INDYCAR: Power, Daly fastest at Watkins Glen test

Team Penske's Will Power was fastest during testing on Thursday at Watkins Glen as most of the full-time Verizon IndyCar Series drivers and four Indy Lights drivers shared the road course. Prior to an afternoon downpour that brought a premature end to the test, Power led the unofficial lap times with a 1m25.31s in his No. 12 Chevy. Ed Carpenter Racing's Josef Newgarden (1m25.36s) and KVSH Racing's Sebastien Bourdais (1m25.67s) completed the top three for Chevy and Dale Coyne Racing's Conor Daly was listed as fourth and fastest among the Honda-powered entries (1m25.89s).

"We had a good morning of running in before the rain hit in the afternoon," Newgarden told RACER. "We had an engine to mileage out, but we still got through three set of tires and got some good laps in before we did the [engine] change. We got to do an install check in the afternoon and people had maybe 30 or 40 minutes before it started to rain harder. The track is very high commitment. Overall, it was a really good day for the Fuzzy's Chevy."

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Following the physically demanding Mid-Ohio event where Daly led a considerable potion of the race, he thinks the IndyCar race at Watkins Glen could be an even bigger mountain to climb.

"Our cars feel really fast around here; it was fun getting up to speed because I've been here in a [IMSA] PC car, but with the new surface, and in an IndyCar, it's impressive," Daly said. "I was genuinely surprised at just the weight of the steering, and there are so many high-speed corners, it's really physical. I can see this being one of, if not the most challenging race of the year physically."

Behind Daly, Chip Ganassi Racing's Tony Kanaan was fifth (1m25.90s, Chevy), Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya was sixth (1m25.90s, Chevy), Andretti-Herta Autosport's Alexander Rossi was seventh (1m25.97s, Honda), Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay was eighth (1m26.00s, Honda), Schmidt Peterson Motorsports' Mikhail Aleshin was ninth (1m26.00s, Honda) and Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Graham Rahal rounded out the top 10 (1m26.10s, Honda).

Of the four Indy Lights drivers who spent the morning in their respective cars, Andretti Autosport's Dean Stoneman was fastest (1m27.14s) in Ryan Hunter-Reay's No. 28 entry. Ed Jones, who dealt with a lingering mechanical issue, was second in the group (1m27.66s) in the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda, Andretti's Shelby Blackstock was third (1m28.76s, Honda) in Carlos Munoz's No. 26 and teammate Dalton Kellett was fourth (1m29.96s, Honda) in Marco Andretti's No. 27.

"We were quickest of the Lights guys, which was really nice, but it was more about seeing how I fitted in with the other [Andretti] drivers," Stoneman told RACER. "We were quite limited on time because we were sharing the car; we did around 35 laps, I learned the tires in the morning, how I could push the car, and it gave me good feedback. It was a great experience and I quite liked how we worked together as a team at the test. Now it's back to full focus on winning the Indy Lights championship."