Will Power and Penske step up the pace in Indianapolis 500 practice

Power's 232.672mph effort came on his 24th of 32 laps on 'Fast Friday' and put him ahead of fellow Chevy runner Josef Newgarden's 232.344mph for Ed Carpenter Racing.

"Yes, I got a good tow," Power said.

"Even when the car is out of traffic, it was pretty good, pretty solid. I think it's fast.

"I think it's going to be really, really tight for pole. There are a lot of quick guys out there and I think Honda is right there, too."

Power said Penske's low-key results earlier in the week were due to its focus on race trim.

"We've been working on the race set-up, obviously," Power said.

"When we're running race downforce, you can definitely get like a five-car tow type of thing and put out some good speeds.

"But I think in qualifying it's good this year because you really are on the limit.

"Your foot starts shaking on the throttle, you know you kind of trimmed a little bit much, which is how it should be."

James Hinchcliffe led a flurry of Honda runners in positions third to 11th, ahead of Andretti Autosport's Carlos Munoz, Marco Andretti, Townsend Bell and 2014 Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Schmidt Peterson driver Hinchcliffe was not surprised to see Power leap to the top.

"He's in a Penske," Hinchcliffe said. "I'm not surprised at all.

"That's what they do here. Roger Penske didn't win 15 Indianapolis 500s without knowing when to show his speed. It's never a surprise to see one of them up there."

Hinchcliffe was pleased with the speed he was able to get from his Honda and said the team will not participate in Saturday morning's practice session.

"We're going to see some quick times," Hinchcliffe said. "We still have a little bit of speed to find in our car but we've had a hell of a run so far.

"We aren't going to run in the morning. We're ready to go."

Eighteen cars turned laps over 230mph and nine over 231mph on Friday.

The real key to potential entering Saturday's first round of single-car qualifications was the 'no tow report'.

Bell led that one at 231.342mph followed by Power at 231.339mph, and Hunter-Reay at 231.284mph.

Drivers can make multiple qualifying attempts during Saturday's first round, which runs from 11am to 5.50pm local time.

The fastest nine cars from Saturday go into a pole position shootout on Sunday, after the rest of the field have fought for positions 11-33 in the group one qualifying session.

FRIDAY PRACTICE RESULTS