INDY 500: Bell enjoying Andretti teamwork

If running with dome skids makes the cars trickier for the full-timers in the Verizon IndyCar series, then what's it like for the driver who only shows up each May?

"It's harder to find the balance, certainly tougher than last year," said Townsend Bell, who mixes sports car racing, IndyCar commentating for NBCSN and the Indianapolis 500 into his annual schedule. "You don't have too many laps where you think 'oh, this feels amazing.' I mean, there's a few but it's a much narrower window."

Driving for Andretti Autosport this month and in a Honda for the first time in four years, the 41-year-old Californian sat second on the speed chart most of Thursday afternoon with a lap of 227.593mph in the California Pizza Kitchen/Robert Graham Dallara/Honda.

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Besides changing teams and engines, Bell is also experiencing some new teamwork.

"Andretti is pretty disciplined about group running and I've never had that before," he said of running laps with teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Carlos Munoz and Alex Rossi.

"I've run more in traffic the last three days than I have in nine years, but it's been good for me. It's a little daunting at first since I haven't been in a car since last May and you get thrown right into the deep end, but they've really been good to me."

With veteran engineer Craig Hampson in his pit and the Honda engine seemlingly looking better than it has all season, Bell might have another shot at shocking the regulars like he did in 2014. With 10 laps to go he was running second until a crash in Turn 2.

"Track position will be crucial and whoever wins is going to be driving all day and up in the seat," he said. "But I think we'll be competitive, that's why we're here."