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Newgarden tops shortened Indy 500 Monday practice
Monday’s two-hour practice session for the Indianapolis 500 was cut short by a three-car crash involving Alexander Rossi, Pato O’Ward, and Romain Grosjean, and once the wreckage was cleared, foul weather, with lightning observed in the area and the specter of rain, halted the running with approximately 45 minutes left on the clock.
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden mustered front-running speed in the No. 2 Chevy, setting the pace with a best tow-assisted lap of 226.198mph to lead Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato in the No. 75 Honda (225.723mph) and Dale Coyne Racing’s Dennis Hauger in the No. 19 Honda (224.554mph).
The field of 33 will have two more hours of practice to use on Friday, and then it’s time to go racing for 500 miles on Sunday.
The cars of Rossi, O’Ward, and Grosjean received significant damage in the impacts, with Rossi’s No. 20 ECR Chevy, which spun and triggered the chain reaction that involved O’Ward, then Grosjean, taking the worst of the three as it slammed into the Turn 2 exit wall.
At the time of publishing, only O’Ward and Grosjean had been cleared by IndyCar Medical, while Rossi is being transported to a nearby hospital for further evaluation.
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Marshall Pruett
The 2026 season marks Marshall Pruett's 40th year working in the sport. In his role today for RACER, Pruett covers open-wheel and sports car racing as a writer, reporter, photographer, and filmmaker. In his previous career, he served as a mechanic, engineer, and team manager in a variety of series, including IndyCar, IMSA, and World Challenge.
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