Scott McLaughlin leads treacherous Fast Friday with 233.9mph lap

Fast Friday quickly lived up to its name. With the boost turned up and maximum horsepower now available to all drivers, Scott McLaughlin rocketed to the top of the charts with a 233.954mph lap. It was more than six miles per hour faster than the previous best lap of the week, but it’s worth noting that he had a tow.

“Good day for us in the Yellow Submarine for Fast Friday,” said McLaughlin. “Ran two runs in the morning, felt a little tight in the first one, and then fixed the balance for the last and felt really, really good. So trying different strategies with the hybrid, we got an idea what we want to do for tomorrow, for the big day. But yeah, really good to get four good laps in and Yeah, put up a solid run.”

The best non-tow speed belonged to Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon at 232.561mph. Dixon also led the way in best four-lap averages at 232.366mph. Looking only at the four-lap averages, Alex Palou was second at 232.307mph, McLaughlin third at 232.212mph, Colton Herta fourth at 231.721mph, and Kyle Kirkwood fifth at 231.491mph. 

Felix Rosenqvist, Christian Lundgaard, Robert Shwartzman, Sting Ray Robb, and Marcus Ericsson all filled out the remainder of the top ten in best four-lap averages with all drivers eclipsing the 230mph mark.

“It was good,” said Dixon. “The first one (qualifying sim) was very conservative. We were very worried about conditions and obviously what had happened to Kyffin. Glad he’s OK.

“I think there’s still some good speed still left in the car. The car is really smooth, and I’m pretty conservative, as well. So, we’ll see. Who knows what tomorrow is going to bring? I think conditions are going to be pretty tough.”

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

Drivers were running mock qualifying runs throughout the day, but high winds and misbehaving cars made for treacherous conditions. The stream of cars bailing mid-run was almost constant as the field struggled to find the right balance. For those who did complete four-lap runs, many had to lift more than they wanted to just to get the cars around the track in one piece.

Two major incidents

While several flirted with disaster, Kyffin Simpson was the one who actually stepped over that line. In his first run of the day, he crashed at the exit of Turn 4 and went airborne, damaging the SAFER Barrier and destroying his No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Thankfully, Simpson was okay in what he later described as a “weird crash.”

One of the final three drivers to make it out on track was Kyle Larson, who became the next driver to crash as he lost control on his first flying lap. Luckily for Larson, the team only needed to replace the front and rear clips. The repairs were done quickly and Larson returned to the track for an installation lap just one hour after the crash. While admitting he was “caught off-guard” by the incident, Larson didn’t seem too worried about Saturday qualifying.

No one took part in drafting practice (intentionally), and so, lap totals were far lower than the previous three days as teams fully committed to qualifying runs. Will Power, Jacob Abel, and Graham Rahal all tied for most laps run with each completing 26 laps.

Photos from Indianapolis 500 – Practice 5