INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — IndyCar drivers practiced at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the final time before Sunday’s 110th running of the Indianapolis 500.
The field of 33 is set, and the drivers have less than 48 hours to fine-tune their cars before the ‘Greatest spectacle in Racing’ kicks off.
2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi has battled through a tough week of practice leading up to Sunday’s race. Rossi was involved in a crash during Monday’s practice and needed to receive surgery for minor injuries to his hand and right ankle. Rossi will need to drive his backup car on Sunday, but he still has plenty of optimism as the Indy 500 draws closer.
“I feel fine, it was good,” Rossi said. “It was really important that it didn’t rain today for obvious reasons, and the [No.] 20 car did an amazing job to build a car that’s just as good as the one we had. It never gets old. This place is magical for so many different reasons. If we can do something pretty cool on Sunday, it’ll be one heck of a story.”
IndyCar veteran Helio Castroneves is making his 26th start in the Indianapolis 500. After wrapping up Carb Day, the four-time Indy 500 winner said the feeling never gets old to be on the cusp of race day.
“It feels great, this machine looks strong,” Castroneves said. “The guys did a great job today. Every time you come here, it’s always new. What a great feeling. Now the butterflies are coming.”
A year after crashing his car during the warm-up laps of the Indy 500, Scott McLaughlin is ready to have a cleaner start to this year’s race. After the final day of Indy 500 practice, McLaughlin is satisfied with how his car feels.
“We got everything we needed to do,” McLaughlin said. “Overall, really happy, the months been pretty solid. We haven’t been amazing, but we haven’t been bad, so we got a really good shot. We’ll see what we’ve got.”
The Indianapolis 500 is set for Sunday, May 24th.
