Daly raises the speed bar during Day 2 of practice for the 110th Indianapolis 500
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Speeds soared Wednesday during Day 2 of practice for the 110th Indianapolis 500, with open-wheel journeyman Conor Daly emerging as the fastest of two drivers cracking the 228 mph-barrier at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Daly continued his strong start to the Month of May by posting the fastest speed of the two days of practice _ 228.080 mph _ in the No. 23 DRR Kingspan Chevrolet fielded by Indy 500-only team Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Daly was third-fastest on Opening Day on Tuesday at 225.838 mph. Daly turned his top lap Wednesday in thick traffic, benefitting from an aerodynamic tow slightly over an hour into the six-hour session.
SEE: Practice Results
Conditions were ideal for speed on the 2.5-mile oval, with air temperatures in the mid-60s and partly cloudy skies. “Feeling great, but we weren’t even flat on that lap,” said Daly, a 34-year-old native of Noblesville, Ind. “The Kingspan ARCO Chevy feels pretty good. Honestly, it was very exciting out there, too. I saw more side-by-side racing on that run than I’ve seen in practice for a long time.”
Reigning Indy 500 winner Alex Palou, Tuesday’s fastest driver at 225.937 mph, was second Wednesday at 228.026 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou, a 29-year-old native of Spain, is the four-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion.
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.
David Malukas was third at 227.139 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, jumping from 10th Tuesday in his Speedway debut for car-owner Roger S. Penske.
Series veteran Graham Rahal continued to post consistent speed, placing fourth at 226.835 mph in the No. 15 United Rentals Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Rahal ranked sixth on the chart on Tuesday.
“Overall it was a good day,” said Rahal, a 37-year-old native of New Albany, Ohio. “The car has pretty good speed. In the race running, we’ve got to get the car better for sure. I didn’t feel very strong there, but I don’t think I would have been able to do that last year no matter how hard I tried. And I didn’t frankly try very hard today. Overall, I’m pleased with the gains that we made, but we’ve just got to wait and see.”
Rahal, son of team-founder and 1986 Indy 500 champion Bobby Rahal, is bidding to make his 19th start in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Sunday, May 24.
Frenchman Romain Grosjean completed the top-five at 226.591 mph in the No. 18 Bmax.IO Honda of Dale Coyne Racing. A former Formula One regular, Grosjean was ninth on the chart Tuesday.
Daly, who recorded 89 laps Wednesday, is chasing his 13th Indy 500 start after posting a best finish of sixth in 2022. “Yeah, I mean, we’re going to prioritize more single-car running probably Thursday once we get closer to Fast Friday,” Daly said. “Honestly, I have a really good teammate in Jack Harvey, who did a lot of single-car running already, so we can use a lot of that information as well. Then I’ve been doing a lot of race running just to help the team on that side also.”
Daly said his result from last month’s Open Test and the initial two days of practice this week have boosted his confidence level in the offseason work put in by Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
“I think these guys have come a completely full step forward from where I was in ’24,” Daly said. “We still had a really good race car in ’24. The car is fast, and that’s some of the hardest things to get out of the car is just raw speed. It just feels good. We’re able to kind of do a lot with it. We can start deep in the pack and kind of mess around with some good cars and do some overtaking. But, yeah, I’m so impressed with what they do, honestly.
“If you can stay focused during the offseason and use all those months to dial-in your package here to be as fast as we’ve been in the first three days in this car…I mean, it’s a great sign for anyone who wants to show up to try to compete at this race if you’re fulltime or not.
“All of the time we get on track helps us just continue to get loose. Like get everyone in the swing of things. I hope things get hectic at some point, right, because it’s going to be a thrash at some point in the day, at some point in these next two weeks.
“It’s just good to get everyone rolling again. When we get to do hot stops over the next two days, that’s something that we’re going to prioritize highly, right? Get all the pit crew, get everyone out there just hustling and slinging wheel guns around. That’s going to be one of the more important elements for sure.”
All that said, Daly admitted he is having to balance the excitement of wheeling a fast car around IMS against the disappointment of competing in a one-off ride.
“Yeah, it sucks. Man, there’s no way around it,” Daly said. “I really feel like I’m driving well at this point in my life and really enjoying my time out there. But, yeah, all I can control is what I can control, right? What we’ve got is these next two weeks in front of us, and the car is really fast.
“It’s tough, because we kind of look at each other right now in the timing stand, and I’m, like, ‘Hey, give me something more, give me something else,’ even though I’m not really complaining too much about the car, but I always want more.
“There are so many things we can change on this car too, that you might discover something all of a sudden by, you know, throwing a bit of a new idea at it. I think that’s what we’re going to think about a lot over these next couple of days is what else can we really do to maybe just put this package a little bit better together and just find speed. Just find raw speed and more comfort as we get late in (Firestone Firehawk) tires.”
New Zealander Scott Dixon ranked sixth on Wednesday’s chart at 226.572 mph after 74 laps in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. A six-time series champion, Dixon won the 2008 Indy 500.
Two-time Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden was eighth at 225.964 mph after 90 laps in the No. 2 Shell Fuel Rewards Team Penske Chevrolet. On Tuesday, Newgarden was fourth at 225.121 mph.
Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci led the two-car, fulltime contingent from Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in ninth at 225.594 mph in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet. On Tuesday, Ferrucci ranked 18th at 222.930 mph. Teammate and series rookie Caio Collet of Brazil moved from 30th to 18th at 224.390 mph in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazona Chevrolet.
Four-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves completed another 69 laps in his No. 06 Cleveland Cliffs Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing/with Curb Agajanian with a top speed of 224.163 mph. The Indy 500 is scheduled to be the only start of the 2026 season for the popular Brazilian, who celebrated his 51st birthday on Tuesday.
Wednesday’s ideal conditions and aerodynamic tows from leading cars helped speeds elevate in traffic. Pato O’Ward was the fastest driver running alone via a best solo lap of 221.409 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. O’Ward completed 61 laps Wednesday, with his fastest circuit at 223.699 mph ranking 29th overall.
“It was a smooth day today,” said O’Ward, a 27-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “We worked through our program and got everything ready for Fast Friday. We’ll keep working at it and dialing in the race trim, which will be key for hotter track temperatures.” O’Ward has finished second in the Indy 500 twice, logging runner-up finishes in 2022 and 2024.
Alexander Rossi, winner of the landmark 100th Indy 500 in 2016 as a rookie, was the second-fastest solo driver at 221.392 mph in the No. 20 Java House Chevrolet of Ed Carpenter Racing.
The top two “no-tow” speeds were slightly slower than the fastest “no-tow” speed of 222.062 mph on Tuesday by Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global.
Series rookie Mick Schumacher of Switzerland continued to prep for his second career oval-track race with a best lap 222.256 mph _ up from Tuesday’s 220.280 mph _ in the No. 47 ENVE Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
“We kept learning today and obviously did a lot of race running (85 laps), so that was important to us,” said Schumacher, the 27-year-old son of seven-time Formula One World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher of Germany. “Hopefully, tomorrow we’ll get to learn a bit more and then get into qualifying trim at some point to prepare for that and stay on top of it. The weather forecast doesn’t look great, so we’ve got to get going with it.”
All 33 cars entered in the event combined to turn 2,542 incident-free laps Wednesday, a considerable hike from the 1,996 laps recorded on Opening Day. Palou carried the biggest workload, turning a session-high 118 laps after completing just 28 laps Tuesday.
Practice is scheduled to resume from noon-6 p.m. (EDT) Thursday (noon-4 p.m., FS2; 4-6 p.m., FS1; FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).
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).
Fans can visit IMS.com and check IMS social media feeds for updates on all ticketing-related information. Remaining Race Weekend experiences are selling fast, and everyone is encouraged to purchase remaining inventory as soon as possible.
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 _ 110th 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
