INDIANAPOLIS — Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren was the fastest driver of the day during practice Thursday for the Indianapolis 500, turning a best lap of 228.861 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was second at 227.316 mph in the No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet and two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou was third at 226.915 mph in the No. 10 DHL Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Ericsson was 18th at 224.592 mph in the No. 28 Honda for Andretti Global.
When the checkered flag waved at 6 p.m. to end the practice, O’Ward’s speed held up as the fastest followed by McLaughlin and Palou.
“We got a pretty fat tow lap on the board, which was unexpected,” O’Ward said. “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 I mean, tomorrow if it does rain out, 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.”
Colton Herta’s No. 26 Gainbridge Honda was fourth at 226.828 mph for Andretti Global. Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, the defending Indy 500 winner, was fifth at 226.684 mph in a Chevrolet.
Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion and Indy 500 rookie, was 25th at 222.805 mph. His Arrow McLaren/Hendrick Motorsports team changed engines on Thursday morning, and he was late addition to practice once the car was put back together.
Many of the teams used Thursday’s practice for group runs to help prepare their race cars for the race. But a few drivers were able to make simulated qualification runs.
That is why the “non-tow” speeds are a better indicator of what to expect in qualifications.
Herta was the fastest on that list at 224.182 mph followed by Andretti Global teammate Kyle Kirkwood’s 223.387 mph in the No. 27 Honda.
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves was third at 222.852 mph in the No. 06 Honda for Meyer-Shank Racing and Rinus VeeKay rounded out the top five at 222.627 mph in the No. 21 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing.
Fast Friday practice is scheduled to begin at 12 noon, weather permitting.
O’Ward can’t wait to hit the track with the extra boost and 100 extra horsepower.
He’s a racer who loves to go fast.
“Oh, yeah, you feel it,” O’Ward said. “It’s so cool. Honestly, it’s one of the coolest parts about the whole process is just those four laps in qualifying. They can be very enjoyable, but they can be miserable, as well.
“Like you’ve got to get it right and puts a lot of emphasis on — you’ll really see a lot of the work that these teams go through in the off-season making those things go as fast as possible.
“You feel the difference. I think the biggest thing is there’s so much more speed that you’re carrying through the corner. Front right takes a bit more of a beating, and whenever it does decide not to give you that peak grip from lap one to lap four, that wall comes fast, really, really fast.”
Marcus Ericsson and Linus Lundqvist crashed earlier in the day.