2026 Indy 500 | IndyCar | Practice 1 results

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Practice 1 for the Indy 500 and round 7 of the 2026 IndyCar season has been completed at IMS, view the full results here.

In the Open Test held last month, rookie and AJ Foyt racer Caio Collet posted the fastest speed across the two days.

Last Saturday in the IMS GP, Christian Lundgaard won his first race for Arrow McLaren as he passed David Malukas with a breathtaking move after the final round of stops. Graham Rahal continued his great start to 2026 with another podium appearance. Alex Palou (P5) and Kyle Kirkwood (P9) looked to be heading for a 1-2 to continue their dominance in the championship, until a caution hampered them.

Armstrong heads the field halfway through the first day

At the halfway point of Practice 1 for the 2026 Indy 500, New Zealander and Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong led the way on a 225.895 mph lap. Daly, Malukas, O’Ward, Dixon, Rossi, Abel, Sato, Castroneves and Kirkwood.

Aside from a tyre cut concern for Firestone with the #06, it was a quiet first part of the day on the track. Off it, Dennis Hauger (water blockage issue) and Ed Carpenter (engine change) had not hit the track in the first three hours.

Armstrong
Daly
Malukas
O’Ward
Dixon
Rossi
Abel
Sato
Castroneves
Kirkwood
Harvey
Rosenqvist
Newgarden
Grosjean
Rasmussen
Power
Siegel
Collet
Ericsson
Rahal
Schumacher
Hunter-Reay
Foster
Palou
Lundgaard
VeeKay
Ferrucci
Robb
Simpson
McLaughlin
Legge

With Ed Carpenter and Dennis Hauger hitting the track in the second part of the day, all 33 drivers got on track for Practice 1 in the end.

However, there was an intriguing twist as defending Indy 500 champion Alex Palou reported an issue with the right rear, returning to the pits. The #10 eventually ended up back in the garage as CGR had a big inspection to try and find the problem; the team could not find one.

He returned to action with less than 13 minutes left. Unbelievably, the four-time IndyCar champion used the tow from other cars to go 1st with a 225.937 mph.