Newgarden Fastest as Teams Switch Focus to Race Setups

The drivers in this year’s 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil got a taste for the race in today’s practice session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

All 33 entries turned laps in the 3.5-hour session scheduled to take place at the same time of day as the historic race on May 29. Josef Newgarden, who will start Sunday's race from the middle of Row 1 in the No. 21 Preferred Freezer Chevrolet, clocked the fastest lap of the day, 227.414 mph, as teams spent the bulk of the session running in packs to gain a greater understanding how their cars will perform on ace race day.

View Practice Results; Combined Practice Results

A pair of teammates who have both won the Indianapolis 500 in the past followed Newgarden on the speed chart. Tony Kanaan, the 2013 race winner, put the No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy in second on the day at 226.393 mph. Scott Dixon, in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy, was third at 226.339.

Twenty-one-year-old Sage Karam was fourth on the list at 226.045 in the No. 24 Gas Monkey Energy Chevrolet, just ahead of Pippa Mann, the fastest Honda of the day at 225.833 in the No. 63 Susan G. Komen entry.

A total of 2,886 laps were completed, the most of any day since the track opened May 16 in a session that was 2.5 hours shorter than most other days. Nine drivers ran more than 100 laps each, led by Carlos Munoz (No. 26 United Fiber & Data Honda) and Max Chilton (No. 8 Gallagher Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet) with 117 apiece.

The 100th Indianapolis 500 is the sixth of 16 races on the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule. A final one-hour practice is set for Friday on the traditional Miller Lite Carb Day. Coverage of the epic race begins at 11 a.m. ET Sunday on ABC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.