INDIANAPOLIS — Speeds and risk climbed in equal measure on a fraught Fast Friday presented by Turtle Wax, as drivers battled torrid track conditions and gusty winds in the final day of preparations before PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying this weekend for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
Scott McLaughlin, who won the pole for last year’s 500, turned the fastest lap of the day and event, 233.954 mph, in the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet on a day when second-year 500 drivers Kyffin Simpson and Kyle Larson both walked away from crashes during qualifying simulations on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.
Speeds soared Friday because the Honda and Chevrolet engines that power the field featured approximately 100 more horsepower due to increased boost levels that also will be available this weekend during two days of qualifying.
Air temperatures tickled 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 they have 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 already riding a razor’s edge 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 practice session. But in the final 30 minutes of practice, 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon laid down the second-fastest lap of the day, 232.561, 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, the fastest qualifying simulation of the day.
“It was good,” Dixon said. “The first one (qualifying sim) was very conservative. We were very worried about conditions and obviously what had happened to 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 tomorrow is going to bring? I think conditions are going to be pretty tough.”
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 deciding the rest of the 33-car starting grid.
Two-time reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, who has won four of the first five races this season, was third at 232.528 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. That lap came during a four-lap qualifying sim of 232.307, the second fastest of the day.
Kyle Kirkwood stated his NTT P1 Award ambitions with the fourth-fastest lap, 232.107, during his late-day qualifying sim in the No. 28 Siemens Honda of Andretti Global.
Colton Herta rounded out the top five at 232.066 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda as the second Andretti Global driver in the top five.
The tricky conditions caught Simpson and Larson in separate accidents.
