Scott McLaughlin – Indianapolis 500 Practice – Photo by Joe Skibinski

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

The inherent risk/reward of warp speed in an open-wheel race car was on full display during Fast Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Paced by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin at 233.954 mph, drivers prepping for today’s opening rounds of qualifications for the 109^th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbrigde battled torrid track conditions and gusty winds during a frantic Fast Friday presented by Turtle Wax.

McLaughlin, the reigning Indy 500 pole-sitter, recorded the fastest lap of the day and week in the bright yellow No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet _ latest iteration of the famed “Yellow Submarine” driven to victory at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway by Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth, Texas, in 1980.

Meanwhile, second-year Indy 500 competitors Kyffin Simpson and Kyle Larson both walked away from grinding crashes during simulated runs for today’s PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying. A qualifying run consists of four laps/10 miles around the famed oval.

SEE: Practice Results | Qualifying Format | Qualifying Order

Speeds soared Friday with the twin-turbocharged Chevrolet and Honda V-6 engines that power the field allowed to produce approximately 100 more horsepower via increased boost levels _ a rules change that also will be in effect during the two days of qualifying.

“Good day for us in the ‘Yellow Submarine’ for Fast Friday,” said McLaughlin, a 31-year-old native of New Zealand. “Ran two runs in the morning, felt a little tight in the first one and then fixed the balance for the last and felt really, really good. So, trying different strategies with the hybrid, we got an idea what we want to do for (Saturday), for the big day. But yeah, really good to get four good laps in and yeah, put up a solid run.”

Air temperatures neared 90 degrees before thick clouds rolled into Central Indiana later in the afternoon. Firestone engineers measured a mid-afternoon track temperature of 138 degrees in Turn 1, the hottest asphalt registered since starting to monitor temperatures in each of the four turns in 2015. Steady winds between 10-20 mph, with higher gusts, increased the challenge for drivers dealing with lower-downforce qualifying setups.

McLaughlin’s fastest lap came with the benefit of an aerodynamic tow during the first five minutes of the six-hour session. But in the final 30 minutes of practice, 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon cranked-out the day’s second-fastest lap at 232.561 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda while running alone during a qualifying simulation. Dixon’s four-lap average that included his fastest lap was 232.561 mph _ fastest qualifying sim of the day.

“It was good,” said Dixon, a six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and native of New Zealand. “The first one (qualifying sim) was very conservative. We were very worried about conditions and obviously what had happened to (CGR teammate) Kyffin. Glad he’s OK.

“I think there’s still some good speed still left in the car. The car is really smooth and I’m pretty conservative, as well. So, we’ll see. Who knows what (Saturday) is going to bring? I think conditions are going to be pretty tough.”

Day 1 of PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying is booked from 11 a.m.-5:50 p.m. (EDT) today with broadcast coverage from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on FS1; 1:30-4 p.m. on FS2; 4-6 p.m. on FOX Sports and the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network. A one-hour practice session was scheduled to precede qualifying in two 30-minute groups.

Positions 13-30 in the starting field will be set Saturday, with the Last Row Shootout, Top-12 and Firestone Fast Six qualifying sessions Sunday afternoon to decide the remainder of the traditional 33-car starting grid.

Alex Palou, the three-time/reigning series champion and current point-leader, was third at 232.528 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. That lap was registered during a four-lap qualifying sim of 232.307 mph, second-fastest of the day. A 28-year-old native of Spain, Palou has won four of the first five races this season.

Palou began his Month of May with a dominant victory in Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the 2.439-mile/14-turn IMS Road-Course from pole position. While Palou has secured two consecutive championships, he has yet to win an INDYCAR oval-track race _ the only shiny object missing from Alex’s otherwise brilliant resume.

Palou is the first driver since Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais in 2006 to win four of the season’s first five races. Palou’s early-season report card features straight A’s _four victories (Streets of St. Pete, Thermal Club in California, Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., and the IMS Road-Course) and one second-place finish (Streets of Long Beach).

Palou’s average finish of 1.2 through five events is the best start to a season since INDYCAR icon A.J. Foyt Jr. won the first seven races of the 1964 schedule during the front-engine roadster era. “Super Tex” scored the second of his eventual record-setting four Indy 500s on May 30, 1964 in the No. 1 Sheraton-Thompson Watson/Offy.

Kyle Kirkwood _ whose victory on the Streets of Long Beach is the lone blemish on Palou’s early-season record _ gave notice of his NTT P1 Award ambitions with the fourth-fastest lap, 232.107 mph, during a late-day qualifying sim in the No. 28 Siemens Honda of Andretti Global. Colton Herta completed the top-five at 232.066 mph in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda also fielded by Andretti Global.

Two-time Indy 500 champion Takuma Sato was 12^th overall at 231.365 mph in the No. 75 AMADA Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato, a 48-year-old native of Tokyo, ran 16 laps.

“It was a quite challenging day with windy and hot conditions,” said Sato, who competed full-time for RLLR in 2012 and 2018-2021 and won the Indy 500 with in 2020. “We weren’t happy with the first few attempts in terms of the balance; we needed to get all the pieces together. Later in the day, I had the opportunity to try it out and ran four laps and the balance was a lot more improved.”

Sato started 10^th in his 15^th Indy 500 last May, and sixth with the team fronted by 1986 Indy 500 champion Bobby Rahal. “Taku” finished 14^th in last year’s race.

Two-time/reigning Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden stood 16^th overall at 231.033 mph after 11 laps in the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden will attempt to become the first driver to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” three consecutive years on Sunday, May 25.

Native Chicagoan David Malukas led the two-car contingent from Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in 20th at 230.749 mph after eight laps-completed in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet.

Four-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves was 21st overall at 230.643 mph after 20 laps in his one-off bid in the No. 06 Cleveland-Cliffs Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing. The popular Brazilian won the 2021 Indy 500 with MSR to join the exclusive Four-Timers Club featuring Houston native Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears. Castroneves, 50, won his first three Indy 500s with Team Penske.

“A good day. Very happy and the team did a great job to put everything together,” Castroneves said. “We did about three attempts, which is great. On the last one, the track improved a little bit but still we were able to reach the speed comfortably.  I like what we did in the last run because it’s probably going to set up for (Saturday’s) weather and that should be really good.”

Pato O’Ward, runnerup to Newgarden in the 108^th running of the race, placed 23rd at 230.441 mph after six laps in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “Short day for us today,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “The conditions are different than what it’s going to be like for qualifying. We just wanted to check on all the little details that we need to make sure we get right, and we’ll be ready to go out (Saturday).”

Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci remained mired in the bottom section of the speed chart for a third consecutive day, albeit at an improved 230.389 mph after 16 laps in the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet fielded by A.J. Foyt Racing. Ferrucci ranked 33^rd on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The tricky conditions bit Simpson and Larson in separate accidents. At 12:50 p.m., Simpson spun in Turn 4 and made hard left-side contact with the SAFER Barrier. His No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda briefly went airborne, landing on its left side. The car then did a quarter-roll back on its wheels, slid across the track and made secondary light contact with the inside pit wall.

Simpson, a 20-year-old native of the Cayman Islands, was uninjured. Ganassi officials later confirmed the team is switching to the backup car Simpson drove at the Indianapolis 500 Open Test last month.

At 4:29 p.m., 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson got loose in Turn 3 and did a three-quarter spin before making front-end contact with the SAFER Barrier. His No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet skidded down the track and made secondary rear contact in Turn 4.

Larson, 32, was uninjured. The damage to his car was repaired, and he re-entered the track in the final hour for a shakedown run to ensure the car was running properly.

“Thankfully the crash wasn’t too bad,” said Larson, who was voted 2024 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year after starting fifth and finishing 18th. “It’s just a bummer to spin and hurt the car again, but I think we’ll be fine. We wanted to come back out, make sure we were up to speed and see that the car was fine, and thankfully it was. We’re hoping for a better day (Saturday).”

Larson is again attempting to complete “The Double” of racing in the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., on Sunday, May 25.

Broadcast coverage of the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge will begin at 10 a.m. (EDT) on FOX Sports, FOX Deportes, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 248; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 151; 3, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 150; 4, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 148; 5, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 137; 6, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 134; 7, Will Power, Team Penske, 128; 8, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 125; 9, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 104; 10, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 100;

11, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 98; 12, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 96; 13, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 92; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 91; 15, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 73; 16, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 70; 17, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 66; 18, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 65; 19, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 63; 20, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 62;

21, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 58; 22, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 56; 23, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 49; 24, Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing, 47; 25, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 44; 26, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing, 32; 27, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 28.

FOX SPORTS’ 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST COVERAGE SCHEDULE

Sunday, March 2 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, March 23 _The Thermal Club, Thermal, Calif.  (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 13 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, May 4 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, May 10 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, May 25 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval (FOX, 10 a.m.)

Sunday, June 1 _ Streets of Detroit (FOX, 12:30 p.m.)

Sunday, June 15 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, June 22 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (FOX, 3:30 p.m.)

Sunday, July 6 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Saturday, July 12 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 1 (FOX, 5 p.m.)

Sunday, July 13 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 2 (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, July 20 _ Streets of Toronto, Canada (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, July 27 _ WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 10 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 24 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis. (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 31 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (2:30 p.m.)

NOTE _ All times Eastern. Dates and times subject to change.