Alexander Rossi had a harmless spin exiting pit road for an installation lap in the morning session that involved the 22 veterans plus two rookies – Romain Grosjean and Jimmie Johnson – that had already concluded their orientation program to IndyCar’s satisfaction.
The eight-car ‘rookies and refreshers’ session went without a hitch in the early afternoon. However, as four-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves sped up on the pit-out warm-up lane on the inside of the short chute between Turns 1 and 2 and, his Meyer Shank Racing-Honda snapped into a spin. The momentum carried him across the grass that separates that warm-up lane from the racing surface at Turn 2, across the track and into the outside wall, heavily damaging the right side of his car.
