INDYCAR BARBER: VEEKAY PIPS GROSJEAN TO LEAD SECOND PRACTICE
The 23-year-old Dutchman rocketed to the top of the leaderboard with a quick lap of 1m06.5463s at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course.
“The car feels really good,” VeeKay said. “It felt pretty good yesterday.
“Couldn't really get a lap in on the red tyres, but we made some changes overnight for what we thought was the right direction and it was the right direction. So that's really good.
“I'm excited for qualifying. It's usually a very good sign when you're fast in practice two.”
Romain Grosjean continued his strong weekend, with the #77 Juncos Hollinger Racing driver finishing just off VeeKay at 0.035s behind. Team Penske’s Scott Mclaughlin ended up third at 0.063s off the top mark.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s duo of Graham Rahal and Christian Lundgaard were fourth and fifth, respectively.
Pato O’Ward placed sixth for Arrow McLaren, ahead of Penske’s Will Power.
Reigning IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou ended the session eighth for Chip Ganassi Racing as Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Ganassi driver Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top 10.
The session was red flagged less than three minutes in after Pietro Fittipaldi went off at Turn 2, suffering a steering failure.
Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images
“We were just doing laps and warming up the car,” the RLL driver explained.
“Weren't really pushing and then my steering rack just came loose. Luckily, it didn't happen in the high-speed corner, because it would've been pretty scary.
“I had no steering, basically. Disappointed because we need laps, obviously, to keep getting rhythm with these tracks I don't know. Obviously, doesn't help the race.”
Lundgaard went fastest shortly after the resumption of practice, producing a flying lap of 1m06.6973s. But VeeKay dethroned the Dane with his fast lap with 30 minutes to go.
The red flags returned with 20 minutes remaining after Arrow McLaren’s Theo Pourchaire, making his second IndyCar start this in place of the injured David Malukas, spun off at Turn 14. He was able to continue on after receiving assistance.
During the red flag, Felix Rosenqvist was seen getting pushed back to the paddock following a problem with his Honda engine, prematurely ending the Meyer Shank Racing driver's session.
“We had a loss of power and then they said we have to park it [for] something with the engine,” the Swede said. “So, unfortunate.
“I thought actually the car felt pretty good compared to yesterday, so I'm happier now going into qualifying than if it would've been yesterday.
“Bad luck, but we'll get her fixed here. I think we might do an engine change and see we end up in quali.”
IndyCar Barber second practice results
| Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 21 | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'06.5463 | 18 | ||
| 2 | 77 | Romain Grosjean | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'06.5819 | 0.0356 | 23 |
| 3 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'06.6099 | 0.0636 | 24 |
| 4 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Dallara/Honda | 1'06.6588 | 0.1125 | 21 |
| 5 | 45 | C.Lundgaard | Dallara/Honda | 1'06.6973 | 0.1510 | 19 |
| 6 | 5 | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'06.7528 | 0.2065 | 21 | |
| 7 | 12 | Will Power | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'06.7736 | 0.2273 | 23 |
| 8 | 10 | Alex Palou | Dallara/Honda | 1'06.7776 | 0.2313 | 26 |
| 9 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'06.8082 | 0.2619 | 17 |
| 10 | 11 | Marcus Armstrong | Dallara/Honda | 1'06.8590 | 0.3127 | 24 |
| 11 | 7 | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'06.8634 | 0.3171 | 16 | |
| 12 | 9 | Dallara/Honda | 1'06.9763 | 0.4300 | 21 | |
| 13 | 78 | Agustín Canapino | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'06.9977 | 0.4514 | 25 |
| 14 | 26 | Dallara/Honda | 1'07.0557 | 0.5094 | 24 | |
| 15 | 20 | C.Rasmussen | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'07.0712 | 0.5249 | 24 |
| 16 | 14 | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'07.0893 | 0.5430 | 18 | |
| 17 | 28 | Dallara/Honda | 1'07.0927 | 0.5464 | 26 | |
| 18 | 27 | Dallara/Honda | 1'07.1810 | 0.6347 | 22 | |
| 19 | 66 | Dallara/Honda | 1'07.2517 | 0.7054 | 21 | |
| 20 | 8 | Dallara/Honda | 1'07.2799 | 0.7336 | 31 | |
| 21 | 18 | Dallara/Honda | 1'07.5641 | 1.0178 | 25 | |
| 22 | 4 | Dallara/Honda | 1'07.5755 | 1.0292 | 26 | |
| 23 | 6 | Théo Pourchaire | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'07.6949 | 1.1486 | 25 |
| 24 | 51 | Luca Ghiotto | Dallara/Honda | 1'07.7358 | 1.1895 | 27 |
| 25 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Dallara/Honda | 1'07.8813 | 1.3350 | 7 |
| 26 | 41 | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1'08.3179 | 1.7716 | 22 | |
| 27 | 30 | P.Fittipaldi | Dallara/Honda | 1'18.4327 | 11.8864 | 1 |