Indy 500 Carb Day a welcome backup car shakedown opportunity for O’Ward

Carb Day Friday's final two hours of practice for the 110th Indianapolis 500 got under way as scheduled at 11:00am and looks set to run for its planned two-hour duration, although expected rain could affect the afternoon's Pit Stop Challenge, slated for 2:30pm. While just staying out of trouble is a priority for many of the contenders today, some – like Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward – who are shaking down a backup car after crashing their qualified cars on Monday, have a more significant checklist.

"I want to get one full run. Very important for me. I have a new car," O'Ward said. "Regardless of it, the car will be good. It would be nice to just get a run, just pepper out anything it might have. There's a lot of new things on it.

"Every car is different. Every car has its little differences to one another regardless of the setup being the same or not. I mean, ultimately I'm not actually worried too much about me with the car; I'm more worried about there's a lot of new pieces on the car that you want to get some running on to just let it kind of settle in

"Not that I'm worried about the team. Engineering has a mind of its own sometimes with all the gadgets on the race car, the electrical. There's all the new bits and pieces that you want to make sure you get through the whole systems check. That is the most important, just getting the systems running, connecting properly with telemetry. A lot of little things we want to make sure they turn on and the car is rolling around the Speedway with it still being able to do what it's supposed to.

"If the car is feeling a little bit off, then we'll make changes. But that can happen with the other car, as well. Every day here is different. It always seems to find a way to surprise you."