Josef Newgarden, the two-time reigning champion of the Indianapolis 500, finished Thursday`s practice session atop the speed charts. This session was the last opportunity for teams to fine-tune their cars before `Fast Friday,` when horsepower is significantly boosted for qualifying weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Newgarden had previously been the fastest among the 34 cars participating in practice on Tuesday, all vying for a spot in the 33-car field. However, IndyCar champion Álex Palou claimed the top position on Wednesday. On Thursday, Newgarden was back leading the field, completing only 35 laps but achieving a best speed of 226.632 mph – over a full mile per hour faster than Scott Dixon and everyone else.
“Lots of things can change,” commented Dixon, who is attempting to equal Rick Mears` record with his sixth Indy 500 pole position. “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 Chip Ganassi Racing entry was the only Honda-powered car in the top five on Thursday, posting a best lap of 225.457 mph. Conor Daly secured third place, Pato O`Ward finished fourth for Arrow McLaren after a productive day, and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top five.
“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,” explained O`Ward. “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.”
Palou ran the second-highest number of laps on Thursday, completing 112 laps (behind only Kyffin Simpson), with his quickest lap at 223.456 mph.
Honda was scheduled to change the engines late Thursday for all of its full-time entries in anticipation of this weekend`s qualifying procedures.
For Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner, this will be his second engine change. His initial engine was replaced Wednesday night and is being sent back to California by Honda for inspection into the cause of any issues. Dixon will incur a penalty for this specific change at the following race in Detroit on June 1st, whereas the other engine changes permitted under Indy 500 rules do not carry a penalty.
“I guess we`ll see what tomorrow brings,” Dixon remarked.
Conversely, Chevrolet teams were planning to wait until after qualifying sessions were completed before performing their engine swaps.
Christian Rasmussen, who finished eighth on the speed chart, had a moment of concern with less than two hours remaining in the six-hour practice session. His Ed Carpenter Racing car spun coming out of Turn 2 directly in front of Kyle Larson. Fortunately, Rasmussen only made slight contact with the wall using his rear wing before successfully straightening the car down the backstretch.
“It`s what happens,” Rasmussen stated. “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.”
Larson, the well-known NASCAR Cup Series competitor, is attempting his second `Double` effort, aiming to race in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on the same day. Larson completed 61 laps during practice and reported feeling more comfortable behind the wheel.
“We`re getting our car better,” he added. “There`s still some room to improve, but overall, a better Thursday than Wednesday.”
