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David Malsher-Lopez

Indy 500: Carpenter, Dixon head last practice before qualifying

The air at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was dense and relatively still this morning, vastly different from yesterday’s hot and gusty conditions, and the speeds reflected this as drivers attempted four-lap qualifying simulation runs.

In Group 1, Jimmie Johnson turned the fastest lap with the aid of a tow, a 233.961mph, and turned a 233.7 four-lap average. However, in the no-tow speed charts, Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet’s Rinus VeeKay produced a 233.206 and Santino Ferrucci’s Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevy turned a 232.781.

Two of the Andretti Autosport-Hondas, those of Colton Herta and Marco Andretti, looked too well planted, suggesting too much drag, although Herta was still able to produce third fastest lap in the Group with a 231.911 effort.

When Group 2 headed out there, three-time Indy polesitter Ed Carpenter produced a 234.410 lap but it was with the aid of a tow. How misleading a lap with a tow can be was illustrated in Group 1 by the Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevy of Callum Ilott, who turned a 233.308 with the aid of a draft but a still-impressive 231.505mph without it.

Both Scott Dixon and Alex Palou looked strong, the former turning a 234.093mph (with a tow) and the latter producing 232.415 without assistance.

Then Alexander Rossi ran a 233.295, 232.685, 232.464 and 231.616, all without a tow. That first lap was the fastest no-tow lap of the session… until Dixon went for a second run. His 233.340mph opener started a strong four-lap average of 232.875mph, the best without the aid of a tow.

Graham Rahal twice had to abort his runs with vibration issues.

The Team Penske-Chevrolet trio were among those who didn’t bother coming out, since they are low down the qualifying order, so current track conditions were unrepresentative of what they will encounter.

Qualifying runs start at 11.00 local (Eastern) time.

P

No

Name

FTime

Diff

FSpeed

Engine

Team

1

33

Ed Carpenter

38.3943

38.3943

234.410

Chevy

Ed Carpenter Racing

2

9

Scott Dixon

38.4463

0.0520

234.093

Honda

Chip Ganassi Racing

3

48

Jimmie Johnson

38.4680

0.0737

233.961

Honda

Chip Ganassi Racing

4

10

Alex Palou

38.5053

0.1110

233.734

Honda

Chip Ganassi Racing

5

77

Callum Ilott

38.5756

0.1813

233.308

Chevy

Juncos Hollinger Racing

6

27

Alexander Rossi

38.5778

0.1835

233.295

Honda

Andretti Autosport

7

98

Marco Andretti

38.5833

0.1890

233.262

Honda

Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco & Curb

8

21

Rinus VeeKay

38.5925

0.1982

233.206

Chevy

Ed Carpenter Racing

9

8

Marcus Ericsson

38.6291

0.2348

232.985

Honda

Chip Ganassi Racing

10

28

Romain Grosjean

38.6623

0.2680

232.785

Honda

Andretti Autosport

11

23

Santino Ferrucci

38.6662

0.2719

232.761

Chevy

Dreyer & Reinbold

12

20

Conor Daly

38.6792

0.2849

232.683

Chevy

Ed Carpenter Racing

13

11

JR Hildebrand

38.7095

0.3152

232.501

Chevy

AJ Foyt Enterprises

14

26

Colton Herta

38.7590

0.3647

232.204

Honda

Andretti Autosport

15

30

Christian Lundgaard

38.8514

0.4571

231.652

Honda

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

16

60

Simon Pagenaud

38.9068

0.5125

231.322

Honda

Meyer Shank Racing

17

45

Jack Harvey

38.9260

0.5317

231.208

Honda

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

18

29

Devlin DeFrancesco

38.9289

0.5346

231.191

Honda

Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport

19

06

Helio Castroneves

38.9321

0.5378

231.172

Honda

Meyer Shank Racing

20

15

Graham Rahal

38.9477

0.5534

231.079

Honda

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

21

4

Dalton Kellett

38.9625

0.5682

230.991

Chevy

AJ Foyt Enterprises

22

14

Kyle Kirkwood

39.0206

0.6263

230.647

Chevy

AJ Foyt Enterprises

23

25

Stefan Wilson

39.1636

0.7693

229.805

Chevy

DragonSpeed/Cusick Motorsports

 

Qualifying order for initial runs, Day 1

Q Driver Car name Team-Engine
1 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet
2 Rinus VeeKay Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet
3 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet
4 Felix Rosenqvist Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet
5 Romain Grosjean DHL Andretti Autosport-Honda
6 Jimmie Johnson Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda
7 Devlin DeFrancesco PowerTap Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport-Honda
8 JR Hildebrand Homes For Our Troops / AJ Foyt Racing AJ Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet
9 Juan Pablo Montoya Arrow McLaren SP Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet
10 Takuma Sato Nurtec ODT Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda
11 Marco Andretti KULR Technology / Curb Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco & Curb
12 Graham Rahal United Rentals Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda
13 Tony Kanaan The American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda
14 David Malukas HMD Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports-Honda
15 Santino Ferrucci Palermo's DRR Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevrolet
16 Colton Herta Gainbridge Andretti Autosport w/Curb Agajanian-Honda
17 Stefan Wilson DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports DragonSpeed / Cusick Motorsports-Chevrolet
18 Scott Dixon PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda
19 Alex Palou NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda
20 Conor Daly BitNile Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet
21 Helio Castroneves AutoNation / SiriusXM Meyer Shank Racing-Honda
22 Scott McLaughlin Pennzoil Team Penske Team Penske-Chevrolet
23 Ed Carpenter Alzamend Neuro Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet
24 Alexander Rossi NAPA Auto Parts / AutoNation Andretti Autosport-Honda
25 Marcus Ericsson Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda
26 Jack Harvey AutoNation / SiriusXM Meyer Shank Racing-Honda
27 Sage Karam AES Indiana DRR Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevrolet
28 Josef Newgarden Shell Team Penske Team Penske-Chevrolet
29 Christian Lundgaard Shield Cleansers Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda
30 Simon Pagenaud AutoNation / SiriusXM Meyer Shank Racing-Honda
31 Kyle Kirkwood ROKiT / AJ Foyt Racing A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet
32 Will Power Verizon Team Penske Team Penske-Chevrolet
33 Dalton Kellett K-Line / AJ Foyt Racing A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet
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