When the temperature drops, the laps soar. That was the theme for Practice 2 under the lights at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday. Drivers packed on the laps during the three-hour night session. The conditions were similar to what drivers are accustomed to during the late-April, twilight-staged Phoenix Grand Prix and drivers took full advantage.
With a field of 21 cars for the night-time session, the drivers added an additional 1,729 laps around the one-mile tri-oval, for an amazing 2,638 laps—about the same distance between Phoenix and Boston—with Graham Rahal taking the top spot in total laps with 166.
However the lap tally wasn’t the only quirk of the night. Andretti Autosport drivers, Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay appeared to like each other’s car more than their own. Rossi logging 24 laps in Hunter-Reay’s usual No. 28 and Hunter-Reay lapping 11 times in Rossi’s No. 98. No official word from Andretti officials about the swap.
Twitter: What do you think @AlexanderRossi said to @RyanHunterReay just before RHR took the 98 for a spin? Maybe sharing som… https://t.co/Ch7POhycgw (@FollowAndretti)
On the lapboard front, fellow Andretti Autosport driver, Marco Andretti was fastest at night enabling him to unseat Will Power for P3 overall in the night and day sessions combined. One of only a few drivers to drastically improve their standing in between the day and night sessions. Graham Rahal shot up from P16 to P4, the other being Charlie Kimball who improved from P15 to P11.
Other drivers of note: Conor Daly recovered nicely in night-time running after his car suffered an oil leak in the day session. Completing 79 laps while still adjusting to his new No. 4 A.J. Foyt Chevy. Reigning IndyCar Series champion, Simon Pagenaud completed 165 laps during night running, but dropped from P10 to P14. James Hinchcliffe of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and “Dancing With The Stars” improved slightly, shaving half a second from his day run time, topping out at 00m19.9112s, good enough for P19 in night-time standings overall.
Twitter: Here are the results from the first full day of testing at @PhoenixRaceway #IndyCar #PrixView https://t.co/AniFWgYTEs (@IndyCar)
Day two on Saturday at Phoenix Raceway is also the IndyCar Series second annual “Prix View” day for fans.
