Will Power Fastest In First Practice

After being delayed due to a bump in the track and installation of a temporary chicane, Will Power was fastest in IndyCar first practice in Houston setting a time of 1:06.8320 seconds. Power has the track record on the Reliant Park circuit, dating back to when he won pole for the 2007 Grand Prix of Houston. Scott Dixon was second, just 0.0243 seconds faster than his championship rival Helio Castroneves in third.

Ryan Hunter-Reay was fourth before bring out a session ending red flag with two minutes to go for a spin in turn two. Justin Wilson also spun at the same time during the session as Hunter-Reay did but did drove away. Wilson was fifth quickest. James Jakes was sixth fastest just ahead of EJ Viso. Tony Kanaan was eighth fastest in what will be his penultimate race weekend with KV Racing Technology (Look for more on that in a later post). Dario Franchitti was ninth followed by fellow Honda driver and most recent winner in the Izod IndyCar Series Simon Pagenaud in tenth.

Simona de Silvestro was eleventh, only 0.0127 seconds ahead of Graham Rahal, who was only ahead of James Hinchcliffe by 0.0027 seconds. 2013 IndyCar Rookie of the Year Tristan Vautier was fourteenth with Josef Newgarden in fifteenth. Newgarden brought out a red flag after hitting the tires at the temporary chicane late in the session. The home town team for the Grand Prix of Houston, AJ Foyt Racing and Takuma Sato was sixteenth with Oriol Servià seventeenth fastest.

Marco Andretti was eighteenth with Mike Conway nineteenth. Luca Filippi rounded out the top twenty. Sebastián Saavedra was twenty-first ahead of Charlie Kimball, Ed Carpenter and Sébastien Bourdais. Bourdais caused a red flag when he stopped on course for what is believed to be an engine failure.

Due to the track delays earlier today, IndyCar second practice will take place later today at 5:30 p.m. ET. IndyCar qualifying for race one will take place tomorrow at 11:45 a.m. ET. It will be a thirty minute session with the field split into two groups, just like qualifying for race two. Race two qualifying will take place at 9:45 a.m. ET Sunday. The races will go on as schedule, 3:00 p.m. ET Saturday and 1:00 p.m. ET Sunday.