The warm-up session Saturday morning for the Verizon IndyCar Series Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis at the Brickyard is not about who’s fastest. The thirty-minute session allows the teams to check out everything and everyone, who are now gearing up for race mode, practice pit stops, download data and debrief drivers. Tire warmers aren’t allowed in the series, so teams often scrub in and change a set or two of tires.
During the warm-up the sun came out and it was downright hot and muggy. However, later, just as driver introductions were to begin before the race, the rain tried to make an appearance. Stay tuned.
Rookie Stefano Coletti/No.4 KV Racing Technology Chevrolet was the top driver, at 1:10.5942/124.378 mph. Second through fifth were Simon Pagenaud/No.22 DeVilbiss Penske Racing Chevrolet; Scott Dixon/No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing; Coletti’s teammate, Sebastien Bourdais/No.11 Mistic E-Cigs KVSH Racing Chevrolet and Juan Pablo Montoya/No.2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Graham Rahal/No.15 Steak n’ Shake Honda was the top Honda in sixth place. Rookie Francesco Dracone/No.19 Dale Coyne Racing was last of the 25 cars.
All the various broadcasters, telecasters and other talkers hovered in the various pits and garages for interviews to be used in the live ABC-TV broadcast, which starts at 3:30pm ET. The race is also covered by IMS Radio Network, Sirius and XM channels 209, and www.indycar.com.
Around the course are new Panasonic LED video display boards, and found in front of the grandstands and throughout the infield.
After the session, the fans lined the sidelines of Gasoline Alley to watch the parade of race cars being pulled back to their respective garages by colorful and branded pit carts.
Those fans lucky enough to have the appropriate passes were found in Pit Lane, garage area, and points in between.
Out in the Pagoda Patio area, it was the battle of the bands. Each day different bands vie for attention – which they got. They were percussive in nature, and earplugs are in order.
Everywhere are the friendly, famous Yellow Shirts who direct traffic, manage flow, guard gates, entrances and doors, generally keep things moving.
