After waiting out a light but persistent morning rain, the 34 cars vying for the 33-car grid in the famed May 25 race took to the 2.5-mile Speedway to shake down their cars and see where they stand as they begin preparation for this weekend's qualifying and next weekend's race.
The 32-year old Californian Larson joins an elite five-driver group to compete in racing's great Memorial Day "Double" - racing in the Indianapolis 500 in the afternoon and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway the same night. Last year, Larson finished 18th in a rain-delayed Indy 500 only to arrive in Charlotte and never get a chance to race his stock car as the 600 was called early due to bad weather.
A lightning alert ultimately stopped Tuesday's scheduled four-hour session at Indianapolis about a half hour early, but all 34 cars entered in the race turned laps on the day.
Larson ran 45 laps total in the No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet - his best lap of 221.207 mph was 24th-fastest in the field. He spent the end of the session running in traffic and said he mostly used the day to re-familiarize himself with the car.
"I was more so just trying to hit my marks today than worry about adjusting things [in the cockpit], but it was a good day," Larson said at the end of practice.
Last year Larson made his Indy debut qualifying an impressive fifth best on the grid in the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet IndyCar - the sponsorship coming from the Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR team for whom he drives the No. 5 Chevrolet full time.
With a victory Sunday at Kansas Speedway, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion currently leads the series points standings by 35 points over Hendrick teammate William Byron with three wins and nine top-10 finishes through the opening 12 races.
It's certainly a confidence-builder heading into his pursuit to run the full 1100 combined miles of the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600.
"Our day was good, kinda took it easy to start in clean air and made sure our balance was comfortable - which it was - so I was happy with that," Larson said. "There at the end finally got in some traffic and as normal had some understeer. Happy with the first day, nice smooth day. Good place to start from."
Five cars topped the 225-mph mark on Tuesday led by 2018 Indy 500 winner Will Power who turned a lap of 227.026 mph in the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet - the only car to eclipse 227 mph. Power's Penske teammate Josef Newgarden was second quickest (226.971 mph) in his pursuit to become the first driver in the storied race's history to win three consecutive Indy 500s.
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