INDIANAPOLIS — Bounced to the last row because of a penalty, Josef Newgarden is fiercely determined to race his way to the front of the field in Sunday’s 109th Indianapolis 500.
He proved that in Friday’s final two-hour practice session during Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Newgarden, who will start 32nd after IndyCar officials strongly penalized him for modifying the rear attenuator before last Sunday’s Fast 12, was the fastest driver in the final practice.
Newgarden’s No. 2 Shell Chevrolet had a fast lap of 225.687 mph.
“Good final run here,” Newgarden said. “Excited to check the car off again and work with the team. I’m really excited for Sunday. The main show. Everything we work for.
“I can’t wait to get back on track with Team Chevy and our entire group.”
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver Takuma Sato was second at 225.415 mph in the No. 75 Honda but had engine failure late in the practice session. Sato starts second on the grid.
Both Newgarden and Sato declined the obligatory trip to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Media Center, citing engineering debriefing as the reason for skipping.
Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing was third in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda at 225.200 mph. Devlin DeFrancesco of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was fourth at 227.778 mph with Will Power of Team Penske’s fifth at 224.419 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
“As far as the engine goes, we were all good,” Power said. “The track changed, and the wind changed, which will be different again on race day. Probably some minor changes to the car and then go.”
His teammate, Scott McLaughlin, was 27th in the No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet at 221.675 mph.
All of these speeds were on full-tank runs.
“A really good final practice for us,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve got a really good balance with the car and this backup car feels exactly like the last one. We played with some fuel savings and got through a lot of things.
“We’re in a good spot.”
Pole winner Robert Shwartzman was 29th in the No. 83 Chevrolet for Prema at 220.987 mph.
With one-hour-22-minutes left in the final practice session, Graham Rahal’s Honda started smoking. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver got off the throttle.
“We had a mechanical failure unfortunately,” Rahal said. “That’s the way this month has gone. We are always behind and something always happens, just like this.
“We are done for the day. Had a new set of tires on the car and couldn’t get up with everyone else and that’s when I knew something was wrong.
“I just wish we had more time. At this stage, you have to go straight into the race and if it’s not ideal, it’s not ideal. We’ll have to do the best we can.”
In the second hour of the session, Alexander Rossi’s Chevrolet had a water pump issue, but was happy with the performance of his car so he brought it into the pit area and let the team address the issue.
With 42 minutes left in the final practice session, 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay’s car caught on fire. He pulled into pit lane with flames coming out of the cockpit as the 2012 IndyCar Series Champion unstrapped himself and climbed out of the cockpit as the flames became stronger.
Hunter-Reay’s crew from Dreyer & Reinbold Racing along with the safety crew came to extinguish Hunter-Reay’s No. 23 Chevrolet, but it sustained some significant fire damage.
“I felt a lot of liquid on the left side that felt really cold,” Hunter-Reay said. “The first thing you think of is fuel. I had a methanol fire before and that’s the first thing I started to think of. It started smoking more and more and more and I drove down pit lane.
“I looked like Ace Ventura trying to get out of the Rhino.
“I lost the ability to downshift, but that caught my attention when I was trying to downshift and had smoke. I really don’t know much right now.”
Conor Daly was concerned that his No. 78 ampm Chevrolet and Juncos Hollinger Racing had lost its performance from Monday’s practice, when Daly thought it was much better. So, the crew made some adjustments on the car to get it back to that level.
“This point seems like the tiniest of adjustments can make such a huge difference, so we have to go back, reset everything and see if that makes a difference,” Daly said. “This is our last run, and we have to make sure everything works.
“It is a bit nerve-wracking today.”
By the time track cleanup was complete, the green flag waved with 21 minutes left.
It finished with Newgarden on top.
When Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevrolet was rolled up pit lane after the final practice session, many fans at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway booed.
Newgarden is attempting to win his third Indianapolis 500 in a row on Sunday.
