Josef Newgarden laid down a statement in the final practice session ahead of the Indianapolis 500. The Team Penske driver quickly moved to the top of the timing charts and was never seriously challenged afterward. The session featured a busy opening hour filled with on-track action, as the field once again used Carb Day to simulate the kind of racing expected on Sunday. During the second hour, many teams had already gathered enough data, resulting in a much smaller group of cars on track.

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Early Caution

The yellow flag came out early in the session due to a slow-moving Marcus Ericsson. Andretti Global was not fully confident that the right-rear wheel had been properly secured and instructed Ericsson to return to the pits at reduced speed. He was later able to rejoin the session without further issues.

No additional cautions were needed, but that did not mean Ericsson was the only driver dealing with problems. Felix Rosenqvist posted a quick lap early on but soon reported a balance issue. His team managed to fix the problem, though the Swede lost about an hour of track time.

Alex Palou experienced a similar situation and had to take his car into the garage for repairs. He was still able to complete his program during the second half of the session and ultimately finished eighth.

Katherine Legge encountered communication problems with her team. As a result, she completed one of the lowest lap totals and ended the session at the bottom of the standings.

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Rossi Returns After Crash, Not Yet in the Standings

Alexander Rossi limped toward his car at the start of the session following his crash on Monday. The American is unable to put weight on his right foot, though it did not appear to affect him on track. However, due to his program and the use of a backup car, he was not among the fastest drivers. While Rossi will still start Sunday’s race from second position, he finished Carb Day practice in 31st place.

Pato O'Ward also continued his Indy 500 campaign in a backup car. He spent the early stages of the session near the bottom of the order, but later worked his way into the top 20.

Fastest Laps Came Early in the Session

Following the caution for Ericsson’s issue, nearly the entire field headed onto the track together to complete the first hour of practice in race-like conditions. Christian Rasmussen was the first to take full advantage of the draft, but Palou soon took over the top spot. His time at the top was short-lived as a strong-looking David Malukas moved his Penske ahead of the Ganassi driver. Rasmussen then made another improvement, but it was Newgarden who used the tow effect to produce such a fast average speed that nobody could get close during the remaining 90 minutes of the session.

That gave Newgarden the ideal preparation for the biggest race of the year.

Full results of the warm-up session on Indianapolis