IndyCar delayed Practice 2 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday for track repairs after a morning support-race crash, not fog. The practice session is set to be broadcast by FS2 at 10 am Pacific Time from Salinas, California, in Monterey County.
Almost 40 minutes after the scheduled start time, IndyCar announced that it was “targeting to start practice at 1:45p ET / 10:45a PT at Laguna Seca,” reported veteran racing reporter Bob Pockrass.
But wait! Minutes later, Pockrass posted “Revised time to start INDYCAR practice is 1:50p ET / 10:50a PT. The all-drivers portion of practice will be abbreviated and then there will be time for group practice so they can get in a mock qualifying run if they want. FS2 will come on air when practice begins.”
Shortly after that announcement, IndyCar decided that there would be only one practice session Saturday. The session, with all cars taking part, was set to start around 10:55 PT and end no later than 11:35 a.m.
“The start of Practice 2 is on hold as track repairs are underway following an on-track incident this morning,” the series announced on its official social media account, directing viewers to FS2 for updates.
Replies to that post identified the incident as a crash at the Corkscrew during Race 1 of the Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West, with one poster reporting the driver was unhurt. That support race ran from 9 a.m. to 9:40 a.m. local time, slotted directly ahead of the 10:05 a.m. IndyCar session on the event’s published weekend schedule.
“Someone went through the catchfence at the Corkscrew in the Porsche Sprints,” reported the online account Toyota Century of Glory.
| NTT INDYCAR SERIES — MONTEREY SCHEDULE | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca • Monterey, CA | |||
| Day | Session | Time (ET) | Network |
| SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 | |||
| Saturday | Practice 2 | 1:00 PM | FS2 |
| Saturday | Qualifying | 4:30 PM | FS2 |
| Saturday | Final Practice | 8:00 PM | FS2 |
| SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 | |||
| Sunday | Race | 2:30 PM | FOX |
| All times Eastern. All sessions also available on FOX One, IndyCar Live, SiriusXM, and IndyCar Radio. | |||
Why IndyCar Delayed Practice 2 at Laguna Seca
Laguna Seca delays usually come with a different explanation. In July 2025, the marine layer rolled in thick enough to ground the medical helicopter and erase a practice session, as documented by Motorsport Week. Saturday’s hold is asphalt and barrier work.
Friday’s Practice 1 ran clean, and Alex Palou set the pace at 1:09.8994, ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O’Ward, according to Pit Debrief‘s session results. Josef Newgarden spun at Turn 6, Scott Dixon ran wide at the Andretti Hairpin and Santino Ferrucci found the Turn 9 tire barrier, all of it unrelated to Saturday’s stoppage.
IndyCar has not called off Practice 2. Qualifying remains scheduled for 1:35 p.m. PT, according to IndyStar‘s Zion Brown, with another practice later in the afternoon.
Alex Palou Headlines the Favorites for Laguna Seca
The Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey closes the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season Sunday over 95 laps of the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course. Laguna Seca renamed the Corkscrew for the late Alex Zanardi on Friday, as detailed by Frontstretch‘s Wyatt Watson.
Palou clinched his fifth title, and his fourth in a row, at Milwaukee. What is left to settle is second place. Christian Lundgaard sits at 507 points, Kyle Kirkwood at 505 and O’Ward at 503, four points separating three drivers in the FOX Sports standings entering Monterey.
Money is on the line as well. Twenty-two of the 25 entries will lock in $1.7 million Leaders Circle contracts for 2027 and three will not, according to RACER‘s Marshall Pruett. RACER has also reported grid penalties for Caio Collet and Lundgaard following engine changes made after Milwaukee.
Sunday also closes chapters. Scott Dixon makes his final start as a Chip Ganassi Racing driver before moving to Arrow McLaren, ending a tenure that produced six championships, according to IndyCar’s official news release.
Palou is the favorite, and his record at the circuit justifies his status. Five starts, nothing worse than third, three wins, pole and victory in each of the past two seasons and 84 of 95 laps led in 2025, according to FOX Sports‘ Laguna Seca breakdown. Honda has won all six IndyCar races here since 2019.
Lundgaard finished runner-up at Laguna Seca last year and leads all drivers in permanent road-course points. O’Ward has placed inside the top 10 in all five Monterey starts, with a best of fourth. Kirkwood has one top-10 finish in four starts and a 16.8 average.
Frontstretch picks Palou, Lundgaard and O’Ward, in that order. FOX coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, with the green flag roughly half an hour later. Whether the drivers turn another lap before qualifying is still unsettled.
Why is IndyCar Practice at Laguna Seca Delayed Today? When Will it Start?