The four-time Indy 500 polesitter and three-time Indy 500 winner ran a 229.505mph lap in his Team Penske-Chevrolet, apparently without a tow, although as Gabby Chaves explained yesterday, this year there can be a tow effect even if the car ahead is out of sight.

Teammate Will Power had his figures muddied by Sage Karam’s Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevy running ahead of him briefly, but finished second ahead of JR Hildebrand in the other DRR car.

Gabby Chaves, who gave Harding Racing its debut at IMS last May, was fourth fastest ahead of Karam, while Oriol Servia clocked P6 in the Scuderia Corsa Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda, leading teammates Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal.

James Davison, who shunted his AJ Foyt Racing with Byrd/Hollinger/Belardi entry yesterday, drove his rebuilt car to a best no-tow speed of 224.732mph.

IndyCar 2018 Indy 500

Cla	#	Driver	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Mph
1	3	Helio Castroneves	9	39.2148			229.505
2	12	Will Power	7	39.2988	0.0840	0.0840	229.015
3	66	J.R. Hildebrand	7	39.5151	0.3003	0.2163	227.761
4	88	Gabby Chaves	8	39.6860	0.4712	0.1709	226.780
5	24	Sage Karam	7	39.6927	0.4779	0.0067	226.742
6	64	Oriol Servia	6	39.6971	0.4823	0.0044	226.717
7	30	Takuma Sato	11	39.7044	0.4896	0.0073	226.675
8	33	James Davison	14	39.7182	0.5034	0.0138	226.596
9	15	Graham Rahal	7	39.9480	0.7332	0.2298	225.293
10	1	Josef Newgarden	2	43.2982	4.0834	3.3502	207.861
11	22	Simon Pagenaud	1	1'05.4573	26.2425	22.1591	137.494