IndyCar teams spent most of the morning running mock qualifying runs around the 2.5-mile speedway with Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin running the single fastest lap as the Kiwi reached 232.686mph.
He was followed by two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato at 232.565mph and Will Power at 232.278mph. Felix Rosenqvist and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou rounded out the top five. The remainder of the top ten in combined speeds went as follows: Scott Dixon, Kyle Kirkwood, Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden, and Kyffin Simpson.
Sato’s lap was also the best of all drivers without a tow. Unfortunately, his day came to a premature end when he crashed exiting Turn 1 during the morning session. He was not alone as just before him, 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson also smacked the outside wall at the exit of Turn 1. Both drivers were checked and released from the infield care center.
The boost was not in play for the afternoon session, which went incident-free despite a heart-stopping moment with just over two hours left. Rinus VeeKay slowed exiting Turn 2, forcing the trio of cars behind him to fan out across the track (and even the apron) to avoid a collision. Larson and Sato were the only drivers who did not take part in the afternoon session.
Palou topped the second session’s speed charts in race trim for Chip Ganassi Racing, reaching 223.993mph with Felix Rosenqvist and Kirkwood close behind. As for Kirkwood, he held the distinction of posting the fastest no-tow speed in the afternoon with a 218.861mph lap. Rosenqvist and McLaughlin ended up running the most laps in the fifth practice of the week, completing 112 laps each.
Between all five sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, nine drivers ran the equivalent of a full Indy 500 (200 laps) or more. Simpson ran the most of all 34 drivers, completing 265 laps.
In this article
Nick DeGroot
IndyCar
Scott McLaughlin
Alex Palou
Team Penske
Chip Ganassi Racing
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