Newgarden Fastest on Third Day of Indy 500 Practice — With and Without Tow

Josef Newgarden appears to be in strong contention for a potential third consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory. The Team Penske driver topped the charts on Thursday — both with and without the aid of a tow. Scott Dixon posted the second-fastest time, followed by a surprisingly quick Conor Daly in third.

For the first time this week, practice for the Indy 500 was able to start on schedule. At 12:00 p.m. local time, the sun was shining over the Speedway, allowing teams to get to work under nearly ideal conditions.

Just twenty minutes into the session, Newgarden set the fastest lap of the day at 226.632 mph. That lap was slightly slower than the best times from earlier in the week.

The overall lower speeds were partly due to the fact that only the early portion of the session was used for race setup. As the six-hour practice progressed, the focus shifted increasingly toward qualifying simulations, with drivers attempting laps without the benefit of a slipstream. Several Honda-powered teams wrapped up their day early, as all Honda drivers are scheduled to receive fresh engines ahead of Fast Friday.

After two clean days to start the week, Thursday saw the first on-track incident. Coming out of Turn 2, Christian Rasmussen spun but managed to avoid hitting the wall. He came to a stop on the inside of the track, with only minor damage reported to his Ed Carpenter Racing machine.



During the qualifying runs late in the day, Team Penske’s strength became even more evident. In addition to setting the day’s fastest overall lap, Newgarden also logged the fastest no-tow lap at 222.555 mph. That was just ahead of Kyle Kirkwood in second and teammate Scott McLaughlin in third.

Friday marks “Fast Friday” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway — a key day in preparation for qualifying weekend. Teams will run with increased turbo boost, simulating the same conditions they'll face during qualifying, making it a crucial step in dialing in speed and balance.

Full results of the 3rd free practice session on Indianapolis