Felix Rosenqvist – Indianapolis 500 Practice – Photo by Paul Hurley

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist emerged as first driver to top 233 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this week during the traditional “Fast Friday” practice leading into qualifying for the 110^th Indianapolis 500.

Rosenqvist turned his top lap in 38.5650-seconds/233.372 mph around the 2.5-mile oval late in a session  shortened from six hours to five after morning rain forced a two-hour delay to the start of on-track activity. Friday’s practice was the fourth and final session before PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

“We started pretty slow, to be honest,” said Rosenqvist, driver of the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian. “It’s kind of rare you’re able to crawl out of a hole like that. I think our first run was like a 230-something. We just found basically 3 mph. That’s kind of cool. The car felt pretty good.”

Rosenqvist’s hot lap _ the 28^th of 29 he completed _ came with the benefit of an aerodynamic tow. But he also was sixth-fastest on the “no-tow” list at 232.324 mph, validating that solo speed.

“Sometimes that happens, like once you find a little speed, it kind of comes,” said Rosenqvist, a 34-year-old native of Varnamo, Sweden, and one of three drivers competing for Ohio-based MSR. “It kind of starts flowing. The balance was really good.”

SEE: Practice Results | Qualifying Draw, Format

The fastest speed of the Month of May soared by more than 5 mph Friday as the twin-turbocharged Honda and Chevrolet V6 engines powering the field featured approximately 100 more horsepower due to increased boost levels. The added boost also will be available throughout qualifying this weekend.

Saturday morning’s pre-qualifying practice from 8:30-9:30 a.m. (EDT) was canceled due to wet weather. Qualifications are scheduled to run from 11 a.m.-5:50 p.m. (11 a.m.-2 p.m., FS2; 2-4 p.m., FS1; 4-6 p.m., FOX and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

Positions 16-33 for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” will be locked-in Saturday, with the 15 fastest cars advancing to the final rounds of qualifying Sunday to determine the NTT P1 Award winner and first five rows of the starting grid.

Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon of New Zealand will be the first driver in the qualifying line Saturday morning after his son, Kit, chose the coveted No. 1 coin in a blind draw after Friday’s practice. Dixon, who placed 12^th on Friday’s chart at 232.286 mph, completed a conservative 88 laps this week in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Alexander Rossi, winner of the landmark 2016 Indy 500 as a series rookie, was second-fast at 232.932 mph in the No. 20 Java House Chevrolet of Ed Carpenter Racing.

“We’ve run a lot this week,” said Rossi, a 34-year-old native of Nevada City, Calif., who logged 192 laps from Tuesday to Friday. “We must have done the most laps because I can promise you we are behind everyone on the amount of (Firestone Firehawk) tires we have, but that’s OK.

“It’s been such a variance in (weather and track temp) conditions, so really trying to put ourselves in all of the different scenarios. Race running in the hot. Q-sims in the hot. Race running in the cold. Q-sims in the cold.”

Rossi was third-fast on the qualifying simulated speed chart with a four-lap/10-mile average of 232.543 mph. “Our biggest issue last year in qualifying was we had quite a bit of fall-off from (Turns) 1 to 4,” said Rossi, whose ECR crew performed an engine change late Wednesday afternoon. “That was a big focus to try and figure that out without giving up too much of the pop on the first lap or two. So, we were pretty content with how that went.”

Rossi noted that Indy’s unpredictable spring weather will factor into every strategic decision from Saturday through Race Day.

“It’s obviously going to be condition-dependent and choosing the right package for those conditions,” Rossi said. “But that’s what much smarter people other than me, that’s what they are for. I can’t even put a sentence together today, so Lord knows I couldn’t choose a downforce level. Yeah, I think we’re in a good spot on the No. 20 side.

“Like, you look at Sunday’s weather for a week from Race Day, and like, it looks potentially kind of cool and overcast, but earlier in the week it was looking pretty warm. It’s just one of those months in Indianapolis where, you know, you get two or three days of consistency, and then it flips on its head.

“So just to be out there running so that you know what to expect when it comes, and you’re not surprised by anything.”

Scott McLaughlin, Indy 500 pole-winner in 2024, topped the chart for much of the session but ended up third at 232.674 mph in the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet _ successor to the famed “Yellow Submarine” Chaparral Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth, Texas, drove to his third Indy 500 victory in 1980 for car-owner Jim Hall of Midland, Texas.

“It’s better than going upside down. That was the last time I was here on this boost level,” said McLaughlin, a 32-year-old native of Christchurch, New Zealand. “I’m really proud of the execution. The Pennzoil Chevy was solid. The guys (teammates David Malukas and Josef Newgarden) ran before, so we sort of knew what the balance we needed to hit, so we got a really good test point there for the team.

“We’ll go back and scratch our heads a little bit more. It’s only going to get harder as the weekend goes on. It’s going to get hotter and with rain coming as well. We’ve got to make every run count, and I felt like that was my best run of the weekend. Really happy to do that at that boost level.”

In addition, “Scotty Mac” was fastest without aerodynamic help at 232.674 mph on a day in which he turned just seven laps to raise his week-long total to 108.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato of Japan was fourth at 232.655 mph in the No. 75 Amada Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

“I think in the end, it was a quite productive day and we learned quite a lot,” said “Taku,” a 49-year-old native of Tokyo. “We were able to try some items on our list including some experimental things as well and we gathered good data to look over tonight. Hopefully we put everything together for tomorrow.”

Sato competed for RLLR fulltime in 2012 and from 2018-2021, and won the Indy 500 with the organization founded by 1986 Indy champion Bobby Rahal in 2020.

Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson, the Indy 500 champ in 2022, completed the top-five via his best lap of 232.622 mph in the No. 28 Phoenix Investors Honda of Andretti Global.

Reigning Indy 500 champion Alex Palou was second-fastest solo and sixth overall at 232.532 mph after 30 laps in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou racked up 208 total laps this week in his bid to become a back-to-back Indy 500 champ. A 29-year-old native of Spain, Palou is the four-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion, winner of three of six events contested this season and leading the driver’s point race.

Palou is driving a different Honda-powered Dallara chassis than he wheeled during the Indy 500 Open Test on April 28-29 at IMS, as well as a different machine than the one he drove to his first career oval victory in last year’s Indy 500.

Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward was eighth Friday at 232.427 mph after 22 laps in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “We are ready for qualifying,” said O’Ward, a 27-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “Fast Friday went smoothly for us, so now we are down to the last little bit we can find in the car to put it together for this weekend.”

O’Ward, who is aiming to qualify for his seventh Indy 500, turned 164 practice laps during the week. Pato is a two-time Indy 500 runnerup who finished third in last May’s edition.

Rookie Caio Collet of Brazil continued to improve and impress throughout the week, leading the two-car, fulltime contingent from Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in 17^th at 232.026 mph after 32 laps in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazona Chevrolet. A 24-year-old native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, Collet completed 148 practice laps this week for the team founded by open-wheel legend A.J. Foyt Jr., 91, and the first four-time winner of the Indy 500.

Foyt teammate and Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci, 27, was 18th overall Friday at 231.997 mph after 20 laps in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet.

Two-time Indy 500 champ Josef Newgarden was 20th at 231.848 mph after 18 laps in the No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet. The back-to-back Indy 500 winner in 2023 and 2024, Newgarden is a 35-year-old native of Nashville, Tenn. Josef turned 116 practice laps this week.

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves was 22nd at 231.786 mph after 28 laps in the No. 06 Cleveland Cliffs Honda of Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian. The popular Brazilian, who turned 51 on Tuesday, finished the week with 92 practice laps in his one-off bid to become the race’s first five-time champion. Recall that “Spiderman” won his first three Indy 500s with Team Penske and his record-tying fourth with MSR in 2021.

Series rookie Mick Schumacher of Switzerland continued to prep for his second career oval-track race with a top speed of 230.749 mph after 40 laps in the No. 47 ENVE Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Schumacher ranked 32^nd on the 33-car speed chart.

“Fast Friday was all right,” said Schumacher, the 27-year-old son of seven-time Formula One World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher of Germany. “We learned a lot with the extra boost and got some good takeaways on what we need for tomorrow and hopefully we’ll put it all together.”

Katherine Legge of Great Britain was 33^rd Friday after a best lap of 229.357 in the No. 11 e.l.f. Cosmetics Chevrolet fielded by HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing. A 45-year-old native of Guildford, England, Legge logged a total of 228 practice laps this week as the lone woman entered in the Indy 500.

Rosenqvist _ who along with wife, Emille, welcomed their first child on May 4 _ also was fastest among drivers in simulated four-lap/10-mile qualifying attempts at 232.828 mph.

McLaughlin posted the second-fastest qualifying sim during his paltry seven laps on track with a four-lap average of 232.572 mph.

An incident-free week of practice continued as all 33 drivers combined to turn 836 laps, the lowest total of the event due to the shortened session and teams focusing on their qualifying simulations. Jack Harvey of Great Britain was the day’s busiest driver, recording 42 laps in the No. 24 DRR INVST Chevrolet of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

The 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled for Sunday, May 24 (10 a.m. EDT, FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

IMS’ massive grandstands have been sold-out for Race Day. Fans can visit IMS.com and check IMS social media feeds for updates on all ticketing-related information on remaining Race Weekend experiences.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 237; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 210; 3, David Malukas, Team Penske, 185; 4, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 182; 5, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 162; 6, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 148; 7, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 148; 8, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 141; 9, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 141; 10, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 123;

11, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 116; 12, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 112; 13, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 110; 14, Will Power, Andretti Global, 107; 15, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 100; 16, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 94; 17, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 93; 18, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 90; 19, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 86; 20, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 76;

21, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 70; 22, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 69; 23, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 65; 24, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 55; 25, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 54.

FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE/(RACE WINNER)

Note _ All times Eastern

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, May 24 _ 110^th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, 10 a.m.

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., 9 p.m.

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m.

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., TBA

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, 4 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon

Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBA

Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.

Note _ Dates and times subject to change.

2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE/(RACE-WINNER)

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)

Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)

Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1 (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2 (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill.

Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2

Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn.

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.

Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2