Rookie Indy 500 contenders ABEL Motorsports of Louisville, KY and driver RC Enerson, 26, of New Port Richey, FL put together a productive two hours of practice today for Sunday’s 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. When the checkered flag flew on the session, Enerson and the #50 ABEL Chevy/Dallara had completed 61 laps of practice with a best speed of 224.286 mph, good for 25th on the Monday speed chart.
While former winner Will Power notched the fast lap of the day at more than 229 mph in race trim, Enerson’s best lap put him within a few tenths of a mile per hour of a top-ten practice result, sparking plenty of anticipation for a great run on 500 Day next Sunday.
“It was tough out there today” commented the rookie 500 competitor. “We were in really dirty air a lot, and we had to make a lot of changes to the car. It’s about getting me comfortable with the car to race that way Sunday. I haven’t had much chance to get used to that as yet. Having Spencer Pigot as my spotter is key; he’s run this race several times and been good here, and he knows what it’s like to race under these conditions, so I’m really leaning on him. Now, we’ll get ready for Friday (Carb Day final practice) and see where we can get better. Can’t wait for the weekend to get here!”
The two-hour session was marred by the month’s first on-track incident when returning competitor Katherine Legge made hard contact with fellow returnee Stefan Wilson in Turn 2. Both cars were heavily damaged and Wilson was transported to a local hospital for tests. IndyCar extended the practice session by 10 additional minutes to compensate for the resulting red flag delay.
Despite the stoppage, Team Manager John Brunner was satisfied with how the ABEL squad handled the session. “We just needed to get some running time in traffic. This was our first go at that, and we had to make some changes, which we expected. (RC’s) comfort level was a little less today, but we expected that, and he handled it just fine. We’ll work on it the rest of way on Carb Day (Friday). I’m not worried about pace at all. We’ll have good race pace. Starting where we’re starting (29th), we’re going to be in really dirty air for a long way, so our job is to get the car as ready for that and the driver as ready for that as we can. We’re going out there to try to see the checkered flag, and bring home as good a result as we can.”
Next up for ABEL Motorsports and RC Enerson are a variety of media and fan responsibilities over the next few days before Friday’s final practice on Carb Day.
That two-hour session begins at 11AM ET (live on Peacock and the IMS Radio Network).
ABEL Motorsports PR
