The second practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was all about finding the limits. Amongst the early explorers were reigning champion Will Power and Santino Ferrucci. Long Beach race winner Kyle Kirkwood had some troubles getting out of his pit stall, but Helio Castroneves was the first one to have a proper bad session. The brand new Honda engine in the back of his Dallara gave up the ghost, leaving the four time Indy 500-winner at the bottom of the table.
Álex Palou, who would eventually take the top spot, was out maximising the track, and judging by the amount of grass, he wasn’t the only one doing so. The first one to set a proper competitive time was McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, who was closely followed by part-time Chip Ganassi driver Marcus Armstrong. Teammates Dixon and Ericsson also looked sharp with both in the top 10. The two other McLarens of Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist ended up just shy of the top 10 in 11th and 12th.
O’Ward was eventually replaced by Christian Lundgaard, who of course had a strong IndyCar-debut at IMS two years ago, but in the end Palou managed to secure the top spot. Lundgaard’s teammate Jack Harvey ended up on P5, making Graham Rahal’s 14th place a little disappointing. The Penske trio showed up late, but did manage to finish 6th, 7th and 8th in this session.
Kirkwood was the first Andretti driver on P13, two spots above Colton Herta, with former polesitter Romain Grosjean splitting both ECR entries at P19. Devlin DeFrancesco split the Dale Coyne teammates, leaving the two places in front of Castroneves for both AJ Foyt drivers. Castroneves’ teammate Pagenaud ended up in 16th, just in front of Calum Ilott. Juncos’ second driver and rookie Agustín Canapino ended up just in front of Ferrucci in P24.
