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What was to have been seven hours of practice became just 23 minutes, with a red flag at 09:26 ET putting a very early end to the action.
Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner, set a 229.107mph (368.712km/h) average speed on his seventh lap of nine in the #9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, which would prove the fastest.
Second on the timesheet went to one of the Indy-only drivers, namely 2020 pole-sitter Marco Andretti.
He set a 228.399mph (367.573km/h) on his ninth of 12 laps in the #98 Andretti Herta w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda.
No one else got beyond the 225mph bracket in terms of average speed and no one completed more than 13 laps.
In fact, just 29 drivers set a time and only 31 even registered on the timesheet, out of a 34-car field.
2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, who is attempting the Indy 500-Charlotte 600 ‘double’, and is also competing in the All-Star Race this coming weekend, ended up 27th with just two laps to his name in the #17 McLaren Chevrolet.
“It’s good to finally have the Indy 500 here,” he said.
“I’ve known about this [double attempt] for a couple of years now, so it’s been a lot of waiting. Just happy to get this experience underway.
“The weather is getting in the middle of things today, but once we get through today, it should be good.”
Larson is attempting to become just the fifth driver in history to complete the double.
Practice is scheduled to resume on Wednesday at 10:00 ET/Thursday at 00:00 AEST.
Results: Day 1 Practice
| Pos | Num | Driver | C/E/T | Fastest lap | Fastest speed | Split 1st/prev | Lap |
| 1 | 9 | Scott Dixon | D/H/F | 0:39.2829 | 229.107 | 7/9 | |
| 2 | 98 | Marco Andretti | D/H/F | 0:39.4047 | 228.399 | 0.1218/0.1218 | 9/12 |
| 3 | 75 | Takuma Sato | D/H/F | 0:39.9023 | 225.551 | 0.6194/0.4976 | 5/6 |
| 4 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | D/C/F | 0:40.0012 | 224.993 | 0.7183/0.0989 | 7/11 |
| 5 | 45 | Christian Lundgaard | D/H/F | 0:40.2066 | 223.844 | 0.9237/0.2054 | 7/7 |
| 6 | 06 | Helio Castroneves | D/H/F | 0:40.2381 | 223.669 | 0.9552/0.0315 | 5/10 |
| 7 | 26 | Colton Herta | D/H/F | 0:40.3436 | 223.084 | 1.0607/0.1055 | 5/7 |
| 8 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | D/H/F | 0:40.5092 | 222.172 | 1.2263/0.1656 | 9/13 |
| 9 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | D/H/F | 0:40.5523 | 221.936 | 1.2694/0.0431 | 8/13 |
| 10 | 41 | Sting Ray Robb | D/C/F | 0:40.5658 | 221.862 | 1.2829/0.0135 | 4/5 |
| 11 | 6 | Callum Ilott | D/C/F | 0:40.5786 | 221.792 | 1.2957/0.0128 | 10/10 |
| 12 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | D/H/F | 0:40.5812 | 221.778 | 1.2983/0.0026 | 11/12 |
| 13 | 23 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | D/C/F | 0:40.5954 | 221.700 | 1.3125/0.0142 | 5/9 |
| 14 | 77 | Romain Grosjean | D/C/F | 0:40.7059 | 221.098 | 1.4230/0.1105 | 7/8 |
| 15 | 24 | Conor Daly | D/C/F | 0:40.7455 | 220.883 | 1.4626/0.0396 | 5/8 |
| 16 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | D/C/F | 0:40.7464 | 220.878 | 1.4635/0.0009 | 5/7 |
| 17 | 66 | Tom Blomqvist | D/H/F | 0:40.7504 | 220.857 | 1.4675/0.0040 | 6/12 |
| 18 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | D/C/F | 0:40.8530 | 220.302 | 1.5701/0.1026 | 10/13 |
| 19 | 7 | Alexander Rossi | D/C/F | 0:40.8861 | 220.124 | 1.6032/0.0331 | 5/5 |
| 20 | 78 | Agustin Canapino | D/C/F | 0:41.1312 | 218.812 | 1.8483/0.2451 | 5/7 |
| 21 | 33 | Christian Rasmussen | D/C/F | 0:41.2309 | 218.283 | 1.9480/0.0997 | 4/4 |
| 22 | 18 | Nolan Siegel | D/H/F | 0:41.2913 | 217.964 | 2.0084/0.0604 | 10/11 |
| 23 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | D/C/F | 0:41.3458 | 217.676 | 2.0629/0.0545 | 3/3 |
| 24 | 15 | Graham Rahal | D/H/F | 0:41.5175 | 216.776 | 2.2346/0.1717 | 6/6 |
| 25 | 30 | Pietro Fittipaldi | D/H/F | 0:41.6402 | 216.137 | 2.3573/0.1227 | 4/4 |
| 26 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | D/C/F | 0:42.0443 | 214.060 | 2.7614/0.4041 | 3/3 |
| 27 | 17 | Kyle Larson | D/C/F | 1:00.0523 | 149.869 | 20.7694/18.0080 | 2/2 |
| 28 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | D/C/F | 1:15.1617 | 119.742 | 35.8788/15.1094 | 1/1 |
| 29 | 12 | Will Power | D/C/F | 1:15.5262 | 119.164 | 36.2433/0.3645 | 1/1 |
| 30 | 51 | Katherine Legge | D/H/F | No Time | No Speed | ||
| 31 | 10 | Alex Palou | D/H/F | No Time | No Speed |
