Kanaan – who says he will retire after next Sunday’s race – lapped the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in 38.6223s, a speed of 233.026mph, in his Chevrolet-powered car.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou topped the four-lap average speeds – which is how qualifying is decided – at 232.713mph, after taking a new Honda engine overnight along with team-mate Scott Dixon.
The field was split in two for a pair of 30-minute sessions, with five cars running in the opener. They were topped by Kanaan at 233.026mph, ahead of team-mate Alexander Rossi on 232.904mph, whose four-lap run of 232.418mph was also just a tick slower than Kanaan’s 232.440mph.
“It’s a cold morning, the track was green, so it was good for us to run,” said Kanaan. “I wasn’t really happy yesterday and Rossi helped me out, and the goal today is to put it in the top 12.”
Palou, who ran in the second session, set the third quickest time overall at 232.823mph, after both he and Dixon encountered issues with their engines during final runs in Friday’s practice.
Dixon set 232.470mph, with a 231.742mph average, and even began a third four-lap run that he ran out of time to complete – turning 19 laps in total to place fifth.
Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood turned the fourth fastest speed overall at 232.518mph, putting him ahead of Dixon on the speed charts.
Colton Herta was sixth quickest at 232.355mph for Andretti Autosport, who admitted: “We were a little slower than we thought we’d be. It’s almost like we’re getting too much downforce in the cold conditions.”
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly was a disappointed seventh, ahead of Andretti’s Devlin DeFrancesco.
Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Callum Ilott drove his new chassis for the first time, which was used by team-mate Agustin Canapino in testing here, and he set the ninth fastest lap at 230.126mph.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Jack Harvey also lost a Honda motor on Friday and he turned eight laps, with a fastest speed of just 229.363mph to be slowest of the 10 cars that ran. “We had a very unfortunate end yesterday, and the goal was to check that the engine was all good,” he said.
Qualifying for the Indy 500 starts at 11am local time.
