Indy 500 Carb Day practice speeds, highlights
The 108th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for Sunday, May 26, 2024, (weather permitting) and Friday marks the final practice session. It's called Carb Day, and it offers drivers and teams 2 hours to make final adjustments and practice pit stops at full speed.
Scott McLaughlin is set to start the race from the pole position, leading a Team Penske front row to the green flag. Kyle Larson is back on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval as he continues his effort to race the Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.
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1 p.m. ET: Indy 500 Carb Day practice recap
Four-time race champ Helio Castroneves is busy and fast in the last Indy 500 practice, running a lot of laps (103) and posting the second-fastest lap (226.939 mph). Scott Dixon, the 2008 race champ, tops the speed chart at 227.206. Those drivers start side-by-side on the 7th run in Sunday's race.
Drivers with high starting spots who don't find speed: defending race champ Josef Newgarden (starting 3rd, 32nd on Friday); 2016 winner Alexander Rossi (4th, 26th); Santino Ferrucci (6th, 24th), who was last for much of the session; Rinus VeeKay (7th, 30th). Rookie Linus Lundqvist logs the fewest laps (49) and was slowest (top lap of 222.840).
The field turns a total of 2,721 laps.
Here is the ranking of each driver's fast lap on Friday, with mph and laps turned:
Scott Dixon, 227.206, 90
Helio Castroneves, 226.939, 103
Pato O'Ward, 226.666, 78
Colton Herta, 226.220, 79
Tom Blomqvist, 225.450, 62
Marcus Ericsson, 225.418, 64
Agustin Canapino, 225.320, 105
Felix Roenqvist, 225.310, 89
Alex Palou, 225.302, 91
Ryan Hunter-Reay, 225.124, 63
Callum Ilott, 225.075, 103
Kyffin Simpson, 224.824, 104
Kyle Larson, 224.761, 73
Takuma Sato, 224.630, 97
Pietro Fittipaldi, 224.568, 97
Marcus Armstrong, 224.406, 100
Graham Rahal, 224.353, 106
Marco Andretti, 224.322, 72
Christian Lundgaard, 224.287, 74
Scott McLaughlin, 224.264, 93
Will Power, 224.253, 69
Conor Daly, 224.253, 74
Kyle Kirkwood, 224.153, 65
Santino Ferrucci, 223.963, 48
Romain Grosjean, 223.949, 82
Alexander Rossi, 223.867, 92
Christian Rasmussen, 223.822, 88
Sting Ray Robb, 223.539, 95
Ed Carpenter, 223.348, 67
Rinus VeeKay, 223.026, 90
Katherine Legge, 222.927, 86
Josef Newgarden, 222.847, 71
Linus Lundqvist, 222.961, 49
11 a.m. ET: Indy 500 Carb Day practice
∎ Kyle Larson runs out of fuel on the track, prompting a brief caution.
Whoops.
📺: #Indy500 final practice on Peacock pic.twitter.com/JbQUp2fBcS— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 24, 2024
Some pit stop difficulty for rookie Kyle Larson.
📺: #Indy500 Carb Day on Peacock pic.twitter.com/5yOpk49O5P— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 24, 2024
∎ Takuma Sato, a two-time race champ, comes onto pit lane hot and swerves to avoid Conor Daly.
Takuma Sato LOCKS IT UP entering pit road!
📺: #Indy500 Carb Day on Peacock pic.twitter.com/21CfTy32fk— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 24, 2024
∎ Midway through the session, Helio Castroneves has logged the most laps (65). The 49-year-old is seeking a record-setting fifth race win, and this is his only IndyCar Series race of the year. Some of the others to turn more than 50 laps are relative novices at IMS: Agustin Canapino, Callum Ilott, Sting Ray Robb, Pietro Fittipaldi, Tom Blomqvist. Also, Graham Rahal and Alex Palou have topped 50 laps. On the other end, Linus Lundqvist has turned just 6 laps and Santino Ferrucci 9.
Carb Day! #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/EJTFqn1kRb
— Nick Yeoman (@NYeoman) May 24, 2024
∎ A half-hour in, and Scott Dixon has the top lap at 227.206 mph. Four-time champ Helio Castroneves is next at 226.939, followed by Pato O'Ward (226.666), Colton Herta (226.220) and Tom Blomqvist (225.450). The full field has reached at least 215 mph.
∎ Marcus Ericsson hits 218.555 mph in the opening minutes.
Track conditions: 76 degrees, sunny; track temperature 100 degrees
HAPPY CARB DAY!#Indy500 final practice is live on Peacock. pic.twitter.com/c7yTyge5Hq
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 24, 2024
Indy 500 champs now get a winner jacket
A new tradition.
IMS is pleased to have commissioned the special #Indy500 Winner Jacket, which celebrates membership in the most elite of motorsports clubs, the club of Indianapolis 500 champions.
Today on the Yard of Bricks, the winners were presented with their jackets. pic.twitter.com/jUJkavpNxv— Indianapolis Motor Speedway (@IMS) May 24, 2024
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: 2024 Indy 500 Carb Day practice speeds, highlights