By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter
INDIANAPOLIS – Josef Newgarden led all drivers during Monday’s final practice before Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The second place qualifier clicked off a lap averaged at 227.414 mph and led a Chevrolet sweep of the top four spots. 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan was second quickest and was followed by Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon in third. Sage Karam was fourth quickest while Pippa Mann recovered from crashing during qualifying on Saturday to log the fifth quickest time for Dale Coyne Racing to become the highest placed Honda.
A few notable names found themselves down the list as pole sitter James Hinchcliffe only posted the 17th quickest time while Team Penske also had a disappointing day with Will Power being the quickest of the bunch in 18th. Defending Indy 500 champ Juan Pablo Montoya was only 20th quickest while series points leader Simon Pagenaud was 22nd and Helio Castroneves was 24th.
In the final hour of the session, Jack Hawksworth suffered an engine failure in Turn 3 and came to a halt in Turn 4 as fire and smoke billowed out of the left rear of the car. Hawksworth climbed out of the car and the team is making an engine change.
The next time the cars will hit the track will be Friday afternoon on Carb Day before we officially kick-off the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil.
Image Credit: Dina Garrett/IndyCar
