Indianapolis Pre-Race Notebook

***Richard Westbrook led the way in Friday afternoon’s warmup session. The Spirit of Daytona driver reeled off a best lap of 1:18.990 in the 15-minute session. Jack Hawksworth (PC), Jonathan Bomarito (GTLM) and Mario Farnbacher (GTD) led their respective classes. All 48 cars recorded time in the session, which ran without incident.

***While warmup ran in dry conditions, rain isn’t out of the forecast for this evening’s Brickyard Grand Prix. As of 3 p.m. ET, a line of showers are approaching Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is expected to impact the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race as well. It could result in the first rain race of the season.

***Spencer Pumpelly will pull double-duty in today’s race, having gotten the late call-up to fill in for team principal Seth Neiman in the No. 35 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS with Silver-rated Dion von Moltke. Neiman suffered a pulled muscle in practice yesterday. Pumpelly will start the No. 35 car before jumping in his points-scoring No. 45 Audi, which will be started by Nelson Canache.

***All three Porsche 911 RSRs in the GTLM class are not running with the permitted Balance of Performance adjustments this week. The GTE-spec entries received a 0.7 mm increase in air restrictor diameter as well as a larger front splitter and rear wing but the German manufacturer was unable to source the wing in the short notice given. IMSA rules state a car must adopt all of the BoP changes or none at all. A Porsche spokesperson said the Porsche North America and Team Falken Tire entries will have all of the updates for the next round at Road America.

***Nine drivers are pulling double-duty between today’s Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race and the Brickyard Grand Prix TUDOR United SportsCar Championship round, which follows immediately after. They are: Matt Bell, Dane Cameron, Al Carter, Eric Curran, Andrew Davis, John Edwards, Ian James, Andy Lally and Michael Valiante.

***The No. 88 BAR1 Motorsports Oreca FLM09 of Martin Plowman and Doug Bielefeld is carrying graphics from Earth Day Texas, an annual, outdoor festival in Dallas that seeks to elevate environmental awareness. Plowman told Sportscar365 that he hopes to complete the season in the car with gentleman racer Bielefeld.

***Paul Dalla Lana told Sportscar365 that he’s unsure if he’ll contest any additional TUDOR Championship races this year due to his FIA WEC and business commitments. Dalla Lana, who is making his first start since the Twelve Hours of Sebring in the GTD pole-sitting No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3, is filling in for Markus Palttala, who is taking part in the Total 24 Hours of Spa this weekend.

***In honor of National Tequila day, Extreme Speed Motorsports asked members of its team how they like their Patron Tequila. Some of the responses may surprise you, including Patron CEO Ed Brown’s favorite cocktail. Clck Here to watch the video.

***While you can watch the Brickyard Grand Prix live on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET, IMSA.com will again offer expanded coverage with on-board cameras, live timing and scoring and MRN Radio broadcast. Click Here to view.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John