Indy 500 practice: James Hinchcliffe leads Andretti 1-2, top 4 Honda sweep

James Hinchcliffe topped the speed chart in the opening practice for the 104th running of the Indy 500, leading an Andretti Autosport 1-2 and a top four Honda sweep.

The first of seven practice sessions for the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 took place from this morning and into this evening, and it was part-time Andretti Autosport IndyCar driver and former Indy 500 polesitter James Hinchcliffe who topped the speed chart, leading a 1-2 Andretti Autosport effort and a top four Honda sweep.

Hinchcliffe topped the speed chart in this practice session, which included a two-hour test for veterans, a two-hour rookie/refresher test and a two-and-a-half-hour open practice, by recording a top lap speed of 224.526 miles per hour (40.0844 seconds) around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana in his #29 Honda.

Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti finished in second place with a lap at 224.345 miles per hour (40.1168 seconds) in his #98 Honda.

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Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon was the fastest non-Andretti Autosport driver in third place with a lap at 224.047 miles per hour (40.1701 seconds) in his #9 Honda. He was the slowest of the three drivers who hit 224 miles per hour.

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top four Honda sweep in fourth place in his #28 Honda ahead of Arrow McLaren SP’s Fernando Alonso, who led all of the Chevrolet drivers in fifth in his #66 Chevrolet.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly and Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves rounded out the top 10 in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #1 Chevrolet, #60 Honda, #55 Honda, #47 Chevrolet and #3 Chevrolet, respectively.

Of the 33 drivers slated to compete in the race, 32 participated in today’s practice session at some point. DragonSpeed’s Ben Hanley was the only driver who did not turn a lap behind the wheel of his #81 Chevrolet.

Of note, in addition to placing 11th behind the wheel of his #14 Chevrolet, A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Tony Kanaan also ran laps behind the wheel of rookie teammate Dalton Kellett’s #41 Chevrolet.

Here are the full practice results of the opening practice session for the 104th running of the Indy 500.

Rank – Driver – Speed (miles per hour)
1st – James Hinchcliffe – 224.526
2nd – Marco Andretti – 224.345
3rd – Scott Dixon – 224.047
4th – Ryan Hunter-Reay – 223.341
5th – Fernando Alonso – 223.238
6th – Josef Newgarden – 223.188
7th – Jack Harvey – 223.178
8th – Alex Palou – 223.128
9th – Conor Daly – 223.02
10th – Helio Castroneves – 222.929
11th – Tony Kanaan – 222.873
12th – Simon Pagenaud – 222.849
13th – Takuma Sato – 222.551
14th – Felix Rosenqvist – 222.541
15th – Charlie Kimball – 222.438
16th – Rinus VeeKay – 222.061
17th – Sage Karam – 222.031
18th – Alexander Rossi – 221.952
19th – Santino Ferrucci – 221.905
20th – Ed Carpenter – 221.813
21st – James Davison – 221.709
22nd – Colton Herta – 221.699
23rd – Will Power – 221.634
24th – Marcus Ericsson – 221.588
25th – Graham Rahal – 221.498
26th – Spencer Pigot – 221.492
27th – Zach Veach – 221.359
28th – Pato O’Ward – 221.341
29th – Max Chilton – 221.147
30th – Dalton Kellett – 220.825
31st – Oliver Askew – 220.13
32nd – J.R. Hildebrand – 219.859
33rd – Tony Kanaan – 218.306

As for laps run without a tow, Andretti Autosport dominated as well. Alexander Rossi topped the speed chart with a lap at 221.952 miles per hour (40.5493 seconds) in his #27 Honda, with Hunter-Reay in second place, Hinchcliffe in third and Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport’s Colton Herta in fourth in his #88 Honda.

Harvey completed a top five Honda sweep in fifth place. Notably, Meyer Shank Racing have a technical alliance with Andretti Autosport. A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Charlie Kimball led the Chevrolet drivers in sixth in his #4 Chevrolet.

Of the 32 drivers listed above, only Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Sage Karam did not run a lap with a tow behind the wheel of his #24 Chevrolet.

Here are the full no-tow practice results of the opening practice session for the 104th running of the Indy 500.

Rank – Driver – Speed (miles per hour)
1st – Alexander Rossi – 221.952
2nd – Ryan Hunter-Reay – 220.735
3rd – James Hinchcliffe – 220.732
4th – Colton Herta – 220.528
5th – Jack Harvey – 220.191
6th – Charlie Kimball – 220.165
7th – Takuma Sato – 219.993
8th – Rinus VeeKay – 219.848
9th – Conor Daly – 219.828
10th – Spencer Pigot – 219.668
11th – Zach Veach – 219.555
12th – Tony Kanaan – 219.434
13th – Alex Palou – 219.298
14th – Graham Rahal – 219.233
15th – J.R. Hildebrand – 219.158
16th – Scott Dixon – 219.157
17th – Marco Andretti – 219.006
18th – Simon Pagenaud – 218.816
19th – Marcus Ericsson – 218.812
20th – Ed Carpenter – 218.789
21st – Will Power – 218.699
22nd – Fernando Alonso – 218.523
23rd – Josef Newgarden – 218.44
24th – Pato O’Ward – 218.398
25th – Helio Castroneves – 217.864
26th – Santino Ferrucci – 217.655
27th – Oliver Askew – 217.444
28th – Max Chilton – 217.39
29th – Dalton Kellett – 216.836
30th – Felix Rosenqvist – 216.31
31st – James Davison – 215.681

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The second practice session for the 104th running of the Indy 500 is scheduled to take place tomorrow from 11:00 a.m. ET to 5:30 p.m. ET and is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Gold.