Palou tops opening day of Indianapolis 500 practice at IMS

INDIANAPOLIS — Alex Palou opened practice for the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge with the fastest lap Tuesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, turning a late lap of 225.937 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Palou, the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner and NTT IndyCar Series champion, made the lap with less than 15 minutes remaining in the six-hour session. The speed came after Palou had returned to pit lane earlier in the afternoon because he sensed an issue with the right rear of the car.

“Yeah, it’s good; it’s good now,” Palou said in an INDYCAR release. “We had a couple of issues, but we fixed them. It wasn’t a mechanical issue or anything. It was just balance, not being super happy with it. We found something that explained what I was feeling, and it was good to go back out today before we go to sleep so we can be a bit happier.”

Palou completed 28 laps, tied for the third fewest among the 33 drivers on track. He is driving a different car this month than the one he used during the Indy 500 Open Test in April and a different car from the machine he drove to victory in last year’s race.

“You always want to do a lot more,” Palou said. “We didn’t do a many laps today, but still we understood a lot of stuff. Feeling much better than earlier this afternoon.”

Marcus Armstrong, driving the No. 66 Acura Honda for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, was second fastest at 225.895 mph after leading much of the day. Indianapolis-area native Conor Daly was third at 225.838 mph in the No. 23 DRR KINGSPAN Chevrolet for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden was fourth at 225.121 mph in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet. Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner, rounded out the top five at 225.087 mph in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

The top speeds were produced with the benefit of an aerodynamic tow from cars ahead. Kyle Kirkwood had the fastest no-tow lap of the day at 222.062 mph in the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda. Will Power was second on the no-tow list at 221.455 mph in the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda, followed by Jack Harvey at 220.853 mph in the No. 24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet.

All 33 cars entered for this year’s Indianapolis 500 were on track Tuesday under sunny skies, with air temperatures in the mid- to upper 70s. Drivers combined to turn 1,996 laps.

Alexander Rossi was the busiest driver of the day, completing 116 laps in the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. Daly and Christian Rasmussen each completed 89 laps, while Felix Rosenqvist ran 84 laps and Mick Schumacher also completed 84.

Pato O’Ward, driving the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, was 12th fastest at 223.740 mph. Christian Lundgaard, who won the Sonsio Grand Prix on the IMS road course Saturday, was 28th fastest at 221.116 mph in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

Practice resumes from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday. The session is scheduled to air from noon to 4 p.m. on FS2 and from 4 to 6 p.m. on FS1, with coverage also on FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.

The 110th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for Sunday, May 24, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race is scheduled to air at 10 a.m. on FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio.

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