Indy 500: Newgarden paces intense post-qualifying practice at 226.238mph

The defending race winner of the Indy 500, Newgarden served up a flying lap of 226.238mph in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet to edge out Andretti Global’s Colton Herta by 0.0028s.

“The team's done a great job,” said Newgarden. “I love this place. We're going to see how things shake up because you got to be ready for everything.”

Herta, who was routinely in the mix and moved through the field on multiple occasions, was on top of the leaderboard during the early part of the session. He logged 96 laps, the fourth-most on the day.

“I think we’re there,” Herta said. “I feel really, really happy with the car at the moment.”

The No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet of Will Power, the 2018 Indy 500 winner, ended up third, 0.0177s behind team-mate Newgarden.

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino wrapped up the session in fourth, ahead of Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward in fifth.

Rookie Christian Rasmussen was sixth, logging 100 laps in the No.33 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet with a best of 225.718mph (0.0916s behind Newgarden).

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images)

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner, was seventh. The No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Romain Grosjean was eighth, ahead of Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi in ninth.

Marco Andretti rounded out the final spot of the top 10, putting the No. 98 Andretti Herta Honda 0.1825s off the pace set by Newgarden.

Although it was a good day on the timesheets, Newgarden had a close call after hitting the curbing in Turn 2 with 30 minutes left.

The No. 28 Andretti Global Honda of Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 champion, and Conor Daly’s Dreyer & Reinbold Chevrolet had a near-miss on pit lane in the final 25 minutes.

Daly was released and almost collided with Ericsson, who was sliding into his pit box. As a result, Daly was handed a drive-thru penalty for an unsafe pit lane release.

Rookie Tom Blomqvist logged a session-most 106 laps but spun exiting his pit box in the final 11 minutes. He ended up 16th on the timesheets at 0.2906s behind the top mark.

There was a caution flag thrown at the halfway point for a track inspection, which put a temporary halt on the on-track action that featured some wild moments of three-wide running and plenty of overtaking moves in preparation for Sunday’s big race.

Main Information Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information
Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	J. Newgarden Team Penske	2	89	39.7811		226.238
2	C. Herta Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian	26	96	+0.0028 39.7839	0.0028	226.222
3	W. Power Team Penske	12	89	+0.0177 39.7988	0.0149	226.137
4	A. Canapino Juncos Hollinger Racing	78	69	+0.0866 39.8677	0.0689	225.747
5	P. O'Ward Arrow McLaren	5	70	+0.0882 39.8693	0.0016	225.738
6	C. Rasmussen Ed Carpenter Racing	33	100	+0.0916 39.8727	0.0034	225.718
7	S. Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing	9	66	+0.1274 39.9085	0.0358	225.516
8	R. Grosjean Juncos Hollinger Racing	77	91	+0.1289 39.9100	0.0015	225.507
9	A. Rossi Arrow McLaren	7	92	+0.1397 39.9208	0.0108	225.446
10	M. Andretti Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco & Curb-Agajani	98	92	+0.1825 39.9636	0.0428	225.205
11	G. Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	15	86	+0.1870 39.9681	0.0045	225.180
12	R. Hunter-Reay Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports	23	75	+0.2100 39.9911	0.0230	225.050
13	H. Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	06	75	+0.2183 39.9994	0.0083	225.003
14	C. Daly Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports	24	55	+0.2328 40.0139	0.0145	224.922
15	S. Ferrucci A.J. Foyt Enterprises	14	95	+0.2505 40.0316	0.0177	224.822
16	T. Blomqvist Meyer Shank Racing	66	106	+0.2902 40.0713	0.0397	224.600
17	T. Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	75	61	+0.2960 40.0771	0.0058	224.567
18	C. Ilott Arrow McLaren	6	85	+0.3225 40.1036	0.0265	224.419
19	A. Palou Chip Ganassi Racing	10	79	+0.3383 40.1194	0.0158	224.330
20	C. Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	45	75	+0.3689 40.1500	0.0306	224.159
21	S. McLaughlin Team Penske	3	77	+0.3920 40.1731	0.0231	224.031
22	F. Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing	60	99	+0.4256 40.2067	0.0336	223.843
23	L. Lundqvist Chip Ganassi Racing	8	83	+0.4258 40.2069	0.0002	223.842
24	K. Kirkwood Andretti Global	27	95	+0.4300 40.2111	0.0042	223.819
25	M. Ericsson Andretti Global	28	77	+0.4588 40.2399	0.0288	223.659
26	P. Fittipaldi Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	30	88	+0.4921 40.2732	0.0333	223.474
27	K. Simpson Chip Ganassi Racing	4	57	+0.5167 40.2978	0.0246	223.337
28	K. Larson Arrow McLaren/Rick Hendrick	17	70	+0.5212 40.3023	0.0045	223.312
29	R. van Kalmthout Ed Carpenter Racing	21	81	+0.5730 40.3541	0.0518	223.026
30	M. Armstrong Chip Ganassi Racing	11	89	+0.5893 40.3704	0.0163	222.936
31	R. Robb A.J. Foyt Enterprises	41	64	+0.6037 40.3848	0.0144	222.856
32	E. Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing	20	71	+0.6339 40.4150	0.0302	222.690
33	K. Legge Dale Coyne Racing	51	58	+0.7411 40.5222	0.1072	222.100
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