Weather Cancels Indy 500 Practice Tuesday for Team Penske
May 17, 2011
The team sat out a wet, cold practice session Tuesday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, along with most IZOD IndyCar Series teams.
Instead, Team Penske's drivers - Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves and Will Power - will wait for conditions to improve Wednesday. The temperature at the track barely got into the 50s on Tuesday, and Wednesday's forecast calls for a high in the mid 60s, but with rain possible.
So far, the team has made the most of its limited time since practice began Saturday. Briscoe has the fourth-fastest lap of the four sessions run so far - 225.016 mph in the No. 6 IZOD Team Penske Dallara/Honda.
"This weather has been a factor here at the Speedway and even though I would rather be out on the track, it is really special just coming to the track every day," said Briscoe. "The fans are amazing. The fact that they show up in this damp cold weather really shows how dedicated they are. Our No. 6 IZOD car is all polished up and ready to run. Now, we just need the weather to give us a chance so we can get out there and see what we can do."
Castroneves, who was interviewed Tuesday morning for an Indy 500 feature on the Late Show with David Letterman, owns the 11th-best lap - 224.348 in the No. 3 Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra Team Penske car.
"Man, it's tough just sitting and not having a chance to run - especially at this place because it's so awesome," said Castroneves. "We did a lot of media today and stayed as busy as we could, but there's nothing like getting out there and running 220 miles an hour! Hopefully we can get things going tomorrow in the Shell V-Power Pennzoil Ultra car and work on preparation for qualifying as well as the race."
Power has the 14th-quickest lap of the month so far - 223.984 mph - in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Dallara/Honda.
"It is always great to be at Indy, just walking through the garage area and seeing the fans that show up braving the elements," said Power. "It is a shame that the weather hasn't been cooperating with us much this week. The Verizon guys have been staying busy preparing the car and my engineer and I have had plenty of time to discuss our strategy moving forward. I am really looking forward to getting back on track."
Action is scheduled to resume at 12 p.m. ET Wednesday. Pole qualifying will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday, with the race set for Sunday, May 29.