Indy 500: Veteran one-off Howard holds P1 at halfway point on Day 4

Howard, the 2006 Indy Lights champion, is campaigning a third Schmidt Peterson Motorsports-Honda this month, making his first IndyCar start since the cancelled Las Vegas race in 2011 that killed Dan Wheldon.

The Briton got a hefty tow on his ninth lap, and has completed a total of 51 laps so far, although his speed without a tow is only 17^th fastest.

The absolute opposite has been achieved by Ed Carpenter, the only fulltime team owner/driver in the field, as he sits atop the no-tow speedcharts on 224.051mph but that is also his best speed overall, leaving him 17^th.

2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and four-time top-three finisher Marco Andretti led the Andretti Autosport-Honda charge in second and third, with Andretti also holding P2 on the no-tow speed charts.

Team Penske-Chevrolet’s Josef Newgarden crashed hard this morning but his top speed of 225.455mph has kept him fourth, ahead of Sage Karam (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevy) and Charlie Kimball in the fastest Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda.

Fernando Alonso has completed 58 laps so far today, with plenty of running in traffic, and getting a good draft has resulted in a commendable P7 for now at an average speed of 225.128mph. He did not record any times without the aid of a tow.

Sebastien Bourdais of Dale Coyne Racing-Honda is eighth, with Mikhail Aleshin’s Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entry, and Penske’s Will Power completing the Top 10.

Hardest-working driver is Helio Castroneves, the three-time Indy 500 winner racking up 99 laps and sitting 13^th.

Buddy Lazier's self-entered car has still not appeared on track but the other 32 entrants have all racked up miles, and even the slowest - currently Zach Veach in the third AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet - has hit 219mph today.