Five drivers ventured out for the first of two 30-minute practice sessions on Saturday morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in an effort to prepare for the first round of qualifying where the fastest 30 of the 34 cars entered will earn starting positions in the Indy 500.
Of the five, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Jack Harvey were putting fresh engines to work after issues late in Friday’s practice session made motor changes necessary. Arrow McLaren’s Tony Kanaan was fastest of the five, posting a 233.026mph lap with the No. 66 Chevy in cool conditions which made for thicker air that added unwanted downforce to the cars.
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Teammate Alexander Rossi was close behind with a 232.904mph lap in the No. 7 Chevy, and Dixon, who made multiple qualifying simulation runs, was third at 232.470mph in the No. 9 Honda. Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta was fourth in the No. 26 Honda with a 232.355mph lap and Harvey was well shy in the No. 30 Honda at 229.363mph.
Firing out for the second 30-minute session where the other half of the field was welcome to run, five more drivers took to the 2.5-mile oval led by CGR’s Alex Palou who posted the fastest lap of his group with a 232.823mph run. Andretti’s Kyle Kirkwood was next with a 232.615mph in his No. 27 Honda, followed by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly who produced a 231.438mph lap in the No. 20 Chevy.
Andretti’s Devlin DeFrancesco was good for a 230.653mph lap in the No. 29 Honda and the beleaguered Juncos Hollinger Racing team got Callum Ilott out on a new No. 77 Chevy chassis and found some of their missing speed – worthy of a 230.126mph – to place ninth of the 10 drivers, just ahead of Harvey.
UP NEXT: Qualifying, 11am ET, on NBC and Peacock.
