Indy 500: Simon Pagenaud tops first practice session
By Asher Fair
Simon Pagenaud topped the speed chart in the first practice session for the 102nd running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud topped the speed chart in the first practice session for the sixth race of the 2018 IndyCar season, the Indianapolis 500, at the four-turn, 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana in his #22 Chevrolet.
Pagenaud recorded a lap at 225.787 miles per hour (39.8605 seconds) around the track, and he led a top three Team Penske sweep of the speed chart, as Helio Castroneves and Josef Newgarden finished in second and third place in their #3 Chevrolet and #1 Chevrolet, respectively.
The fastest Honda driver in the practice session was Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti, who was fourth fastest behind only the top three Team Penske drivers in his #98 Honda. He was the only Honda driver who finished the session in the top six.
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Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Carpenter was the fastest non-Team Penske Chevrolet driver in fifth place in his #20 Chevrolet, and Team Penske’s Will Power finished right behind him in sixth in his #12 Chevrolet to give Team Penske four of the top six spots on the speed chart.
A total of 23 drivers participated in this practice session, with this practice session being designated for the oval veterans. A total of 22 of those drivers turned at least one flying lap, as Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Sage Karam made it out on the track in the session but did not turn a flying lap in his #24 Chevrolet.
Here are the full results of the first practice session for the 2018 Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Engine |
| 1 | Simon Pagenaud | #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 2 | Helio Castroneves | #3, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 3 | Josef Newgarden | #1, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 4 | Marco Andretti | #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda |
| 5 | Ed Carpenter | #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet |
| 6 | Will Power | #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 7 | Scott Dixon | #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda |
| 8 | Carlos Munoz | #29, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 9 | Zach Veach | #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 10 | J.R. Hildebrand | #66, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Chevrolet |
| 11 | Gabby Chaves | #88, Harding Racing, Chevrolet |
| 12 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 13 | James Hinchcliffe | #5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda |
| 14 | Graham Rahal | #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda |
| 15 | Spencer Pigot | #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet |
| 16 | Takuma Sato | #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda |
| 17 | Alexander Rossi | #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 18 | Jack Harvey | #60, Meyer Shank Racing, Honda |
| 19 | Ed Jones | #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda |
| 20 | Charlie Kimball | #23, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet |
| 21 | Sebastien Bourdais | #18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda |
| 22 | Max Chilton | #59, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet |
| 23 | Sage Karam | #24, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Chevrolet |
Next: Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time
The second practice session for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 is currently taking place, and it is being broadcast live on IndyCar RaceControl with the live audio breing provided by the Advance Auto Parts IndyCar Radio Network. See the full schedule for the Indianapolis 500 here.