Indy 500: Herta sets quickest lap at 234.974mph, Newgarden tops four-lap average

Colton Herta managed to pull off the quickest single-lap run, while Josef Newgarden put together a stout four-lap effort on Fast Friday ahead of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.

While out for a simulated qualifying run, Herta’s ultimate lap of 234.974mph came courtesy of a tow off the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Graham Rahal with roughly 90 minutes left on the day.

Herta opted to abort the effort after Rahal impeded the run. Newgarden, the reigning Indy 500 winner, made his presence felt with a strong simulated qualifying run at 234.063mph (234.260, 233.937, 233.970, 234.087) to seize control of the fastest four-lap average in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet.

Newgarden went out around 3pm ET, which is the same time Sunday’s Top 12 battle would be taking place.

“You can’t control this stuff sometimes,” Newgarden said.

“Like, you show up and you can’t get too excited on a day like today. We’re testing. Everybody is testing. It counts when it counts but I think we have fast cars. There’s no doubt we gotta be somewhat pleased at what we’re looking at.

“Again, let’s not get excited because it’s Fast Friday but we need to put our pieces together tomorrow.

Team Penske swept the top three spots in the four-lap average runs, with Scott McLaughlin (233.623mph) and Will Power (233.451mph) ending up second and third, respectively.

The Arrow McLaren duo of Alexander Rossi and Pato O’Ward concluded fourth and fifth after simulated qualifying outings at 233.355mph and 233.043mph.

Felix Rosenqvist (Meyer Shank Racing), Agustin Canapino (Juncos Hollinger Racing), Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing), Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Global) and Kyle Larson (Arrow McLaren) rounded out the rest of the top 10 in best four-lap average speed.

Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, ran the second-quickest single lap behind Herta, hitting 234.271mph. Newgarden’s fastest individual lap of 234.260mph took third, ahead of team-mate McLaughlin’s 234.102mph run in fourth. Rossi was fifth on the single-lap efforts at 234.006mph.

Reigning and two-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, who is also the defending pole-sitter of the Indy 500, encountered a problem during his simulated run in the afternoon after a plume of smoke dusted out of the right side of his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

The verdict was an engine issue as oil caked the pit box, with an extended yellow flag to also clean up residue on the track.

Palou received a new engine as a result and was able to return before the end of the session. He ended up 24th on the single-lap outing at 232.135mph.

The Honda of Pietro Fittipaldi also endured a weird mechanical issue, but it was found to be an overboost and did not have to require an engine change. His best lap was 231.586mph.

There was only one major incident on the day, which involved rookie Nolan Siegel.

Driving the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, Siegel was in the midst of a third lap during a simulated qualifying run when his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda snapped around and hit the outside wall on the exit of Turn 2. The back of the car lifted and nearly inverted before skating down the backstretch on the left side before coming to a stop in the middle of the track.

Fortunately, he was able to walk away from the accident after receiving assistance after being released, due to being trapped by the car positioning and aeroscreen.

The incident happened roughly 90 minutes into the day, with Siegel only running 15 laps with a best of 229.813mph (28th overall). He became the third driver to crash this week, with Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist and Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner, involved in separate incidents on Thursday’s running.


Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph
1	C. Herta Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian	26	24	38.3021		234.974
2	K. Larson Arrow McLaren/Rick Hendrick	17	34	+0.1150 38.4171	0.1150	234.271
3	J. Newgarden Team Penske	2	15	+0.1168 38.4189	0.0018	234.260
4	S. McLaughlin Team Penske	3	33	+0.1426 38.4447	0.0258	234.102
5	A. Rossi Arrow McLaren	7	36	+0.1585 38.4606	0.0159	234.006
6	W. Power Team Penske	12	30	+0.1818 38.4839	0.0233	233.864
7	P. O'Ward Arrow McLaren	5	35	+0.2009 38.5030	0.0191	233.748
8	K. Kirkwood Andretti Global	27	27	+0.2080 38.5101	0.0071	233.705
9	T. Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	75	38	+0.2123 38.5144	0.0043	233.679
10	S. Ferrucci A.J. Foyt Enterprises	14	28	+0.2564 38.5585	0.0441	233.412
11	A. Canapino Juncos Hollinger Racing	78	37	+0.2681 38.5702	0.0117	233.341
12	F. Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing	60	19	+0.2827 38.5848	0.0146	233.252
13	R. Hunter-Reay Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports	23	24	+0.2926 38.5947	0.0099	233.193
14	C. Ilott Arrow McLaren	6	31	+0.3020 38.6041	0.0094	233.136
15	R. van Kalmthout Ed Carpenter Racing	21	20	+0.3113 38.6134	0.0093	233.080
16	R. Robb A.J. Foyt Enterprises	41	29	+0.3176 38.6197	0.0063	233.042
17	M. Andretti Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco & Curb-Agajani	98	25	+0.3409 38.6430	0.0233	232.901
18	C. Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	45	27	+0.3960 38.6981	0.0551	232.570
19	E. Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing	20	28	+0.3997 38.7018	0.0037	232.547
20	H. Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	06	42	+0.4084 38.7105	0.0087	232.495
21	S. Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing	9	33	+0.4121 38.7142	0.0037	232.473
22	M. Ericsson Andretti Global	28	44	+0.4262 38.7283	0.0141	232.388
23	T. Blomqvist Meyer Shank Racing	66	21	+0.4499 38.7520	0.0237	232.246
24	A. Palou Chip Ganassi Racing	10	18	+0.4684 38.7705	0.0185	232.135
25	R. Grosjean Juncos Hollinger Racing	77	32	+0.4685 38.7706	0.0001	232.135
26	M. Armstrong Chip Ganassi Racing	11	36	+0.4735 38.7756	0.0050	232.105
27	C. Rasmussen Ed Carpenter Racing	33	25	+0.4846 38.7867	0.0111	232.038
28	L. Lundqvist Chip Ganassi Racing	8	38	+0.5171 38.8192	0.0325	231.844
29	P. Fittipaldi Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	30	24	+0.5603 38.8624	0.0432	231.586
30	G. Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	15	22	+0.6191 38.9212	0.0588	231.236
31	C. Daly Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports	24	19	+0.6671 38.9692	0.0480	230.952
32	K. Simpson Chip Ganassi Racing	4	46	+0.7232 39.0253	0.0561	230.620
33	K. Legge Dale Coyne Racing	51	35	+0.7935 39.0956	0.0703	230.205
34	N. Siegel Dale Coyne Racing	18	15	+0.8601 39.1622	0.0666	229.813
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