IndyCar: Fast Friday Report from Indianapolis

With boost turned up to inflate this weekend’s qualifying speeds, Andretti Global’s Colton Herta drove his No 26 Gainbridge Honda to the fastest lap average of 234.974 the day before qualifying for the Indy 500.

Arrow McLaren’s Kyle Larson, driving the No 17 Hendrickscars.com Chevrolet, impressed with a fast lap of 234.271.

Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, and Will Power, drivers for Team Penske, rounded out the top five for today.

After heavy rains last night at Speedway overnight, safety trucks took several laps to dry the track by Noon. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers finally had a whole day to prepare for tomorrow’s qualifications for the 108th Indy 500 presented by Gainbridge.

While out for a simulated qualifying run, Herta’s quickest lap of 234.974mph was fake because it came courtesy of a tow off Graham Rahal with 90 minutes left on the session.

Herta opted to abort the effort after Rahal impeded his planned four-lap run.

Newgarden, the reigning Indy 500 winner, was really the fast man with a strong simulated 4-lap qualifying run of 234.063mph (234.260, 233.937, 233.970, 234.087) to set the fastest four-lap average in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet, which makes him the favorite to win the pole.

Josef Newgarden – Indianapolis 500 Practice – Photo by Chris Owens

Speeds soared Friday because the Honda and Chevrolet engines that power the field featured approximately 100 more horsepower due to increased boost levels that also will be available this weekend during PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying.

“You can’t get too excited on a day like today,” two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Newgarden said. “We’re testing. Everybody’s testing. It counts when it counts, but I think we have fast cars. There’s no doubt. We’ve got to be somewhat pleased at what we’re looking at. This team has worked hard.

“We need to put our pieces together tomorrow. It’s going to be harder tomorrow; it’s going to be even harder on Sunday.”

Rookie Mistake

Nolan Siegel                                                             Photo by Penske Entertainment

At 1:37 pm, Nolan Siegel, driving the No 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2, then became airborne, landed  on the left sidepod, and slid down the backstretch  on his roll hoop.

The 19-year-old Indy 500 rookie was checked and released from the IU Health Emergency Medical Center.

Engine Problems

Alex Palou                                                              Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo

Alex Palou, the No 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing entry and last year’s polesitter, went out at 3 pm today and ended up back in pit lane with a smoking Honda engine.  The series’  points leader will have to wait until his crew changes his engine before he can get some more practice today.

Scott Dixon, Palou’s teammate, is also having his engine changed this afternoon. The Kiwi came into the pit around 3 p.m.  with something not right.

At 4:45, Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Pietro Fittipaldi pulled his No 30 5-hour Energy entry into pit lane with a suspected engine issue with his Honda.  He reported no power.  It was later diagnosed as an over-boost issue and not the engine.

Indy 500 Fast Friday top Speeds

Pos No Name Time Behind Gap FL Laps Speed Engine Team
1 26 Colton Herta 38.3021 0.000s 0.000s 16 24 234.974 Honda Andretti Autosport w/Curb‑Agajanian
2 17 Kyle Larson 38.4171 0.1150 0.1150 26 34 234.271 Chevy Arrow McLaren
3 2 Josef Newgarden 38.4189 0.1168 0.0018 10 15 234.260 Chevy Team Penske
4 3 Scott McLaughlin 38.4447 0.1426 0.0258 29 33 234.102 Chevy Team Penske
5 7 Alexander Rossi 38.4606 0.1585 0.0159 19 36 234.006 Chevy Arrow McLaren
6 12 Will Power 38.4839 0.1818 0.0233 10 30 233.864 Chevy Team Penske
7 5 Pato O’Ward 38.5030 0.2009 0.0191 31 35 233.748 Chevy Arrow McLaren
8 27 Kyle Kirkwood 38.5101 0.2080 0.0071 9 27 233.705 Honda Andretti Autosport
9 75 Takuma Sato 38.5144 0.2123 0.0043 34 38 233.679 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
10 14 Santino Ferrucci 38.5585 0.2564 0.0441 18 28 233.412 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
11 78 Agustin Canapino 38.5702 0.2681 0.0117 33 37 233.341 Chevy Juncos Hollinger Racing
12 60 Felix Rosenqvist 38.5848 0.2827 0.0146 10 19 233.252 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
13 23 Ryan Hunter‑Reay 38.5947 0.2926 0.0099 20 24 233.193 Chevy Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
14 6 Callum Ilott 38.6041 0.3020 0.0094 21 31 233.136 Chevy Arrow McLaren
15 21 Rinus VeeKay 38.6134 0.3113 0.0093 16 20 233.080 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
16 41 Sting Ray Robb 38.6197 0.3176 0.0063 25 29 233.042 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
17 98 Marco Andretti 38.6430 0.3409 0.0233 16 25 232.901 Honda Andretti
18 45 Christian Lundgaard 38.6981 0.3960 0.0551 26 27 232.570 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
19 20 Ed Carpenter 38.7018 0.3997 0.0037 19 28 232.547 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
20 06 Helio Castroneves 38.7105 0.4084 0.0087 31 42 232.495 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
21 9 Scott Dixon 38.7142 0.4121 0.0037 3 33 232.473 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
22 28 Marcus Ericsson 38.7283 0.4262 0.0141 35 44 232.388 Honda Andretti Autosport
23 66 Tom Blomqvist 38.7520 0.4499 0.0237 20 21 232.246 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
24 10 Alex Palou 38.7705 0.4684 0.0185 15 18 232.135 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
25 77 Romain Grosjean 38.7706 0.4685 0.0001 17 32 232.135 Chevy Juncos Hollinger Racing
26 11 Marcus Armstrong 38.7756 0.4735 0.0050 35 36 232.105 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
27 33 Christian Rasmussen 38.7867 0.4846 0.0111 3 25 232.038 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
28 8 Linus Lundqvist 38.8192 0.5171 0.0325 34 38 231.844 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
29 30 Pietro Fittipaldi 38.8624 0.5603 0.0432 21 24 231.586 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
30 15 Graham Rahal 38.9212 0.6191 0.0588 3 22 231.236 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
31 24 Conor Daly 38.9692 0.6671 0.0480 4 19 230.952 Chevy Dreyer Reinbold Racing
32 4 Kyffin Simpson 39.0253 0.7232 0.0561 40 46 230.620 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
33 51 Katherine Legge 39.0956 0.7935 0.0703 3 35 230.205 Honda Dale Coyne Racing
34 18 Nolan Siegel 39.1622 0.8601 0.0666 9 15 229.813 Honda Dale Coyne Racing

 

 

Lucille Dust reporting live from Indianapolis