By David Morgan, Associate Editor
INDIANAPOLIS – Josef Newgarden may be starting deep in the field for Sunday’s 110th running of the Indianapolis 500, but that hasn’t tempered down the confidence that he will be in the mix when all is said and done.
During Friday’s Carb Day final practice, Newgarden showed the speed in his No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet, leading the way with a lap of 228.342 mph over Christian Rasmussen and teammate David Malukas.
“I don’t know that we were that great today. I put up a fast lap. That’s really all it is,” said Newgarden.
“It’s always there is positivity to that in that when the car can do that lap, that is a good thing, but that’s not the whole story when it comes to our race car.
“I think we’ve been relatively solid all month, but you get these fluctuations every single day with temperature and wind, and you take the car apart, you put it back together, it’s never quite the same thing every time you go out.
“The one day that’s going to matter is in 48 hours. That’s what it boils down to. I think our race car has been in a really good spot for the most part, and even through all the variability that I just spoke about. We’ve just got to make sure it’s right as Sunday comes around.”
A day prior, Newgarden was bullish on his chances to come from 23rd place on Sunday to capture his third Indy 500 victory, despite the team’s struggles in qualifying.
“…That’s what she had. That’s what she had on Sunday. It’s a different story going into the race now. I feel really good about where we’re at,” Newgarden said of the difference between the feel of the car in qualifying and now in race trim.
Just a year ago, Newgarden nearly came from the last row to challenge for the win before a mechanical issue sidelined him on Lap 135.
“I think we’re in a similar position that we’ve been in the last couple of years here. We’ve got a great team as always. We’ve got a good car underneath us,” said Newgarden.
“I’m in good spirits, and I feel really positive about what we’re doing and what we have, but that only gets you so much and so far. Race day is its own thing.
“That’s when the car’s got to be its best is on that day. So we’ll see what the weather does. But we’ve been pretty flexible as far as having a good range on the car, different weather conditions. We just — like I said, we’ve got to get it right on Sunday. That’s the day that’s going to count.
“We’ll see. None of us know what’s going to happen, but we’ve got to be prepared to ebb and flow with the race as it transpires and give ourselves an opportunity. I think that’s what the Indianapolis 500 is always about. It’s about giving yourself a chance.”
Conor Daly timed in fourth fastest in the two hour practice session, followed by Takuma Sato, defending race winner Alex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood, Scott Mclaughlin, Marcus Armstrong, and Dennis Hauger to round out the top-10.
In terms of the 20-lap average, it was the Team Penske duo of McLaughlin and Newgarden that led the way in that metric as well, showing they have the speed not only over a single lap, but over the course of a run as well.
The final on-track session before race day went by incident free, save for a brief caution for a loose wheel on Marcus Ericsson’s Honda, but both Newgarden and Kirkwood commented on some of the moves being made by their colleagues.
“It’s chaotic on this style of racing that we have now at Indy. I feel like people are — everyone is very confident in the way they drive and ambitious,” said Newgarden.
“You could see it today for sure. It was the first day of the month for sure where everyone was like it’s race day.
“You’ve got to be heads up and trying to move forward at all points and never sitting back and hope for the best.”
Kirkwood took it a step further and called out some of his fellow drivers for maybe taking things a little too far on what should have largely been a day to iron out any last minute wrinkles.
“It’s just guys out there think it’s the last ten minutes of the race, especially the ECR cars, to be honest,” said Kirkwood.
“I don’t understand the mindset that some people have on Carb Day. They’re acting like it’s the race out there, and I was trying not to.
“But the car’s fast, so you’re still passing the guys. You’re throwing unnecessary moves when they’re going to get passed regardless.”
With all of the preliminaries now complete, all that’s left to do is line ‘em up and race. The green flag for the 110th running of the Indy 500 will wave at 12:45 pm ET, with coverage kicking off on FOX at 10:00 am ET.
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