INDIANAPOLIS 500-MILE RACE
OPENING DAY REPORT
05.15.18

MARCO ANDRETTI, No. 98 U.S. CONCRETE / CURB HONDA

• Finished Opening Day as the top Andretti driver in sixth overall with a top average speed of 224.217 mph

“To be honest, we still have a lot of work to do on the 98 car. The car has an imbalance at the moment. We need to resolve that issue before we can be satisfied, but I have a good crew behind me and I know they’ll be able to listen to my feedback and give me a more comfortable car tomorrow. Luckily it’s only day one and we have three more days of practice before we qualify.”

ZACH VEACH, No. 26 RELAY / GROUP 1001 HONDA

• Rounded out today’s top 10 on the combined charts, setting a high speed of 223.551 mph

“I think for our first day, we couldn’t have asked for more. The car is in a pretty good window, so now it’s just tweaking the balance for each individual driver on the team. It’s a high contrast between my first Indy 500 [2017] and staring my second already. I just excited to see what we can do the rest of the week with Andretti Autosport. So far things have been great, and I think they’ll keep progressing that way.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY, No. 28 DHL HONDA

• The 2014 Indy 500 winner finished 11th overall on day one of Indianapolis 500 practice clocking a top speed of 223.488 mph

“I think we made some good strides today. We started out – really our first day on track with this car. We had an issue in the open test so today was really our first day with this car on track. The DHL team did a good job giving me what I needed, and by the end we were able to run very competitive in traffic. We just need to keep working on it, get better and better in traffic and I think if we do that, we’ll be already.”

CARLOS MUNOZ, No. 29 RUOFF HOME MORTGAGE HONDA

• The Colombian driver turned 74 laps today, clocking a top speed of 222.701 mph placing him 21st overall

“I’m really happy to be back in the car. I think the goal today was to feel comfortable with the car again after being out of it for a long time – I think we accomplished that goal. We were not looking to do any particular speed, but we did some traffic runs in the afternoon. So I think we accomplished our goal as a team. We didn’t have any mechanical or electronical issues with the car, so I have to thank the Ruoff Home Mortgage guys who did an awesome job. We were able to run a lot of laps today, but we still have work to do, so I’m looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow.”

STEFAN WILSON, No. 25 DRIVEN2SAVELIVES HONDA

• Completed the refresher course in the second session and turned 36 laps, finishing today 23rd overall with a speed of 222.524 mph

“It feels great to get the first day of practice done. There is so much anticipation before you get in the car after being out for a while. You just want to get those first couple of runs out of the way and get familiar again with running 220 around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It feels like we got a lot accomplished today. We got through the refresher course pretty quickly and we were able to focus on the group running towards the end of the session with the rest of the team. I feel like we made a lot of good changes  that I liked. I’m excited to come back tomorrow and try some new things.”

ALEXANDER ROSSI, No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS HONDA

• The 2016 Indy 500 winner finished today’s practice session 24th, overall at a high speed of 222.471 mph and the top Honda on the no-tow list

“Overall, I think it was very good day – a lot better than we had here a few weeks ago at the test, so it’s a big improvement for the team from that standpoint. We finished the day the top Honda on the no-tow list, which is a good starting point for day one.  We ran some good group runs at the end of the session and we’re starting to understand the car better on this course to know which direction we need to go. We still have a lot of work ahead of us but I think it’s a pretty respectable starting point.”