Indy 500 front-row starter Josef Newgarden leads Monday practice
Front-row starter Josef Newgarden set the pace in the final full day of practice for next Sunday's Indianapolis 500
IndyCar teams and drivers focused on full-tank runs in the three-and-a-half hour session, to see how their cars will handle in the 100th running of the iconic race.
There were times when the cars with a higher ride-height to accommodate the domed skids made Monday's practice look like a frantic, high-speed traffic jam.
Indy 500 polesitter Hinchcliffe wishes he'd turned dash off
Ed Carpenter Racing's Newgarden set the pace with a lap of 227.414mph, ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing pair Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon, as Serge Karam completed an all-Chevrolet top four.
Newgarden also logged the fourth-most laps for the day, 111 in total.
"It was a hot day and it was hard," he said.
"The track temperature today was similar to Sunday so now that we are putting our race downforce on it was even more than we needed last week when it was cool.
"This is the most representative day of what we are going to see on race day and that is great.
"Everyone ran in a pack today and that is what we needed to see.
"To me, some guys looked really good at some points and bad at other points.
"That is how it is going to look on race day and it's about making your race more good than bad. That is going to be the key."
Polesitter James Hinchcliffe kept a low profile in 17th with a lap of 224.602mph.
It was Dale Coyne Racing's Pippa Mann who set the pace for Honda, in fifth, having also clocked 116 laps.
"It gets really interesting and difficult and you react to what everybody else is doing not just what you are doing," Mann said of running in traffic with the higher ride heights.
"If a driver four cars up in front of you has an issue, you also have to be able to react to what that issue may be and try to get back to power appropriately to make the most out of his issue and pounce on the guy in front of you."
In the final session before Friday's Carb Day running, Jack Hawksworth's AJ Foyt entry stopped with a small engine fire.
PRACTICE RESULTS:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josef Newgarden | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 39.5754s | 111 |
| 2 | Tony Kanaan | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.1785s | 96 |
| 3 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.1880s | 98 |
| 4 | Sage Karam | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.2396s | 93 |
| 5 | Pippa Mann | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 0.2771s | 116 |
| 6 | Charlie Kimball | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.2776s | 98 |
| 7 | Mikhail Aleshin | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 0.3196s | 95 |
| 8 | J.R. Hildebrand | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.3512s | 108 |
| 9 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Herta | Dallara/Honda | 0.3643s | 98 |
| 10 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.3862s | 74 |
| 11 | Ed Carpenter | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.4120s | 92 |
| 12 | Conor Daly | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 0.4120s | 83 |
| 13 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.4211s | 98 |
| 14 | Townsend Bell | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.4350s | 101 |
| 15 | Gabby Chaves | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 0.4486s | 81 |
| 16 | Takuma Sato | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 0.4906s | 85 |
| 17 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 0.4954s | 98 |
| 18 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.5029s | 96 |
| 19 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 0.5073s | 88 |
| 20 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.5179s | 81 |
| 21 | Carlos Munoz | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.5329s | 117 |
| 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.5789s | 54 |
| 23 | Sebastien Bourdais | KVSH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.5849s | 19 |
| 24 | Helio Castroneves | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.6053s | 103 |
| 25 | Max Chilton | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.6369s | 117 |
| 26 | Oriol Servia | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 0.6488s | 96 |
| 27 | Jack Hawksworth | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 0.7492s | 39 |
| 28 | Spencer Pigot | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 0.8074s | 107 |
| 29 | Matthew Brabham | Team Murray | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.8520s | 96 |
| 30 | Stefan Wilson | KVSH Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.8603s | 115 |
| 31 | Bryan Clauson | Jonathan Byrd's Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1.0003s | 81 |
| 32 | Alex Tagliani | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Honda | 1.0799s | 10 |
| 33 | Buddy Lazier | Lazier Burns Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.0998s | 42 |
Previous article
Indy 500 qualifying: Plastic bag caused "awful" Montoya run
Next article
Indy 500 completely sold out for first time in 100th running
About this article
| Series | IndyCar |
| Drivers | Josef Newgarden |
| Author | Bruce Martin |
How Herta's aversion to complacency spells bad news for his IndyCar rivals
Colton Herta's dominant IndyCar win on the streets of St. Petersburg confirmed what rivals have long-suspected - that the second-generation racer is destined for stardom. But it was Herta's comments afterwards that gave perhaps the most interesting insight into a driver that will be around for a long time to come
How good is Palou - and can he be Dixon's main IndyCar title rival?
Last Sunday, Alex Palou delivered his first IndyCar victory on his Chip Ganassi Racing debut. Is the young Spaniard going to become his legendary teammate Scott Dixon’s biggest title threat? DAVID MALSHER-LOPEZ investigates Palou's potential
Can Penske redress the balance in IndyCar's battle of the titans?
IndyCar's gold standard teams Ganassi and Penske are set for another slugfest beginning this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. A poor start to the first season with the new aeroscreen left Josef Newgarden with too much ground to make up on Scott Dixon in the title chase, but his strong end to 2020 suggests a battle royale lies ahead...
The six major IndyCar subplots to follow in 2021
From rookies arriving with big reputations to veterans who still have the fire and an F1-linked squad pushing to join the big leagues, IndyCar has it all this year. Here are six of the key storylines to keep track of
The Indycar season that proves Michael Andretti is better than F1 showed
Often unfairly characterised as a car-breaker, judged for his lack of an Indianapolis 500 win and a disappointing part-season of Formula 1 in 1993, Michael Andretti was highly respected by his rivals and only thwarted greater success by ill-fortune. When it all came together in 1991, he was a truly formidable force
How McLaren is striving towards IndyCar's elite
The second year of McLaren's full-time IndyCar return is looming, with Patricio O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist leading its line-up. Strong team personnel and work behind the scenes means that 2021 could be the year it joins the established elite
The enigmatic legacy of a misunderstood Indy stalwart
Flashes of brilliance amid spells of obscurity have been too common for Marco Andretti. While the third-generation racer has opted to bring his full-time IndyCar career to a close, his peaks and troughs have never been for want of trying
Why American racing's top dog is without equal
A byword for success in business and in motorsport for over 50 years, Roger Penske's importance to the US scene cannot be understated. In an exclusive interview, the custodian of the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway reflects on his journey
