Indy 500: Marco Andretti on top in first post-qualifying practice

Marco Andretti topped the speed chart in the first practice session for the 104th running of the Indy 500 following his pole-winning qualifying run.

Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti has still not been anywhere other than the top three in a session leading up to the 104th running of the Indy 500, and he has now topped four practice/qualifying sessions in a row.

Andretti, who took the pole position for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana earlier this afternoon, topped the speed chart in the first post-qualifying practice session by recording a top lap speed of 224.122 miles per hour (40.1567 seconds) behind the wheel of his #98 Honda.

Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves finished in second place as the top Chevrolet driver with a lap lap speed of 224.067 miles perhour (40.1666 seconds) behind the wheel of his #3 Chevrolet. Andretti and Castroneves were the only two drivers who topped 224 miles per hour in this practice session, and both did so late.

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Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who qualified in second place alongside Andretti, crashed during this practice session but was able to shoot to third on the speed chart after getting back out behind the wheel of his #9 Honda.

Honda drivers continued their domination, taking four of the top five positions. Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay finished in fourth place behind the wheel of his #28 Honda ahead of Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan’s Santino Ferrucci in fifth behind the wheel of his #18 Honda.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Conor Daly, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson, Arrow McLaren SP rookie Pato O’Ward, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Carpenter and Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh rookie Alex Palou rounded out the top 10 in sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #47 Chevrolet, #8 Honda, #5 Chevrolet, #20 Chevrolet and #55 Honda, respectively.

Of the 33 drivers who qualified for the race, 32 participated in this practice session. The one who did not was Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware & Byrd Belardi’s James Davison, who flew to Daytona International Speedway to compete in this afternoon’s NASCAR Cup Series race at the road course after qualifying in 27th place for the Indy 500 yesterday.

Here are the full results of the first of two post-qualifying practice sessions for the 104th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Rank – Driver – Speed (miles per hour)
1st – Marco Andretti – 224.122
2nd – Helio Castroneves – 224.067
3rd – Scott Dixon – 223.686
4th – Ryan Hunter-Reay – 223.327
5th – Santino Ferrucci – 223.127
6th – Conor Daly – 223.063
7th – Marcus Ericsson – 222.857
8th – Pato O’Ward – 222.76
9th – Ed Carpenter – 222.479
10th – Alex Palou – 222.409
11th – Fernando Alonso – 222.353
12th – Alexander Rossi – 222.349
13th – Will Power – 222.115
14th – Zach Veach – 221.994
15th – J.R. Hildebrand – 221.852
16th – Felix Rosenqvist – 221.827
17th – Spencer Pigot – 221.691
18th – Max Chilton – 221.507
19th – Rinus VeeKay – 221.488
20th – Josef Newgarden – 221.488
21st – Colton Herta – 221.416
22nd – Tony Kanaan – 221.274
23rd – Simon Pagenaud – 221.174
24th – Sage Karam – 220.826
25th – Dalton Kellett – 220.773
26th – Takuma Sato – 220.747
27th – Jack Harvey – 220.746
28th – James Hinchcliffe – 220.36
29th – Oliver Askew – 220.292
30th – Graham Rahal – 220.235
31st – Charlie Kimball – 219.602
32nd – Ben Hanley – 217.64

Only 20 of the 32 drivers who participated in this practice session ran laps without a tow. Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay, who qualified as the top Chevrolet driver in fourth place, topped the no-tow speed chart in this session with a top lap speed of 219.515 miles per hour (40.9995 seconds) behind the wheel of his #21 Chevrolet.

A.J. Foyt Enterprises rookie Dalton Kellett finished in second place behind the wheel of his #41 Chevrolet. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato, who is set to join Andretti and Dixon on the front row in third place, finished in third to lead the Honda drivers behind the wheel of his #30 honda.

Here are the full no-tow results of this practice session.

Rank – Driver – Speed (miles per hour)
1st – Rinus VeeKay – 219.515
2nd – Dalton Kellett – 218.666
3rd – Takuma Sato – 218.632
4th – Graham Rahal – 218.168
5th – Ryan Hunter-Reay – 217.951
6th – Marcus Ericsson – 217.802
7th – Felix Rosenqvist – 217.417
8th – Oliver Askew – 217.355
9th – Colton Herta – 217.208
10th – Pato O’Ward – 217.042
11th – Zach Veach – 216.995
12th – Josef Newgarden – 216.746
13th – J.R. Hildebrand – 216.704
14th – Helio Castroneves – 216.635
15th – Will Power – 216.462
16th – James Hinchcliffe – 215.68
17th – Alexander Rossi – 215.574
18th – Spencer Pigot – 214.992
19th – Ben Hanley – 212.546
20th – Jack Harvey – 197.569

The lone remaining practice session for this race is scheduled to take place on Friday, August 21 from 11:00 a.m. ET to 1:00 p.m. ET and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Gold.

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NBC is set to broadcast the 104th running of the Indy 500 live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET next Sunday, August 23. The race is set to go green at roughly 2:30 p.m. ET.