The Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires series had two practice sessions today for tomorrow’s Indy Lights Iowa Challenge presented by Cooper Tires.

In the day’s first practice session, action was delayed because one of the ARCA series cars laid down fluids in the session immediately proceeding.

The cleanup, along with a live TV broadcast for Verizon IndyCar qualifying, meant the session was shortened to just 24 minutes.

The session ran clean, and Dean Stoneman was the quickest driver. Both Stoneman and Juan Piedrahita were faster than the lap record (162.618) that Max Chilton set last year. Many – but not all – of the cars did qualifying simulations late in the morning session.

Dean Stoneman. Photos @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

Dean Stoneman. Photos @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

Indy Lights Practice #1 Results:

Pos Car Driver Best Speed Total Laps
1 27 Dean Stoneman 163.290 26
2 2 Juan Piedrahita 163.147 34
3 11 Ed Jones 162.437 19
4 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 162.075 39
5 55 Santiago Urrutia 161.954 29
6 4 Felix Serralles 161.848 44
7 18 Kyle Kaiser 161.723 35
8 5 Zach Veach 161.669 15
9 22 Neil Alberico 161.272 33
10 28 Dalton Kellett 160.431 33
11 51 Shelby Blackstock 158.995 30
12 77 Heamin Choi 155.969 40
13 17 Andre Negrao 151.668 44

The Indy Lights cars got that five minutes back, as the second session started five minutes earlier to compensate.

Felix Serralles brought out an early yellow, getting sideways and brushing the Turn 4 wall. According to Rob Howden of IndyCar Radio, Felix’s left rear wheel bearing let loose on his Carlin entry and caused the loss of control.

Ed Jones got to make a pit stop during the session to remove a plastic bag that had gotten stuck on his front wing.

The session came to an early end when Kyle Kaiser made contact with the Turn 4 wall with about five minutes left.

Kaiser lost the rear of the car and first made contact with the right rear before also catching the right front. That will be a fair amount of repair for the Juncos Racing crew tonight.

Kyle later told us that he’d finished a qualifying simulation but had stayed out on track. He wondered if perhaps the tire pressures caught him out.

Kaiser, who was checked/cleared/released, was happy with his race car before the accident. He will have a chance to check the repairs in tomorrow’s qualifying session.

Ed Jones. Photos @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

Ed Jones. Photos @ Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography

Ed Jones, who was quickest in the session, predicts that this year’s race will be much like last year’s race. Tire degradation will become a factor around Lap 60, and the ability to negotiate traffic will also be a factor in the 115 lap race.

Afternoon Indy Lights Practice Results:

Pos Car Driver Best Speed Total Laps
1 11 Ed Jones 162.517 55
2 55 Santiago Urrutia 162.124 68
3 5 Zach Veach 161.895 40
4 18 Kyle Kaiser 161.790 49
5 2 Juan Piedrahita 161.678 45
6 22 Neil Alberico 161.182 37
7 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 160.644 57
8 17 Andre Negrao 159.800 61
9 27 Dean Stoneman 159.688 62
10 77 Heamin Choi 159.629 56
11 4 Felix Serralles 158.825 6
12 28 Dalton Kellett 157.988 53
13 51 Shelby Blackstock 156.981 42

The Indy Lights cars qualify tomorrow at 11am local time (noon Eastern) before racing at 2:15pm (3:15 Eastern).