Conor Daly made the most of getting back behind the wheel for the first time in 2026 by leading the first day of the Open Test for the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
With less than 10 minutes to go on the day, the 34-year-old from nearby Nobleville, Indiana, made the most of a tow and propelled his #23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet to a flying lap of 225.394mph around the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
“Good to get back in the swing of things here," Daly said. "The team did a great job of preparing all winter for this day. It’s only Day 1 for us, but it was obviously a good day. Thankful to be working with Chevrolet again and also everyone at ARCO and Kingspan. It’s only Day 1, onto Day 2.”
Helio Castroneves started his quest for a record-seeking fifth Indy 500 off to a strong start, temporarily holding the top spot at 225.200mph before being bumped to second by Daly. Two-time Indy 500 champion Takuma Sato slotted third in his #75 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda with a best lap of 224.800.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner, was fourth (224.564mph). Alexander Rossi, winner of the 2016 edition of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” was fifth (224.367mph) in the #20 ECR Chevrolet.
Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean logged 76 laps, most during the afternoon session, with his best run of 224.307mph enough to end up sixth; a welcomed result following the morning’s running when he hit a bird.
Jack “Hollywood” Harvey, driving the #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet, was fastest in the no-tow speeds list at 220.318mph. The #27 Andretti Global Honda of Kyle Kirkwood was second at 220.273mph, followed by Castroneves third at 219.656mph.
The furious final hour of running that set ablaze to the timesheets was halted briefly after Christian Rasmussen stopped on the inside backstretch after a suspected loose left-rear to his #21 ECR Chevrolet before being towed back to pit lane.
With just over an hour to go, Dale Coyne Racing rookie Dennis Hauger was able to successfully complete his rookie orientation. He only needed to finish Phase 3 following the two-hour rookie and refresher session that was set in the middle of the day.
A mechanical issue interrupted Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Sting Ray Robb from getting much on-track running on the day, but was able to get back out on track near the end of the afternoon session and log 17 important laps.
Katherine Legge, who was announced on Monday in a #11 Chevrolet jointly entered by HMD Motorsports and AJ Foyt Racing, was unable to get any running after clutch and transponder issue derailed her on-track refresher session.
The morning session
The morning’s two-hour session, which excluded rookies and veterans doing a refresher program, was led by two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden, who delivered a best lap of 223.415mph in the #2 Team Penske Chevrolet. Sato was second with a speed of 222.850mph. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was third at 221.842mph.
Felix Rosenqvist, driving the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, was the fastest of the no-tow speeds in the morning with a lap of 219.196mph.
Rossi was second on the no-tow lists by a narrow 0.0042s. Daly ended up third at 0.0067s behind in the #23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpon logged the most laps in the session (37), followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin (31), and Newgarden (29).
