Arrow McLaren’s Kyle Larson in the No.17 HendrickCars Arrow McLaren Chevrolet says his opening day of practice at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was good.
The NASCAR CUP SERIES star was 24th fastest and speaking following the action he said:
Our day was good. We kind of took it easy to start. 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. I’m happy with the first day. It was a nice and smooth, so a good place to start.”
Pato O’Ward in the No.5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was 29th with a speed of 220.263MPH. Speaking following the action he said:
“I did a lot of laps by myself today. 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.”
Christian Lundgaard in the No.7 VELO Chevrolet was 23rd with a speed of 221.262MPH.
It was a pretty good first day. I think we found some improvements since the Open Test and really we’re just moving on from there. We really wanted to focus on what the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet could do today. Looking ahead at Wednesday’s practice, we really want to see what the other cars have to say and pick out the best bits and pieces to combine them and see where we’re really at. But I feel that we’ve left Tuesday in a really good place compared to where we were at the Open Test, so I’m much happier and confident at this point.
Nolan Siegel in the No.6 NTT DATA Chevrolet was 20th and speaking following the action he said:
I think we had a solid first day. We got the car in a comfortable window that matched where we were at the Open Test. It was comfortable very quickly, so I’m happy with where we rolled off. We just need some small changes and fine-tuning from here. We’ll find a little bit of raw speed, and if we keep the balance comfortable, I think we’ll be in a good spot come Qualifying. I didn’t get to run in traffic a ton, but when we do, I’m confident that a car with good balance in clean air will be a car with good balance in traffic. We’re in a good spot.”
On working with veteran Indianapolis 500 J.R. Hildebrand.
I’ve got great teammates. Obviously, Tony as well at the rest of the events. But Tony is helping everyone and Tony is helping Kyle a lot this month. It’s great to have J.R. on my stand as a resource I can go to any time. Pato and Christian are great resources as well, given that they’ve done the race, but they are focused on their own program. Having J.R. here with the No. 6 group focused on this car is really helpful for me, especially given that I haven’t done the race before. There is still a ton for me to learn, and having that experience will be great for me.