Results from Fast Friday…
By Tony DiZinno and Steve Wittich of Trackside Online..
The afternoon lull was broken when some cars took to the track for solo runs.
At 2:15 PM, the “Yellow Submarine” of Helio Castroneves took to the track for a mock qualifying run. The 3-time winner put together four super consistent laps of 227.590mph, 227.495mph, 227.578mph, and 227.307mph. Those laps were just under his best no-tow lap of 227.771mph set earlier in the session.
Just before 2:30 PM Scott Dixon went out on track and despite only completing two laps, was able to improve his quickest no-tow lap to 227.741mph, the 11th best of the day.
It appears that some cars have set-ups that allow them to run four very consistent laps, and some are struggling to maintain a constant speed.
For example, J.R. Hildebrand and Josef Newgarden did back-to-back qualification simulations and had very different results. J.R. Hildebrand’s first lap was clocked at 226.770mph and dropped each consecutive lap until a 224.927mph lap on his fourth lap.
Conversely, Newgarden’s qualification simulation began with a lap of 227.039mph and ended with a lap of 227.375mph.
At 2:43 pm James Davison was the first significant contact of the “Month of May.”
The Australian was on the third lap of a qualification simulation after turning a lap of 224.405mph when the rear end of the No. 33 Jonathan Byrd’s 502 East Chevrolet stepped out in the middle of Turn 2. The Foyt with Byrd / Hollinger / Belardi entry did a 180-degree spin, making hard contact with the SAFER barrier with the left front of the car first and left rear second.
The 31-year-old climbed from the heavily damaged car under his own power.
The car made contact at the end of the SAFER Barrier that has been extended 56 feet this year.
At the time of the incident, Davison had the 32nd quickest overall lap and the 35th fastest no-tow lap.
Davison was taken to the IU Health Medical Center by the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team –
The No. 17 United States Air Force Honda of Conor Daly was the first car on track after Davison’s contact.
“Absolutely nothing then it was backwards,” said Davison to the IMS PA when asked if he felt anything before his shunt. “Completely new experience for me. I guess I became one of the drivers to smack the wall at Indianapolis. Joined the club today. It’s not ideal. We had to try some things. I’ve been having a fantastic time. We’ll regroup and see what we can pull tomorrow.
Conor Daly and the No. 17 United States Air Force Honda was the first car on track after the third generation driver’s accident.
The Noblesville, Ind. native only completed two laps before coming back to pit road. The wind was gusting during his first two laps, and the Daly was complaining of significant understeer.
Some drivers, including Kyle Kaiser, Pippa Mann and Gabby Chaves took to the 2.5-mile oval for qualification simulations. Only Chaves was able to improve his no-tow speed to 226.475mph. The 28th quickest no-tow speed of the day.
The track started to get busier just past 3:30 PM with some drivers struggling to find speed after losing the balance of their race cars. With some cars on track, it was hard for drivers to get a good read on their no-tow pace.
The No. 25 #Driven2SaveLives Honda of Stefan Wilson was one car that was able to get a clean track, improving his no-tow speed to 226.474mph.
Dixon, who had been battling a migraine earlier today, was able to get back out on the track and quickly improved his quickest no-tow lap to 227.741mph, the 11th quickest of Fast Friday.
No-tow time chart as of 4 pm
| RANK | DRIVER | BEST NO-TOW SPEED |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marco Andretti | 227.283 |
| 2 | Robert Wickens | 227.968 |
| 3 | Ed Carpenter | 228.740 |
| 4 | Oriol Servia | 227.168 |
| 5 | Will Power | 229.780 |
| 6 | Sebastien Bourdais | 228.657 |
| 7 | Tony Kanaan | 227.524 |
| 8 | Matheus Leist | 227.687 |
| 9 | Stefan Wilson | 226.474 |
| 10 | Alexander Rossi | 228.193 |
| 11 | Gabby Chaves | 226.475 |
| 12 | Helio Castroneves | 227.895 |
| 13 | Spencer Pigot | 228.424 |
| 14 | Josef Newgarden | 228.993 |
| 15 | Kyle Kaiser | 225.770 |
| 16 | Simon Pagenaud | 228.857 |
| 17 | Ed Jones | 227.139 |
| 18 | Charlie Kimball | 227.304 |
| 19 | Jay Howard | 226.138 |
| 20 | Danica Patrick | 228.284 |
| 21 | Scott Dixon | 227.741 |
| 22 | Carlos Munoz | 227.050 |
| 23 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 227.563 |
| 24 | Takuma Sato | 226.827 |
| 25 | Conor Daly | 226.572 |
| 26 | Sage Karam | 226.302 |
| 27 | Zachary Claman DeMelo | 227.186 |
| 28 | Zach Veach | 227.314 |
| 29 | James Hinchcliffe | 226.082 |
| 30 | Pippa Mann | 226.845 |
| 31 | Max Chilton | 226.845 |
| 32 | Graham Rahal | 225.375 |
| 33 | James Davison | 224.678 |
| 34 | J.R. Hildebrand | 226.699 |
| 35 | Jack Harvey | 226.610 |