INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Felix Rosenqvist has returned to practice for the Indianapolis 500 in a backup car prepared overnight by his Chip Ganassi Racing team.
Rosenqvist crashed his main car Wednesday but his team quickly decided to move to its backup and it had the Swedish rookie ready to get back in the seat when practice began Thursday.
Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, was idling in street clothes as McLaren worked on his spare car. Alonso crashed Wednesday and the team worked until roughly 2 a.m. preparing another car for the Spaniard.
Alonso spent some of his free time chatting with seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson, who stopped by before he begins preparing for Saturday night’s All-Star race in Charlotte, North Carolina. Johnson was walking up and down pit lane as Day 3 of Indy 500 preparations began trying to say hello to as many IndyCar friends as possible.
McLaren does not expect Alonso to get on track until later Thursday afternoon. The team will use its spare car, the one built by technical partner Carlin, and the car Alonso crashed will become the backup.
Continue on Rosenqvist back on track at Indy as Alonso waits for a car on Fox Sports.