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Practice report

Indy 500 Practice: Dixon on top in opening session for veterans

Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda’s five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon set the pace in the first practice session for the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda

Barry Cantrell / Motorsport Images

The 2008 Indy winner lapped the iconic 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 224.047mph, some 0.85mph faster than Team Penske-Chevrolet’s two-time and reigning champion Josef Newgarden.

A.J. Foyt Racing-Chevrolet’s Tony Kanaan was the first driver to click past 220mph as the 2013 Indy winner drafted past Marcus Ericsson’s Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda 17 minutes into the two-hour session. He was soon edged by Dixon and 2016 winner Alexander Rossi, before another Foyt car went fastest, that of Charlie Kimball.

The 2018 winner Will Power sent Team Penske into the 221mph zone, and Dixon then towed up behind Colton Herta to click off a 222.

Marco Andretti came to a halt on pitlane entry with an electrical issue, bringing out the first caution of the day, not long after Marco’s temporary Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe put his Genesys car at the top of the speed charts with a 223.071mph lap.

This held firm as fastest speed until the final 10 minutes when Josef Newgarden picked up a strong draft from a couple of cars to hit an average of 223.188mph around the iconic 2.5-mile Speedway. This was then thoroughly eclipsed by Dixon’s 224.047.

Behind this pair, Hinchcliffe retained third as fastest Andretti car ahead of Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay who turned fastest no-tow speed at 219.7.

2017 winner Takuma Sato was seventh for Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda, while Zach Veach split two of the Ed Carpenter Racing machines.

Next up is two hours for Rookies and Refreshers.

RANK CAR NO. DRIVER TEAM ENGINE FAST SPEED TOTAL LAPS
1 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 224.047 36
2 1 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevy 223.188 42
3 29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda 223.071 13
4 14 Tony Kanaan AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevy 222.080 42
5 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 221.884 29
6 30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 221.838 34
7 20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy 221.813 40
8 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevy 221.634 43
9 26 Zach Veach Andretti Autosport Honda 221.359 47
10 47 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy 221.234 32
11 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 221.036 45
12 45 Spencer Pigot RLL with Citrone/Buhl Autosport Honda 220.999 44
13 88 Colton Herta Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport Honda 220.941 34
14 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 220.930 25
15 4 Charlie Kimball AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevy 220.662 48
16 18 Santino Ferrucci Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan Honda 220.339 37
17 60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda 220.267 34
18 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevy 220.135 40
19 98 Marco Andretti Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb-Agajanian Honda 220.028 28
20 8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 219.694 43
21 10 Felix Rosenqvist Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 219.561 9

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