Fontana IndyCar: Ed Carpenter fastest in evening practice

Carpenter set his 215.768mph lap just after a late restart to move ahead of Helio Castroneves, whose 215.108mph effort had been the one to beat for most of the Friday evening session.

Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Josef Newgarden rounded out the top five.

It was a subdued evening for both of the championship contenders, with Ryan Hunter-Reay's 209.360mph best leaving him 21st, and Will Power a further two places behind with a fastest lap of 208.243mph.

Wade Cunningham prompted a late full-course yellow when he lost the rear of his AJ Foyt entry and brushed the wall at Turn 2.

The New Zealander, who was drafted in at the 11th hour to replace Mike Conway, was taken to the infield medical centre for checks and has been cleared to drive on Saturday.

Cunningham's was the second caution of the session, with an earlier, longer spell under yellows having been prompted by a track inspection.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                    Time      Gap
 1.  Ed Carpenter         Carpenter Dallara-Chevy     33.3691s
 2.  Helio Castroneves    Penske Dallara-Chevy        33.4715s  + 0.1024s
 3.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi Dallara-Honda       33.4801s  + 0.1110s
 4.  Tony Kanaan          KV Dallara-Chevy            33.6348s  + 0.2657s
 5.  Josef Newgarden      Fisher Dallara-Honda        33.6723s  + 0.3032s
 6.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske Dallara-Chevy        33.7275s  + 0.3584s
 7.  JR Hildebrand        Panther Dallara-Chevy       33.7502s  + 0.3811s
 8.  Justin Wilson        Coyne Dallara-Honda         33.7875s  + 0.4184s
 9.  Graham Rahal         Ganassi Dallara-Honda       33.9379s  + 0.5688s
10.  Oriol Servia         Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy   33.9641s  + 0.5950s
11.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi Dallara-Honda       33.9904s  + 0.6213s
12.  Rubens Barrichello   KV Dallara-Chevy            34.1008s  + 0.7317s
13.  Marco Andretti       Andretti Dallara-Chevy      34.1227s  + 0.7536s
14.  Takuma Sato          Rahal Dallara-Honda         34.1330s  + 0.7639s
15.  James Jakes          Coyne Dallara-Honda         34.1514s  + 0.7823s
16.  Katherine Legge      Dragon Dallara-Chevy        34.1601s  + 0.7910s
17.  James Hinchcliffe    Andretti Dallara-Chevy      34.2000s  + 0.8309s
18.  Simon Pagenaud       Schmidt Dallara-Honda       34.2912s  + 0.9221s
19.  Alex Tagliani        Herta Dallara-Honda         34.3049s  + 0.9358s
20.  Charlie Kimball      Ganassi Dallara-Honda       34.3469s  + 0.9778s
21.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti Dallara-Chevy      34.3905s  + 1.0214s
22.  Sebastian Saavedra   AFS/Andretti Dallara-Chevy  34.3905s  + 1.0214s
23.  Will Power           Penske Dallara-Chevy        34.5750s  + 1.2059s
24.  EJ Viso              KV Dallara-Chevy            34.6401s  + 1.2710s
25.  Wade Cunningham      Foyt Dallara-Honda          35.0168s  + 1.6477s
26.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM Dallara-Lotus           37.0575s  + 3.6884s