Week 1
Saturday May 3 - Opening Day
The first day of practice, set aside for Rookie Orientation, was rained out.
Sunday May 4 - Rookie Orientation
The first day of track activity saw six rookies take laps. Vincenzo Sospiri led the speed chart at 211.964 mph. Sospiri and Kenny Bräck both passed their rookie tests.
Monday May 5 - Rookie Orientation
A very light day of activity saw only four cars take a total of 80 laps. Kenny Bräck turned the fastest lap (205.597 mph), and Sam Schmidt passed his rookie test.
Tuesday May 6
The first full day of practice saw heavy activity. Tony Stewart set the early pace with a lap of 214.337 mph. The only incident of the day occurred when Jeff Ward blew an engine and spun into the wall in turn 3. Arie Luyendyk set the fastest lap thus far of the month at 5:24 p.m., at 218.707 mph.
Wednesday May 7
Scott Sharp crashed in turn 1 late in the afternoon, heavily damaging his primary car. He had just run a lap of 217.402 mph. Arie Luyendyk became the first driver over 220 mph, with a lap of 220.297 mph. Rain closed the track about 10 minutes early.
Thursday May 8
Rain kept the track closed until 3 p.m. The final three hours saw average activity. Just minutes after the track opened, Arie Luyendyk spun in the southchute, and tagged the wall, suffering minor nose cone damage. He was uninjured. later, Luyendyk returned to the track, and once again, led the speed chart at 217.318 mph.
Friday May 9
The final day of practice before pole qualifying saw heavy action, and cool temperatures (51°F). Three incidents, however, shuffled the field. John Paul, Jr. crashed in turn four, and suffered a broken leg. Scott Sharp also crashed exiting turn four, and suffered a concussion. Both Paul and Sharp would be forced to sit out the rest of the month. The third incident involved Stephan Gregoire, who spun, but made no contact.
The speed chart was competitive, with Arie Luyendyk, Tony Stewart, and Robbie Buhl trading fast lap for the afternoon. At the end of the day, Luyendyk was fastest, sweeping the chart all four days of veteran practice. His lap of 218.325 mph was a mile per hour faster than Stewart in second place.
World of Outlaws star Steve Kinser passed the final phase of his rookie test, and Jeff Ward completed a refresher test.
Read more about this topic: 1997 Indianapolis 500, Practice
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