Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was the fastest of 28 NTT IndyCar Series drivers in attendance for Sunday’s PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The New Zealander turned a lap of 223.747mph in the No. 3 Chevy and had Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward close behind in the No. 5 Chevy (223.518mph) and McLaren’s Alexander Rossi in tow with the No. 7 Chevy (223.468mph) to give the Bowtie a 1-2-3 for the session. Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta was the first Honda-powered driver in fourth with the No. 26 entry (223.318mph).
Teams worked through all manner of aerodynamic setup changes during the cool 8-9am outing which began with ambient temperatures just over 50 degrees.
“We’ll get a better feel for the additional downforce in the second practice,” McLaughlin told RACER after the caution-free session. “We tried different things, and you got an idea for things, but it will be better later in the day when it’s warmer to tell what all we have.”
With Team Penske, Arrow McLaren, and Andretti Autosport drivers positioned at the top of the speed chart, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing got off to a slow start as all three of its entries finished practice holding the three slowest laps.
UP NEXT: Qualifying, 12:15 ET