Indy Fast Friday Practice is Over

The boost was increased, the special wings came out, and the Honda guys are still fastest in practice for the 100th running of the Indy 500. Sticking to non-tow-assisted speeds (this was practice for pole runs), seven of the eight fastest cars were Honda-powered. Townsend Bell topped the list, followed by Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Carlos Munoz, Gabby Chaves all had sub-39 second solo runs.

Overall, the picture still is heavily weighted for Honda, with 9 of the top 11. Will Power and Josef Newgarden topped the with-tow speed list, but the next 9 were all Honda-powered, including all 5 Andretti cars.

The weather here in Indiana — to the extent that it can be predicted — is supposed to be rainy until tomorrow around 8:00 am. Since it might take as much as 3 hours to dry the track, this endangers the practice schedule for tomorrow, not to mention the start of qualification.

So you ask — since we only have 33 cars, what happens if one whacks the wall or otherwise can't do qualification? Answer — they start anyway, at the back of the field.

— Tim Wohlford and Lucille Dust, reporting from Indy