Veterans Dixon, Castroneves Lead Carb Day Practice at Indianapolis

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – There’s something to be said about experience at Indianapolis.

Two of the most veteran drivers in the 33-car field for the 108^th running of the Indianapolis 500 – Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves – put their track knowledge to work during Friday’s Carb Day practice, leading the final two-hour session before the green flag drops on Sunday.

Dixon topped the board at 227.206 mph, followed by Castroneves at 226.939 mph.

Both drivers will have some work to do on Sunday starting from Row 7 in 20^th and 21^st, respectively, but remained positive about their chances to translate Friday’s speed into race day.

“It started off pretty good. Conditions were definitely tricky,” Dixon said of the day. “It changed a lot throughout. As we were just chatting, I think early on was quite comfortable. We went through some changes. Some were good, some were bad. But definitely a lot of competitive cars out there, so it’s going to be one tough race. As the track got a little bit warmer out there with track temp especially, it got pretty greasy and pretty slippery.

“But yeah, I think the 9 car has been fairly strong in race running, but unfortunately I think there’s about 20 others that are really strong, as well.”

Dixon joked that despite starting in traffic, he has a plan for moving forward once the green flag drops on Sunday.

“I’m trying to get all 20 in the first lap, man,” Dixon said with a grin.

“I agree totally with the others. Read the situation. It’s a long race. Obviously to be in it, you got to be there at the end. We’ll see.”

Even with this weekend’s race being a one-off for Castroneves as he looks to win a record fifth Indy 500, he was highly complimentary of his team and his chances to make history on Sunday.

“These boys are doing phenomenal. For a one-off, they don’t look a bit like a one-off,” Castroneves said. “Just like me. As you get older, you get better. Just like a fine wine. Great job. Hell of a job, everyone. I’m glad that we had this practice in this weather. We just need to find out, hopefully cross our fingers that the weather holds on.

“We’re going to have some work to do for sure in the race, but the whole vibe here is incredible. Wow. I don’t want to say too much because then people are going to start looking at us. Don’t look at us. Look at the Penske guys. Then we’ll see what happens.”

Pato O’Ward was the top Chevrolet in third, with the remainder of the top-10 fastest being Colton Herta, Tom Blomqvist, Marcus Ericsson, Agustin Canapino, Felix Rosenqvist, Alex Palou, and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Kyle Larson finished the session in 13^th place and was the cause of one caution period during practice when his No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet ran out of gas.

The Team Penske trio of polesitter Scott McLaughlin, Will Power, and Josef Newgarden finished practice 20^th, 21^st, and 32^nd, respectively.

“Ultimately, you’re just sort of going through the motions, attacking the pit speed line. I actually sped, which was a good thing to get that out of the way now. A few other things like just pit stop practice and whatnot. I was just ticking things off the list,” McLaughlin said of his team’s game plan during practice.

“Yeah, felt really good, but didn’t put a big number up, but I think we’re okay.”

Santino Ferrucci clocked in 24^th fastest, having to take his A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet back to the garage at one point to fix handling issues that had him out of sorts early in the two-hour session.

“Obviously, we rebuild the cars over the week and our aero balance was 3.5% wrong towards the front, which is unusual,” Ferrucci said. “The weight distribution is not where we want it. You’re not going to fix any of that stuff on pit lane unfortunately.

“We tried to do a band-aid. It didn’t work. I’m just super, super loose in the middle of [Turn] 1 and 3 and have had to counter steer the car multiple times. Way looser than I have ever have been in qualifying. The boys are back there hustling. Right now I’m counting on them to get it back here so we can get some practice in.”