As of 6pm Wednesday, teams and drivers had three days of practice under their belt (four if you count the test day at the start of the month). Each day has brought with it an increase in speed, but with that speed, and the drivers pushing their cars to the limits, comes the added drama of things going very, very, wrong.

Luckily, no one was hurt in any of the incidents, but it is a stark reminder to everyone, especially the drivers, of how quickly things can slip out of control.

Monday saw the rookies and the one-off's complete their Rookie orientation in the morning, followed by rain and tornado warnings. Both cleared allowing for a couple of hours of practice by the field. Top Speed on the day 225.802 mph

Monday's Practice Session Times

Tuesday brought clear skies, and the entire field to the track. (except for Buddy Lazier) It was also the debut of Alex Tagliani and James Davison (who is in the running to drive the #19 Coyne car) A couple of Honda engines mileaged out in a puff of smoke, so when the same appeared to be happening to the #29 car of Simona de Silvestro, no one thought anything of it, until the flames started lapping up the right side of the car, an eerily familiar scene for the Swiss driver. This time, thankfully, she was able to stop and extricate herself swiftly and safely, without any burns.

SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 29 TE Connectivity Honda): "It's definitely unfortunate because the car is pretty burnt down, and it's really frustrating that it seems like fire follows me. Maybe this time is third time's the charm, and hopefully the team can get the car back together as quickly as possible. Until now, everything was working fine, and it's just annoying because it's a pretty big setback for us. But I have four great teammates and that will make it easier for us to continue moving forward."



Practice resumed without incident, with Helio Castroneves knocking out the fastest time of the day 227.514mph

Tuesday's Practice Session Times

Wednesday started off again with blue skies and sunshine, and cars quickly got up to speed. Lots of big tows and big numbers, and two BIG incidents.

Barely an hour into the session, Castroneves got a little wiggle, lost control, spun, and became airborne. Thankfully he walked away completely unscathed, even returning to the track in his back up car near the end of the session.

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Shell V-Power Nitro+ Team Penske Chevrolet): (On his crash in practice): “The car was really good and I am very blessed. Unfortunately, I still do not understand what happened. I got loose in Turn 1 and spun out. The good news is the impact wasn’t very strong and the landing was smooth as well. In all aspects, I have to say I was very lucky there was no big shunt. The accident was most impressive, but the good news is I am feeling very good. This just set us back one day since it is Wednesday. The good news is we still have Thursday and Friday before qualifying. I’m counting on my guys, my boys, to put the car back together and go back to work."



With barely an hour to go, a second scary incident involving Pippa Mann saw her lose control in Turn 4, hit the inside, careen into the attenuator at pit in, and spin wildly coming to a stop on the outside wall. She too would walk away with but a few bruises, cleared to continue. The question now is how much damage the car sustained and if it is fixable.

PIPPA MANN (No. 66 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): (On her crash in practice): “Guys in front of me in the big pack checked up and I saw them check up. I got on the brakes, but unfortunately I just got in the gray and made a mistake. When you’re not in a race car week in and week out, sometimes you make mistakes. It’s a real shame for my guys. The car was running great and now they have to go fix a race car. … We were having a good day and we had a good race car. I’m really sorry that the guys have to go and fix it. The joke inside (the medical center) was I got away with a couple of bruises, but I think my crew chief will have a few more for me when I get back to the garage after that one.”



Happy Hour would continue, and would see Carlos Munoz slingshot to the top of the charts on his last lap, knocking out the fastest lap of the month a 230.121

Wednesday's Practice Session Times

Here is what the field had to say about their week so far:

NDIANAPOLIS 500 POST-PRACTICE QUOTES

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "The (car) was definitely fast; we were even taking off. Not the way we would want to take off. I have to thank all the messages from the fans of encouragement, and to Team Penske to put a car together and be back out there again. The car was impressive. You can't be scared when you go out there. I didn't want to wait to run until tomorrow, and now we'll focus on Thursday and Friday."

ROGER PENSKE (Owner, Team Penske): "I think the ability of the team in five hours to put that (back-up) car together - we had to take the engine out of one car and take a lot of the pieces off - and get out for a few laps says a lot. It looks like we're competitive; we ran 226 (mph). To me, it's a good start for tomorrow." (about the car getting airborne) "You're always concerned when a car gets backwards; it looks a little bit like NASCAR the way the thing went up and went over. You can only test so much in your simulations and in a small wind tunnel, and I think this is something good to know now because we can look at it and see what are the right things to help all the cars that are on the track."

JR HILDEBRAND (No. 6 Preferred Freezer / CFH Racing Chevrolet): "We had an all right day. We got out early and started trying to get a handle on what we'll be looking at for the rest of the week. I thought it was okay and then the track started heating up at the end of the day. We felt like we still needed to figure some things out at that point. It's all about collecting data and understanding how the car works. We've still got plenty of time this week so hopefully between the three of us we can squeeze a little bit of extra speed out of it and go from there. All in all I feel good about the way that we're working together and I feel confident that we can work some of the bugs out and be right in the thick of it this weekend."

SAGE KARAM (No. 8 Comfort Revolution / Big Machine Records Chevrolet): "We spent today mostly working on the race package for the No. 8 car. I didn't do much running alone - I was just running in tight packs. When we started today, the car wasn't where I wanted it to be balance-wise, but throughout the day we made big strides to get the balance to where I felt comfortable with it. By the end of the day, I was very happy with where the car was and I'm just ready to get back out tomorrow."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "We had a good day overall with the Target car. We had good speed in the car and we accomplished a lot. We did a few qualification simulation runs and changed some bodywork in between runs so we're just going back and forth on some fine-tuning and setting things up for qualifying this weekend."

TONY KANAAN (No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "Another good day for NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing. We were able to get some long runs in and we got some solid data to build on. We also were able to get in some runs working with Dixon during that last hour that helped us find a few more things we need to work on. The car has felt really good out there these first three days of practice, so I'm excited to see how much better we can make it before qualifying this weekend."

TAKUMA SATO (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "Today was a very good day for our ABC Supply team. The wind dropped significantly unlike the last 2 days. Today the wind direction was different which was unusual for the speedway but it was very consistent so it was a perfect day for testing. We did lots of running today, trimming off for the first time to make the car fast and to see how the car reacted with low downforce. Then we added more downforce and went to the maximum to see how the car reacted in traffic. We were able to cover both ends of the spectrum-qualifying preparation and running in traffic so it was a very productive day. At the end we had a small issue in the drivetrain. I felt something a little strange so I backed off and pulled off the track. When we came back here we found the problem that caused it and so hopefully we have a trouble-free tomorrow."

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 Steak 'n Shake Honda): "Today was a really good day. The Steak 'n Shake car was pretty good and we had a really good long run near the end with full fuel. It was kind of a race simulation and the car was really strong. We're just struggling with a little bit of speed, just pure acceleration speed. The car seems to be a little slower than Oriol and we've got to figure out why that is. All in all it was a good day. I really do think we got ourselves into a place that's much better than we've been here in a long time. I feel pretty good about it."

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 17 AFS Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "It was a successful day for the No. 17 AFS Chevrolet. Today was technically our first real day of testing which puts us a few days behind everyone else, but we were able to jump right into it. We weren't catching the big tow at the end, but that really wasn't our focus. We wanted to make sure we have a good balanced car first. I think it shows how high the level of teamwork is here at Chip Ganassi Racing - just to get me in the car and up to speed with the rest of the field so quickly. We'll keep moving forward toward qualifying this weekend."

ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka CFH Racing Chevrolet): "Today was an interesting day. We've been pretty happy with the cars the last couple of days, but the weather was different again and the track temperature was a little higher, so that presented us with some new challenges. So there were times in the day where I wasn't too happy, but in the end it's one of those good days where the conditions change and it forces us to think a little bit and figure out what we really need. So I was proud of the guys for keeping their heads down and making me happier by the end of the day."

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 21 Century 21 CFH Racing Chevrolet): "It was a pretty good day. Every day is a little different at the (Indianapolis Motor) Speedway. You're always learning new things. I think we have some stuff from today that we need to dissect and have a closer look at. We are relatively on track. We've just got to keep moving forward and not get too complacent in what we're doing."

TOWNSEND BELL (No. 24 The Robert Graham Special Chevrolet): "It was good. We're staying in a tight little box, being a single-car program, only event of the year so far with the team. Trying to be pragmatic and just stay focused on the fundamentals. So far, so good. We hit the track pretty reasonable, thanks to Davey Hamilton for shaking down the car (on opening day May 3), I was in Monterey for a (sports car) race. Davey did a nice job to just work out the bugs for us and we were able to hit the ground running when we got here."

JUSTIN WILSON (No. 25 Andretti Autosport Honda): "We had the fresh engine in during today's run and everything feels good so far for the No. 25 Andretti Autosport Honda. We had a reasonable no-tow lap, so I felt pretty good with how things were looking. The car wasn't the strongest in traffic and we made a couple of changes throughout the day, so we have a few things to look at and see what we can figure out overnight. Tomorrow is another day, so we'll try again and see what happens.

CARLOS MUNOZ (No. 26 AndrettiTV Cinsay Honda): "I feel really good in this place, so it feels nice. What I really, really want to do is win the 500. It's nice to be first in practice and everything, of course. We are working hard at the 500. I'm just 23 now. I have a lot of years to try and win it."

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 27 Snapple Honda): "I think we made some headway today. We found a bit of direction there at the end of the day, which I'm pleased with. I think speed wise we are off a bit, but hopefully we can just try and get one of the better handling cars and go with that."

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): "Day 3 was challenging at times. We found some directions for race running - we concentrated on race running today - we have some items that we need to do back-to-back tomorrow to validate. There will be a big meeting tonight to figure out a direction for this team. I think our speed is somewhere in the 10th to 15th range at the moment."

ORIOL SERVIA (No. 32 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): "It was a great day for 90 percent of it. On our last run we tried something with our race setup that didn't really work the way we wanted, so we finished the day with not as good of a taste as I had the rest of the day, but you also need to learn those kinds of things. We are still very quick on our own so we should be good. We missed running in "Happy Hour," the last hour, with everyone else but that's okay."

JACK HAWKSWORTH (No. 41 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda): "The car felt really good. We got to run a little bit in traffic and the car felt really comfortable, so hopefully we can keep in this kind of window, fine-tune it a little bit and then start working on qualifying."

ALEX TAGLIANI (No. 48 Al-Fe Heat Treating Special Honda): "The guys are working really hard. It's very difficult for them to build a car from scratch, so they're working every day to make sure everything is right. Hopefully tomorrow will be our first day where we can actually go out there and run and evaluate the car and go through some changes. As soon as you go out there and feel back at ease, it doesn't take long to get used to the car again. Once you get that behind you, you just want to go and run, and that's the plan for us. I'm glad the guys are taking their time to get through everything they want to do and to get it right, and once that's sorted out we're just going to be pounding laps in the No. 48 Al-Fe Heat Treating car and we'll get up to pace, I don't doubt it."

PIPPA MANN (No. 63 Dale Coyne Racing Honda): "Our first runs went really well today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We started where we left off yesterday, and the handling of the Dale Coyne Racing car supporting Susan G. Komen was improving, and our speeds were looking decent. We dialed in on the set up, and I was getting more comfortable and gaining speed. We were getting some great traffic runs in, and then late this afternoon, it unfortunately went wrong as I caught the big pack heading into Turn 4. The cars in front of me checked up so dramatically that coming fully off throttle didn't take enough speed out of the car. As I went for the brakes, I also had to take to the grey on the outside of 4, and that's not a fun place to end up on the race track. For a few moments I almost thought I was going to escape unscathed, but then the angle of the slide hit the point of no return. After the first hit, I knew the pit entrance wall would be next, and that was the one that really hurt the racecar. I want to thank the safety team and the medical staff for their quick response. When something goes wrong, it's always reassuring to have those guys by your side so quickly. I have a few bruises, and I'm going to be sore tomorrow, but I'm fine. I really feel for the whole team. They have worked so hard on these race cars, and I hate that I messed one of them up. I know they'll continue to work hard to get us back out there.

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet): "We spent today really working on the race car at Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing. The No. 83 Levemir FlexTouch was decent in traffic, but we really focused on making the car faster. We did a couple of qualifying simulations and I think we have a solid direction for that once we turn the boost up and get ready for Fast Friday."

Indianapolis