HOUSTON -- Each of the 90 minutes of practice are important, according to Will Power, which is why the driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car is all business when the morning session rolls around.

"You have to be very aggressive on the street courses because that’s where the speed is," said Power, who won Race 2 of the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers last October. "You have to have good strategy. Aside from a part failure, having the wrong strategy can keep you from winning more than anything. (Race strategist) Tim Cindric has proven that he is one of the best at calling a race. It’s going to be an interesting weekend. They always are in the Verizon IndyCar Series.” 

Power, the series championship points leader, topped the 45-minute practice on the 1.634-mile, 10-turn temporary street circuit with a quick lap of 1 minute, 0.4427 seconds. Another 45-minute practice is scheduled for 3 p.m. (ET), followed by a 10-minute standing start practice for Race 1 (3 p.m. ET June 28 on NBCSN). All practice sessions are streamed live on IndyCar.com in combination with the IMS Radio Network broadcast and real-time Timing & Scoring.

Click it: Practice 1 results

Simon Pagenaud, who won the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 10, was second quick (1:00.6956) in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports car. Sebastien Bourdais, who has won twice at NRG Park in Champ Car, was third (1:00.7700) in the No. 11 Mistic KVSH Racing car.

Takuma Sato, a pole winner last year at Houston, was fourth quick (1:00:7901) in the No. 14 ABC Supply car for A.J. Foyt Racing, and Tony Kanaan completed the top five -- five different teams represented -- with a best lap of 1:00.8355 in the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing entry.

The top 16 cars were separated by less than a second.

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