FAST FRIDAY REPORT: 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Presented by Gainbridge
Practice Notes
- The full NTT INDYCAR SERIES field took to the track today for Fast Friday, where cars receive a turbocharger boost to replicate qualifying setups after a week of running lower boost, replicating race setups.
- The Andretti INDYCAR quartet ran a total of 72 laps on the day, with Kyle Kirkwood leading the team in both overall speed in fourth and in no-tow speeds in third.
- Live coverage of the Indy 500 Qualifying weekend kicks off tomorrow with practice on FS2 from 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM. Drivers will then battle it out for a coveted spot at the Greatest Spectacle in Racing beginning at 11 AM across FS1, FS2 and FOX.
Practice Results
Colton Herta
No. 26 Gainbridge Honda
P5
| Top Speed | 232.066 MPH |
| Qualifying Draw | 15th |
“It was a good day overall. We learned a lot. We struggled a little bit in the beginning, but the Gainbridge crew came up with some really good stuff and came back in the afternoon and felt a lot more positive. On to the big day tomorrow with Qualifying. We have a really fast car in the Gainbridge Honda, so hopefully we can put it in the Fast 12 tomorrow.”
Kyle Kirkwood
No. 27 Siemens Honda
P4
| Top Speed | 232.107 MPH |
| Qualifying Draw | 30th |
“It was a decent day. We got some good running done at the end of the day. I feel like we’re in a good spot with the Siemens Honda. We’re definitely contenders, probably in the top six range, but only time will tell. Tomorrow is so much different that really everyone is unsure of what it’ll actually look like. “
Marcus Ericsson
No. 28 Allegra® Honda
P19
| Top Speed | 230.791 MPH |
| Qualifying Draw | 1st |
“It was really tricky conditions today on Fast Friday, especially turning the boost up. We were waiting quite a bit as a team, and then when we got out, it wasn’t exactly the feeling I wanted in the car. But, the Allegra crew made some really good changes to the car, tuning it more to my liking, and we ended up having a really strong run towards the later part of the day. It just gives us a lot of confidence going into Qualifying weekend. Overall, a happy day, and looking forward to this weekend.”
Marco Andretti
No. 98 MAPEI / CURB Honda
P22
| Top Speed | 230.510 MPH |
| Qualifying Draw | 23rd |
“Today wasn’t very representative of where we are with the MAPEI / CURB HONDA, especially after running in the toughest conditions of the day. We knew that tomorrow was going to be cooler and a bit windier, so we are planning on running the morning practice tomorrow, which we don’t normally do, to get a final read on where we are before Qualifying.”
Rob Edwards
Chief Operating Officer
“It was an interesting day with the weather, but I credit the whole team for being very patient with the preparation, both overnight and today during our runs. We’re happy with where we ended up. Obviously, the 26 and 27 showed speed in the last 30 minutes, and the 28 was happy at the time of day they ran, but we think there’s more there. The 98 was comfortable, but they just felt in the conditions that they were running in that they would rather spend the time tonight working on the car and be ready to run the practice session tomorrow morning in cooler conditions to get that data point. It was a productive day, and now we’re off to Qualifying.”
