On Carburetion Day, better known as Carb Day, at the Indianapolis 500 on Friday, the fastest car perhaps fittingly belonged to the two-time defending champion.
Josef Newgarden led the final practice before the fabled race with a top lap of 225.687 mph.
“Good final run here,” Newgarden told reporters at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Excited to check the car off again and work with the team. I’m really excited for Sunday. The main show. Everything we work for.”
The American is trying to become the first driver in the sport’s history to win three straight Indianapolis 500s. Setting Newgarden back, Team Penske was penalized during qualifying when Newgarden and teammate Will Power had illegal modified attenuators on their cars.
Newgarden will start No. 32 out of 33 cars in the field Sunday. No driver has ever started farther back than 28th in an Indy 500 field and went on to win.
–Ryan Hunter-Reay’s No. 23 Chevrolet caught fire during practice, and his Dreyer & Reinbold Racing team will have to rebuild his car in time for Sunday.
Hunter-Reay said on the Fox broadcast that he felt a cold liquid on his left side and his engine began to smoke as he exited pit lane. He wiggled out through the window just in time.
“I looked like Ace Ventura trying to get out of the rhino,” Hunter-Reay quipped.
Graham Rahal also encountered some smoke, as a mechanical failure forced him to pull over during practice. His car will need a new engine for Sunday.
–Kyle Larson got in one last day of prep work at IMS as he readies himself to attempt “the Double” — completing the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte in the same day.
“I think (IndyCar is) a little different than NASCAR with the drafting and not knowing what people’s objectives really were, but it doesn’t hurt (to be fast in multi-lap runs),” Larson said Friday, per NASCAR Wire Service. “I feel good about my balance, so yeah, I feel like we’re pretty decent. There are a couple guys that are really good also, but I feel like things feel good.”
Larson set out to achieve the Double last year, but rain affected both races and he wound up unable to complete a lap at the Coca-Cola 600.
Larson will drive the No. 17 McLaren Arrow Chevrolet in Indianapolis and will start on the seventh row of the grid.
“I would prefer to start further forward, but I think you’ve just got to be smartly aggressive and patient all at the same time back when you start beyond the first few rows,” Larson said. “I think our car handles good in the pack so just got to be smart about it. You can’t be too aggressive because if you try to push too much and get tightness and have to lift then you’re going to give up a spot potentially. Just got to watch out when you make your moves.”
–Casey Irsay Foyt, daughter of the late Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, was named the honorary starter for the Indianapolis 500.
Jim Irsay died Wednesday at 65 years old. He had been the primary owner of the Colts since 1997, when his father Robert Irsay passed away.
Now Irsay Foyt represents the third generation of her family to control the team. She is married to former IndyCar driver A.J. Foyt IV.
“As Indianapolis prepares for a special weekend that showcases our city’s unmatched ability to successfully host massive global sporting events, it’s incredibly appropriate and especially meaningful to celebrate Jim’s contributions to our city and state,” Penske Entertainment President and CEO Mark Miles said in a statement. “Put simply, the Indianapolis we know and love would not be remotely possible without Jim.”
–Field Level Media
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