By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward drove to the top of Thursday’s speed chart during Day 3 of practice for the 108^th Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the forecast for more rain loomed over the pivotal “Fast Friday” session.

Pato O’Ward – Indianapolis 500 Practice – Photo by Chris Owens

O’Ward led the overall chart at 228.861 mph in his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, a lap turned with the help of an aerodynamic two from leading cars around the famed 2.5-mile oval. Meanwhile, Colton Herta led the “no-tow” speeds in fourth at 226.828 mph in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. While that lap _ like all of the top-five drivers of the day _ was recorded with the help of a tow, Herta was fastest when running alone in a qualifying simulation at 224.182 mph.

“We got a really fat tow-lap on the board, which was unexpected,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “I’m happy with my car. We did race runs. We did qualifying runs. Obviously, it doesn’t necessarily translate perfectly to when the boosts come up just because the speed is so different. But if it does rain-out (today), at least we got a bit of a feeling of what the car is tending to want to do on a bit more trim level.”

Weather-permitting, speeds will jump dramatically during the “Fast Friday” practice scheduled from noon-6 p.m. (EDT). The twin-turbocharged Honda and Chevrolet V-6 engines powering the field will get a bump from 1.3 bar to 1.5, adding approximately 100 horsepower that also will be available during PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying on Saturday and Sunday. This weekend’s four-lap/10-mile qualifying runs will determine the 33-car field that will compete in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Sunday, May 26. Broadcast coverage will start at 11 a.m. on NBC, Peacock, Universo and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

O’Ward confirmed the extra boost definitely adds to the “pucker-factor” inside the cockpit.

Pato O’Ward – Indianapolis 500 Practice – Chris Owens

“Yeah, I mean, everything just gets _ you feel the difference,” said O’Ward, who logged 56 laps in preparation for his fifth Indy 500 start. “I think the biggest thing is there’s so much more speed that you’re carrying through the corner. Front right (Firestone Firehawk tire) takes a bit more of a beating, and whenever it does decide not to give you that peak grip from Lap 1 to Lap 4, that wall comes fast _ really, really fast.

“You can hear the engine. You can hear the different pitch of the engine that it’s producing. It’s freaking bad-ass.”

Native New Zealander Scott McLaughlin, fastest Wednesday at 229.493 mph, was second Thursday at 227.316 mph in the No. 3 Pennzoil “Yellow Submarine” Team Penske Chevrolet. Two-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou of Spain placed third at 226.915 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden completed the top-five at 226.684 mph in the No. 2 Shell Powering Progress Team Penske Chevrolet.

Thursday’s eight-hour session was halted for 68 minutes late in the afternoon and ended 13 minutes early due to rain, the third consecutive day precipitation hampered practice. In between raindrops, all 34 drivers alternated focus between honing car setups for four laps of qualifying and the 200-lap race, combining to turn 1,896 laps.

O’Ward said he will not waste any energy speculating on the forecast. “If it rains, it rains. If it doesn’t rain, it doesn’t rain,” O’Ward said. “I’m enjoying the process either way. It’s really cool to be a part of it, and I feel like every year it goes on, you really get to kind of see what it is to Indianapolis and what it is to the INDYCAR community.

Pato O’Ward – Indianapolis 500 Practice – Photo by Chris Jones | IMS Photo

“I mean, if it rains, I’ll just go to my bus. I had a lot of hours at the bus (Wednesday). But when we’ve actually had some time on the track, it’s been pretty intense.”

If Friday’s session does wash-out, O’Ward said every driver is going to need to get a few runs in with the added boost before attempting to qualify. Such a decision would rest with the stewards of sanctioning body INDYCAR.

“The car just goes to a different dimension with the boost,” said O’Ward, who finished second to Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson in the 106^th running of the race in 2022. “It’s really almost incomparable to what it is now. Right now you try and ‘pepper-it-in’ as good as you can, but you’re going way faster. It’s a lot more downforce, but you’re also trimming more. It’s a very different…yeah, very different car at that point.

“I think everybody would like to get at least two outings, I would say. Problem around here is that there’s 34 cars and if there’s another car on-track, you’re getting towed, no matter how far back you are. You try and have maybe two, maybe three cars on-track at the same time, nicely spaced-out, but sometimes you just can’t time it, or people obviously will put their program in front of yours. But as long as we can get a read of what it’s like.”

Scott Dixon – Indianapolis 500 Practice – Photo by Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo

Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, a native of New Zealand and winner of the 2008 Indy 500, was 10^th Thursday at 225.636 mph. Dixon led Tuesday’s Opening Day session at 229.107 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. That session ended after just 23 minutes due to heavy rain.

Four-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves recorded 53 laps Thursday with a top speed of 225.056 mph in his new-look No. 06 Cleveland-Cliffs Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing with Curb- Agajanian. The popular Brazilian’s “no-tow” speed was 222.852 mph.

“I felt that we had a productive day,” said Castroneves, who has recorded 81 total laps in his one-off “Drive for 5” at IMS with MSR. “We tested a few things that were brand new for us, though we still have a little bit more to do. We did a few race simulations, now we’ll go analyze to see if the setup from yesterday or today is the best option for Monday’s race test _ and Friday we’ll convert everything to qualifying.” 

Indy 500 rookie Kyle Larson struggled through his session after an engine change in the No. 17 Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, was 25^th overall at 222.805 mph after running 18 laps that bumped his week-long total to only 29 circuits.

“The day didn’t go as we hoped,” Larson said in a bit of understatement. “When we wanted to do runs in a pack, there were no packs on the track. When we wanted to do single-car runs, cars would pull out in front of me. It was frustrating.”

Kyle Larson – Indianapolis 500 Practice – Photo by Paul Hurley

That sentiment was echoed by Brian Campe, technical director at Hendrick Motorsports and Larson’s race strategist.

“I think we’re probably a run or two behind from where we want to be,” Campe said. “You know, it happens. We had the unfortunate changing of an engine, but the reliability and power are most important. Chevrolet, we didn’t want to ruin a day by having an engine change in the middle of the session, so it was the best thing for us to do and it’s just part of the ‘Month of May.’ Things come you don’t expect, and you just adjust.

“We’re prepared. Kyle is just working through all of the procedures for qualifying. We’ve got a lot of those boxes ticked there. Kind of got bit by some traffic and then by the rain, so we haven’t got a full qualifying sim in but we’re trying to check as many boxes as we can. We’re focused on making the best qualifying effort with the weather. Not sure what’s going to happen the next two days. We’re just really focused on that.”

The versatile Larson is planning to complete “The Double” of competing in the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26.

There were two caution periods Thursday for separate crashes _ first contact of the “Month of May” _ involving rookie Linus Lundqvist and fellow-Swede Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 champ. Neither driver was injured.

At 11:30 a.m., Lundqvist’s No. 8 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda slid through Turn 2, making contact with the SAFER Barrier with the right rear wheel. The car then made light secondary contact with the inside wall on the backstretch. Lundqvist’s machine suffered significant damage and was taken back to its Gasoline Alley garage. Lundqvist emerged as fastest rookie of the day despite his crash, as his best lap of 226.261 mph was seventh overall.

At 3:49 p.m., Ericsson’s No. 28 Delaware Life Honda fielded by Andretti Global spun in Turn 4 and hit the SAFER Barrier, continuing to spin and making contact with the inside barrier and then hitting the pit lane attenuator. The car suffered heavy damage, Ericsson turned no more laps and the team confirmed it will move to a backup Dallara chassis.

Eddie Gossage, the first president and general manager of Texas Motor Speedway, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 65. Photo courtesy of TMS Media Relations

The INDYCAR community has sent condolences to the family of Eddie Gossage, first president and general manager of Texas Motor Speedway, following his death at age 65 on Wednesday, May 16.

Gossage was among the first track executives to align with former Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George and his fledgling Indy Racing League during its battle for control of open-wheel racing with the established Championship Auto Racing Teams in the summer of 1996.

TMS staged its first open-wheel race on June, 7 1997 under the lights on TMS’ 1.5-mile quadoval in Fort Worth. Billed as “America’s Original Nighttime Indy-car Race,” the True Value 500k was another Gossage-inspired promotion that became an instant success with competitors and fans.

“Eddie Gossage was a giant in the motorsports industry,” INDYCAR President Jay Frye said in a statement from Indianapolis. “His endless creativity, flair and dedication to the fan experience at Texas Motor Speedway raised the bar for racetracks across America.

“Eddie was a phenomenal supporter of the NTT IndyCar Series. Our races at TMS always were among the most highly anticipated weekends on the schedule, both for the incredible on-track action and the memorable promotions Eddie turned from ideas into reality. Eddie will be missed, and we extend our sympathies to his family and friends.”