The start of the test was delayed 90mins due to rain, but when the two-hour session for the 24 veterans – including two rookies who completed their Rookie Orientation Program – it was Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda’s six-time IndyCar Series champion Dixon who clocked a 225.622mph lap.
The veteran Kiwi is embarking on preparations for his 20th attempt at the legendary Memorial Day Weekend race and was the only driver to crack the 40sec barrier, leading his rivals by 1.7mph.
His nearest pursuer was Scott McLaughlin, who opened the IndyCar season with a win at St. Petersburg, but arguably the most encouraging aspect of the session for Team Penske-Chevrolet squad is that McLaughlin and teammates Will Power (eighth overall) and Josef Newgarden (16th) sat 1-2-3 in the laps set without a tow. In addition, Power set the fastest Turn 1 and Turn 3 trap speeds.
Santino Ferrucci put Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevrolet into third, ahead of Romain Grosjean, the fastest of the Andretti Autosport-Honda drivers who completed his Rookie Orientation Program last fall.
Pato O’Ward was fifth for Arrow McLaren SP-Chevy, ahead of rookie and NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson in the Carvana-backed Ganassi car, who turned 37 laps.
He was followed closely by teammate and last year’s runner-up Alex Palou, who was marginally faster than three 500 winners – Power, Takuma Sato of Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda and defending winner Helio Castroneves of Meyer Shank Racing.
Aside from yellows for debris – including part of car wrap that came off Dalton Kellett’s AJ Foyt Racing-Chevy – the only incident of note was Alexander Rossi spinning his Andretti Autosport-Honda on the warm-up lane as he exited the pits for an installation lap. The car was undamaged but he flat-spotted his tires as he kept it off the inside wall while completing his 360deg gyration.
There eight-car Rookies and Refreshers program is now underway, featuring two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya in the third Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet, 2006 runner-up and 2020 polesitter Marco Andretti in the fifth Andretti Autosport-Honda, five full-time IndyCar rookies – David Malukas (Coyne), Kyle Kirkwood (Foyt), Devlin DeFrancesco (Andretti), Christian Lundgaard (Rahal Letterman Lanigan) and Callum Ilott (Juncos Hollinger) – and Sage Karam in the second Dreyer & Reinbold entry.
Following this two-hour session, the track will be open to all for a further three hours.
| P | # | Driver | Team-Engine | Fastest lap | Total |
| 1 | 9 | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda | 225.622 | 20 | |
| 2 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske-Chevrolet | 223.984 | 32 |
| 3 | 23 | Santino Ferrucci | Dreyer & Reinbold-Chevrolet | 223.053 | 20 |
| 4 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti Autosport-Honda | 222.727 | 9 |
| 5 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet | 222.660 | 38 |
| 6 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda | 222.255 | 37 |
| 7 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda | 222.096 | 25 |
| 8 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske-Chevrolet | 221.936 | 38 |
| 9 | 51 | Takuma Sato | Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR-Honda | 221.920 | 28 |
| 10 | 6 | Helio Castroneves | Meyer Shank Racing-Honda | 221.879 | 27 |
| 11 | 7 | Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet | 221.776 | 36 | |
| 12 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet | 221.501 | 43 |
| 13 | 11 | JR Hildebrand | AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet | 221.475 | 17 |
| 14 | 26 | Andretti Autosport-Honda | 221.260 | 7 | |
| 15 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport-Honda | 221.192 | 5 |
| 16 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske-Chevrolet | 221.131 | 32 |
| 17 | 33 | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet | 221.060 | 17 | |
| 18 | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing-Honda | 221.047 | 17 | |
| 19 | 20 | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet | 221.043 | 30 | |
| 20 | 8 | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda | 220.853 | 31 | |
| 21 | 1 | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda | 220.411 | 14 | |
| 22 | 21 | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet | 220.227 | 22 | |
| 23 | 15 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda | 219.831 | 37 | |
| 24 | 45 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda | 218.877 | 35 |
