Indy 500: Who is on top heading into Fast Friday practice?

With two practice sessions in the books, Fast Friday ahead of qualifications for the 104th running of the Indy 500 is upon us. Who is on top heading into today?

Two of the seven scheduled practice sessions are in the books for the 104th running of the Indy 500, and Fast Friday is already upon us.

So far, just one driver has topped an average speed of 226 miles per hour around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana, but it would surprise nobody if each of the 33 competitors tops that speed at some point today due to the massive increase in horsepower.

Look for average speeds to be upwards of 230 miles per hour.

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So far, it is Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon leading the way with a top lap speed of 226.102 miles per hour (39.8050 seconds) behind the wheel of his #9 Honda.

Three other drivers (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato, Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly) have surpassed average speeds of 225 miles per hour (less than 40-second lap times). All four of the drivers who have topped 225 miles per hour did so only in the second practice session.

A total of 32 of the 33 drivers who are slated to compete in the race have participated in these two practice sessions, as electrical issues have prevented DragonSpeed’s Ben Hanley from driving his #81 Chevrolet during these windows. He did run a lap at 215.896 miles per hour (41.6868 seconds) after the second practice session.

Of the 32 drivers who have run laps during practice thus far, 27 ran their fastest laps in the second practice session. The top driver among those who ran their fastest laps in the first is Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe, who topped the opening session behind the wheel of his #29 Honda, finished in 17th place in the second and sits eighth overall.

Honda drivers currently occupy the top three and five of the top six positions.

Here is how these 32 drivers stack up so far.

Rank – Driver – Speed (miles per hour)
1st – Scott Dixon – 226.102
2nd – Takuma Sato – 225.693
3rd – Marco Andretti – 225.249
4th – Conor Daly – 225.106
5th – Alex Palou – 224.971
6th – Colton Herta – 224.648
7th – Charlie Kimball – 224.613
8th – James Hinchcliffe – 224.526
9th – Fernando Alonso – 224.363
10th – James Davison – 224.315
11th – Oliver Askew – 224.159
12th – Ryan Hunter-Reay – 224.154
13th – Rinus VeeKay – 224.068
14th – Jack Harvey – 223.828
15th – Tony Kanaan – 223.676
16th – Zach Veach – 223.657
17th – Helio Castroneves – 223.633
18th – Josef Newgarden – 223.617
19th – Graham Rahal – 223.297
20th – Pato O’Ward – 223.221
21st – Santino Ferrucci – 223.07
22nd – Spencer Pigot – 223.043
23rd – Will Power – 222.978
24th – Simon Pagenaud – 222.849
25th – Felix Rosenqvist – 222.645
26th – Marcus Ericsson – 222.63
27th – Alexander Rossi – 222.581
28th – Sage Karam – 222.031
29th – Dalton Kellett – 221.959
30th – Ed Carpenter – 221.813
31st – J.R. Hildebrand – 221.583
32nd – Max Chilton – 221.147

In terms of laps run without a tow, Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey leads the way after running a lap at 222.123 miles per hour (40.5181 seconds) behind the wheel of his #60 Honda in the second practice session.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Sage Karam did not complete a lap without a tow in the first practice session. Of the other 31 drivers, seven recorded faster no-tow laps in the first session than they did in the second.

Those seven drivers were led by Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi, who topped the opening session behind the wheel of his #27 Honda, finished in 24th place in the second and sits second overall.

Honda drivers, including three Andretti Autosport drivers, currently own the top four positions. Notably, Meyer Shank Racing have a technical alliance with Andretti Autosport.

Here is how these 32 drivers stack up in term of their top lap times without a tow thus far.

Rank – Driver – Speed (miles per hour)
1st – Jack Harvey – 222.123
2nd – Alexander Rossi – 221.952
3rd – Colton Herta – 221.895
4th – Ryan Hunter-Reay – 221.777
5th – Rinus VeeKay – 221.693
6th – James Hinchcliffe – 221.421
7th – Ed Carpenter – 221.383
8th – Pato O’Ward – 221.004
9th – Fernando Alonso – 220.97
10th – Graham Rahal – 220.707
11th – Takuma Sato – 220.699
12th – Tony Kanaan – 220.618
13th – Charlie Kimball – 220.185
14th – Oliver Askew – 219.896
15th – Marco Andretti – 219.833
16th – Conor Daly – 219.828
17th – Alex Palou – 219.77
18th – Zach Veach – 219.759
19th – Spencer Pigot – 219.668
20th – J.R. Hildebrand – 219.355
21st – Scott Dixon – 219.157
22nd – Max Chilton – 219.134
23rd – Simon Pagenaud – 219.097
24th – Dalton Kellett – 218.932
25th – Marcus Ericsson – 218.812
26th – Will Power – 218.734
27th – Josef Newgarden – 218.44
28th – Santino Ferrucci – 218.081
29th – Helio Castroneves – 217.913
30th – James Davison – 217.106
31st – Felix Rosenqvist – 216.31
32nd – Sage Karam – 215.136

Next. Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time. dark

Fast Friday practice for the 104th running of the Indy 500 is set to be broadcast live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway on NBC Sports Gold today from 11:00 a.m. ET to 5:30 p.m. ET.

Indy 500: Who is on top heading into Fast Friday?

By Asher Fair | Aug 14, 2020

With two practice sessions in the books, Fast Friday ahead of qualifications for the 104th running of the Indy 500 is upon us. Who is on top heading into today?