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Two-time defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden was back atop the speed chart Thursday in the last practice before cars get a horsepower boost on “Fast Friday” for qualifying weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Newgarden was fastest among the 34 cars trying to make the 33-car field when practice opened Tuesday, only to see IndyCar champion Alex Palou take the top spot the following day. Newgarden was back to setting the pace Thursday, turning just 35 laps but with a fastest of 226.632 mph—more than a full mile per hour better than Scott Dixon and anyone else.
“Lots of things can change,” said Dixon, who is trying to tie Rick Mears’ record with his sixth Indy 500 pole. “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 was the lone Honda-powered car among the top five Thursday with a best lap of 225.457 mph for Chip Ganassi Racing. Conor Daly was third, Pato O’Ward was fourth on a good day for Arrow McLaren, and Ryan Hunter-Reay was 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 said. “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 turned 112 laps on Thursday, second only to Kyffin Simpson, and had a best lap of 223.456 mph.
Honda was planning to change the engines late Thursday on all of its full-time entries ahead of this weekend’s qualifying.
It will be the second engine change for Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner. His initial engine was changed Wednesday night, and Honda plans to send that one back to California to inspect what was wrong with it. Dixon will be penalized for that change at the next race, in Detroit on June 1, while the rest of the Honda engine changes are permitted under Indy 500 rules.
“I guess we’ll see what tomorrow brings,” Dixon said.
Chevrolet, meanwhile, was not planning to swap out its engines until after qualifying.
Christian Rasmussen, who was eighth on the speed chart, survived a scare with just under two hours left in the six-hour practice session. He spun coming out of Turn 2 right in front of Kyle Larson, but he managed to only brush the wall with the rear wing of the Ed Carpenter Racing entry before getting the car pointed straight again down the backstretch.
“It’s what happens,” Rasmussen said. “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 NASCAR Cup Series star, is taking his second shot at “the Double” by trying to run the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on the same day. Larson turned 61 laps in practice and was feeling more comfortable in the car.
“We’re getting our car better,” he added. “There’s still some room to improve, but overall, a better Thursday than Wednesday.”
Heavier IndyCars bring out frustration in drivers
While the top of Thursday’s speed chart was filled with IndyCar’s usual names, many other Indianapolis 500 drivers grew increasingly frustrated with the day’s results.
Graham Rahal complained on the broadcast about how the extra weight in the rear end of his car impacted how it handled around the 2.5-mile oval. Marco Andretti offered a similar critique during his radio communications.
Santino Ferrucci was so upset with the car, he put all four tires over the white line on the warmup apron, resulting in a drive-thru penalty. Even the seemingly invincible points leader, Alex Palou, went back to the garage to make a change to the No. 10 car.
It was that kind of day on the first day of practice for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” not interrupted by rain.
“Tough day today but we’re just gonna have to crank up the boost, cowboy up and go find what we need,” Rahal wrote on social media following practice.
Rahal, Andretti and Ferrucci finished Thursday near the bottom third of the speed charts. Palou, of course, was closer to the top.
Drivers knew navigating the series’ new, heavier hybrid cars around the fastest oval in racing could be problematic as far back as the April’s two-day open test when two experienced drivers crashed—2021 NASCAR champion Kyle Larson and two-time Indy winner Takuma Sato.
What it all means for Friday when drivers get a power boost to increase their speeds before this weekend’s qualifications—or in the May 25 race—remains unclear.
But even some of the fastest drivers at Indy are fighting to figure it all out.
“You’re 100, 110 pounds heavier. That’s a lot of mass percentage wise that you are adding to this car,” two-time defending champion Josef Newgarden said Wednesday. “It’s saturating the tires more. It’s just moving around. Your weight distribution is shifted depending on where teams put it. That’s what people are trying to figure out right now.”
Sato’s new battle
Sato isn’t just cramming to learn the new cars, he’s also fighting another battle—rust.
The two-time Indy winner spent seven seasons in Formula One before becoming an IndyCar regular from 2010-2022. In 2023, he raced five times for Chip Ganassi Racing. But he hasn’t suited up since last year’s 500. This year, he’s again driving for Rahal Lannigan Letterman Racing.
“It’s not easy,” the Japanese native said Wednesday. “To get out of the car 11 months, close to 12 months, jump in the car and go 230 mph, you feel the speed for sure. The refresher program helped me a lot. So just getting through the speed with an extra two sets of tires, makes me a little more confident or comfortable to the environment to get up to speed.”
Sato is trying to become the third foreign-born driver with three Indy titles. Helio Castroneves of Brazil has a record-tying four wins. Dario Franchitti of Scotland won three times.
Familiar voices
Fox Sports announced Thursday that it’s bringing two former IndyCar drivers back to the broadcast booth for next week’s race—Tony Stewart and Danica Patrick.
Both have done broadcast work previously and 500 fans may recall hearing Patrick on NBC’s telecasts of the 500.
Patrick was the first woman to lead the race in 2005 and became the highest female finisher in race history when she was third in 2009.
Stewart grew up in Indiana and won the 1997 IndyCar title before moving to the Cup Series. He won three NASCAR championships and captured two Brickyard 400 wins at his home track, Indianapolis.
Fast Friday sponsor
Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials announced Thursday they have reached a multiyear deal with Turtle Wax to become the presenting sponsor for Fast Friday, the final practice before qualifying is held Saturday and Sunday.
As part of the deal, Turtle Wax also will provide its car-care products to help maintain the entire fleet of speedway vehicles.
“We’re thrilled about this alliance between two iconic Midwest-based brands—Turtle Wax and Indianapolis Motor Speedway—each with a rich history in the automotive world,” the company’s chief marketing officer Daren Herbert said. “Simply put, it’s a match made in speed and shine, and we’re ready to go.”
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