its own championship in itself. You’ve got to look for your weaknesses and improve.”

Chip Ganassi Racing occupied the next two speed chart spots, with runaway point-leader Palou third at 226.673 mph after 51 laps in the No. 10 DHL Honda. Palou, the three-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion from Spain, has won four of the first five races this season _ including Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the 2.439-mile/14-turn IMS Road-Course in search of his first Indy 500 victory.

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand, the 2008 Indy 500 winner, was fourth at 225.059 mph after 53 laps in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Fellow-New Zealander Scott McLaughlin, the 2024 Indy 500 pole-winner, was the third Team Penske driver in the top-five at 225.005 mph in the No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet.

“Happy we were able to get out today after the rain seemed like it wouldn’t stop,” McLaughlin said. “The Pennzoil Chevy came off the truck quick and now we have a good baseline to attack the rest of the week. Having Simon (Pagenaud) on the timing stand today is something you can’t put a price on, and it means a lot to me that he’s here. He has been a tremendous help to me on ovals and he’s someone whose advice I value a lot.”

Pagenaud won the 2019 Indy 500 from P1 driving for Team Penske. Pagenaud, who became the first Frenchman to win the race since Gaston Chevrolet in 1920, is working with “Scotty Mac” as Team Chevy simulation consultant.

“I’ve been here much longer than he (McLaughlin) has, and I’ve had the chance to run the race at the front and win it,” Pagenaud said. “Scott came to me, which is rare to go to another driver and ask for the tools to get stronger. Scott is extremely talented but he’s always looking for something else. We have this common trait and, he said, ‘Would you mind coming to the 500 with me this year?’

“Last year was so exciting with the pole. He can do it, he just needs a little bit more experience and I’m just trying to transfer all of my knowledge to him and to help him speed-up his learning process.”

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves of Brazil was fastest among drivers from “other teams,” sixth at 224.523 mph in the No. 06 Cliffs Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian. Castroneves, who became the fourth driver to win a fourth Indy 500 in 2021, is making a one-off bid to break out of an exclusive club featuring A.J. Foyt Jr., Al Unser and Rick Mears.

All 34 drivers attempting to earn one of the traditional 33 spots in the starting field turned a total of 1,549 laps/3,872.5 miles in the shortened session.

On-track activity was scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. (EDT) Wednesday with a refresher test for 2013 500 winner and Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan, the Brazilian who is readying to be a standby driver for Kyle Larson on Race Day.

Larson is again attempting to complete “The Double” of racing in the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 25. Kanaan will step-in for Larson if weather delays the start in Indianapolis _ as was the case last May _ and Larson must leave for Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., for his full-time drive in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Larson, who was named 2024 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year after starting fifth and finishing 18th, completed 24 laps Tuesday with a top speed of 221.207 mph in the No. 17 hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

“Our day was good. We kind of took it easy to start,” said Larson, who was 24^th overall on the chart. “We got out in clean air and made sure our balance was comfortable, which it was, so I was happy about that. We got in some traffic at the end and, as normal, had some understeer (front tires wouldn’t turn into the corners). I’m happy with the first day. It was nice and smooth, so a good place to start.”

Arrow McLaren lead driver Pato O’Ward logged a conservative 35 laps in the No. 5 Chevrolet with a top speed of 220.263 mph to place 29^th on the sheet.  “I did a lot of laps by myself today,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “We didn’t get quite as much traffic running as I wish we could have had, but good thing there’s plenty of time to get those runs sorted out to see where the car is at.”

David Malukas admittedly relied on muscle memory as he led the two Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing entries in 12^th at 223.176 mph in the No. 4 Chevrolet.

“It’s been a long time for me. Last year I was in the stands doing Tik Toks with media guys,” said Malukas, who recorded 35 laps. “It was fun over there, but man, it’s great to be back in the car. We have our speedway car now. At the Open Test, we just had the road-course car. It was a big difference immediately. We went out and did a few laps and hit 223 (mph) in traffic, which we struggled to do during the two-day (Open Test). We’re in a happy place, just taking it easy, making sure everything is in the place, the car is in the right place and we feel comfortable.”

Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci placed 27^th at 221.048 mph after only 21 laps in Foyt Racing’s No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet.

The track will be open for practice for all cars from noon-6 p.m. today with broadcast coverage from noon-4 p.m. on FS2 and 4-6 p.m. on FS1, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network.

The 109th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for Sunday, May 25, with broadcast coverage beginning at 10 a.m. (EDT) on FOX Sports, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Palou continued his march into the INDYCAR record book during the Sonsio Grand Prix via an event-record third consecutive victory. Palou, 28, is the first driver since Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais in 2006 to win four of the season’s first five races.

NTT P1 Award-winner Palou drove to a massive 5.4840-second victory over O’Ward. That margin likely would have been larger if not for a late caution period _ first yellow in the series since Lap 1 of the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Fla.) presented by RP Funding in March. Power placed a season-best third, albeit a distant 8.4529-seconds behind Palou with McLaughlin finishing fourth.

Palou’s early-season report card features straight A’s _four victories (Streets of St. Pete, Thermal Club in California, Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., and the IMS Road-Course) and one second-place finish (Streets of Long Beach). Alex leads the championship standings by 97 points _ nearly two races-worth _ over Kyle Kirkwood and his Andretti Global Honda after just five of 17 events.

Indeed, Palou’s average finish of 1.2 through five events is the best start to a season since Foyt won the first seven races of the 1964 schedule during the front-engine roadster era. “Super Tex” scored the second of his eventual record-setting four Indy 500s on May 30, 1964 in the No. 1 Sheraton-Thompson Watson/Offy.

With 12 races remaining on the 2025 schedule, it’s not a stretch to imagine Palou threatening the all-time series record for victories in a season _ 10 shared by “Legends of The Brickyard” Foyt in 1964 and Al Unser in 1970.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 248; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 151; 3, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 150; 4, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 148; 5, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 137; 6, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 134; 7, Will Power, Team Penske, 128; 8, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 125; 9, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 104; 10, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 100;

11, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 98; 12, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 96; 13, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 92; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 91; 15, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 73; 16, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 70; 17, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 66; 18, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 65; 19, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 63; 20, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 62;

21, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 58; 22, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 56; 23, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 49; 24, Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing, 47; 25, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 44; 26, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing, 32; 27, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 28.

FOX SPORTS’ 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST COVERAGE SCHEDULE

Sunday, March 2 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, March 23 _The Thermal Club, Thermal, Calif.  (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 13 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, May 4 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, May 10 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, May 25 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval (FOX, 10 a.m.)

Sunday, June 1 _ Streets of Detroit (FOX, 12:30 p.m.)

Sunday, June 15 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, June 22 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (FOX, 3:30 p.m.)

Sunday, July 6 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Saturday, July 12 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 1 (FOX, 5 p.m.)

Sunday, July 13 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 2 (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, July 20 _ Streets of Toronto, Canada (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, July 27 _ WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 10 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 24 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis. (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 31 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (2:30 p.m.)

NOTE _ All times Eastern. Dates and times subject to change.