INDIANAPOLIS – Two-time reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden once again led the speed charts during Thursday`s practice session. This was the last opportunity for teams to refine their setups before cars receive a horsepower increase for `Fast Friday,` which kicks off the qualifying weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Newgarden initially topped the speeds on Tuesday among the 34 cars vying for a spot in the 33-car field. However, IndyCar champion Álex Palou took the lead on Wednesday. Newgarden returned to the top spot on Thursday, completing just 35 laps but posting a best speed of 226.632 mph – over a full mile-per-hour quicker than Scott Dixon and the rest of the field.
“Lots of things can change,” remarked Dixon, who is aiming to equal Rick Mears` record of six Indy 500 poles. “The Penske teams seem strong, there`s no doubt about that. They`re running some big laps. There can always be some kind of weird twist.”
Dixon`s best lap of 225.457 mph placed him as the only Honda-powered car in the top five for Chip Ganassi Racing. Conor Daly was third, Pato O`Ward secured fourth for Arrow McLaren, and Ryan Hunter-Reay finished fifth.
“They`re two different beasts you`re trying to make go fast, to be fairly honest with you. Just because you have a good traffic car doesn`t mean you`ll have a good qualifying car, and vice versa,” O`Ward explained, discussing the trade-offs. “In traffic, I think we`ve gotten better, but there`s still a handful of other cars that I believe are a lot stronger than we are, so still work to do.”
Álex Palou completed 112 laps on Thursday, second only to Kyffin Simpson, with a best lap recorded at 223.456 mph.
Honda teams were scheduled to change engines late Thursday on all their full-time entries as they prepare for this weekend`s qualifying.
This will be the second engine change for 2008 Indy 500 winner Dixon. His initial engine was swapped Wednesday night and will be sent back to California for inspection. While this specific change results in a penalty for Dixon at the subsequent Detroit race on June 1st, other engine changes for the Indy 500 weekend are permitted under series rules.
“I guess we`ll see what tomorrow brings,” Dixon mused.
In contrast, Chevrolet teams planned to wait until after qualifying before performing engine swaps.
Christian Rasmussen, who ended the day eighth fastest, had a moment of concern with just under two hours remaining in the six-hour practice session. He spun while exiting Turn 2, directly in front of Kyle Larson`s car. Fortunately, he only made light contact with the wall using the rear wing of his Ed Carpenter Racing entry before regaining control.
“It`s what happens,” Rasmussen commented. “It`s obviously not where you want it to be, but I think we have fast cars around here, so it`s still a positive day. I have that out of the way and we move on.”
Kyle Larson, the NASCAR Cup Series star attempting `the Double` (running both the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day), completed 61 laps and reported feeling increasingly comfortable in the car.
“We`re getting our car better,” Larson added. “There`s still some room to improve, but overall, a better Thursday than Wednesday.”
