Simon Pagenaud topped the speed chart of the lone pre-qualifying practice session for the second race of the 2018 IndyCar season at ISM Raceway.
The first and only pre-qualifying practice session for the second race of the 2018 IndyCar season, which is the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway, is in the books.
Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud ended up on top of the speed chart with a fastest lap speed of 182.375 miles per hour (20.1738 seconds) around the four-turn, 1.022-mile dogleg oval in Avondale, Arizona.
Pagenaud led a 1-2 Chevrolet sweep, with A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Tony Kanaan finishing the session with the second fastest lap speed. From 3rd to 7th place, however, were five Honda drivers led by Dale Coyne Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais, who won the 2018 IndyCar season opener a few weeks ago on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.
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Pagenaud won last year’s Phoenix race for the first oval win of his career, but he has not won another oval race since then, so it will be interesting to see whether or not the 2016 IndyCar champion can carry his practice speed over to qualifying and then into the race.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal, the two drivers who combined to lead all four of the Phoenix test sessions back in February, finished the session way down in 17th and 18th place, respectively.
Qualifying is set to take place tonight at 8:00 pm ET, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network at that time. The final practice for the race is set to take place at 11:00 am ET, and it is set to stream live on IndyCar.com, the IndyCar app, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Here are the full practice results from the lone pre-qualifying practice session for the Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Engine |
| 1 | Simon Pagenaud | #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 2 | Tony Kanaan | #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet |
| 3 | Sebastien Bourdais | #18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda |
| 4 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 5 | Alexander Rossi | #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 6 | James Hinchcliffe | #5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda |
| 7 | Ed Jones | #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda |
| 8 | Josef Newgarden | #1, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 9 | Matheus Leist | #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet |
| 10 | Robert Wickens | #6, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda |
| 11 | Scott Dixon | #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda |
| 12 | Will Power | #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 13 | Kyle Kaiser | #32, Juncos Racing, Chevrolet |
| 14 | Pietro Fittipaldi | #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda |
| 15 | Marco Andretti | #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda |
| 16 | Spencer Pigot | #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet |
| 17 | Graham Rahal | #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda |
| 18 | Takuma Sato | #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda |
| 19 | Gabby Chaves | #88, Harding Racing, Chevrolet |
| 20 | Ed Carpenter | #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet |
| 21 | Zach Veach | #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 22 | Charlie Kimball | #23, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet |
| 23 | Max Chilton | #59, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet |
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Be sure to tune in to NBC Sports Network tomorrow night at 9:00 pm ET for the live broadcast of the 250-lap Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.