until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon was fastest in the final practice session before the Indianapolis 500, getting out of his car with 50 minutes still remaining in the session.
The session was delayed from 1100hrs ET to 1330hrs, due to prolonged rainfall at the speedway. It was delayed a few minutes further when fuel was spilled in Alexander Rossi’s Andretti Autosport pit box just before the green flag.
The low temperatures mean the running on Friday isn’t likely to be as representative of the race as the drivers and teams may like, but it did provide brilliant side-by-side ‘racing’ meaning fans should have their fingers crossed for similar temperatures on race day.
Strong wind also led to high top-speeds, with drivers constantly complaining about hitting the limiter due to the wind help.
Dixon managed a 228.323mph lap, and with 50 minutes to go in the session he ominously pulled into the pits after 47 laps of running, packed up his helmet and told the Peacock TV network he and the team had worked through everything they needed to and that he didn’t want to risk damaging his car further.
It felt like a warning shot to his competition that Dixon and his team were willing to end so early. Coincidentally, the last time Carb Day practice was affected by heavy rain was 2008, the last time Dixon won the 500.
Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden gave Penske the second and third positions, with Will Power in sixth ahead of Scott McLaughlin, all the Penske cars making the top seven and seemingly making good on their promise that their race pace is better than qualifying where McLaughlin was best in 17th.
In fourth Conor Daly was the best Ed Carpenter Racing driver, and drew attention for criticising Santino Ferrucci on the radio for an on-track incident that really appeared to be more of a 50/50 incident as Daly tried to dive down the inside when a gap existed on the outside of the track. Daly said there were further incidents with Ferrucci that he was not happy with.
Marco Andretti was fifth – despite a short delay as Honda personnel attended to his car – and he is happier after changing the floor of his car after his 25th place in qualifying.
Behind Power and McLaughlin, Tony Kanaan was extremely happy with his race car in eighth, ahead of reigning winner Takuma Sato and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Sage Karam.
