Power and Newgarden close Fast Friday with 232mph laps
Chevrolet-powered cars hit the top of the overall times with 1.4-bar qualifying boost, but Hondas retained their edge in no-tow speeds.
Photo by: IndyCar Series
Will Power set the fastest speed of the week with a 232.672mph lap, the Penske-Chevrolet driver edging Josef Newgarden’s Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevy by 0.0546mph.
Following a delay for moisture on the track, the cars took to the track in overcast conditions, and Power wasted little time in laying down his fastest time. He later set two 231mph laps without the aid of a tow.
Newgarden joined Power in the 232 bracket but like the Australian, Josef set his time in the draft.
Fastest of the Honda drivers was James Hinchcliffe, setting a 231.972mph for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, and it was also a Honda-powered car that topped the no-tow list, Andretti Autosport’s Townsend Bell retaining his pre-eminence from the morning.
The driver who made great progress in Happy Hour was his teammate, Ryan Hunter-Reay, who set his fastest time overall without the aid of a tow, a 231.284mph.
His teammates Carlos Munoz and Marco Andretti were fifth and sixth, while Oriol Servia and Mikhail Aleshin joined their SPM teammate Hinchcliffe in the top 10, Aleshin getting alarmingly close to the wall as he went ninth overall and eighth on the no-tow list.
Feelgood story of Happy Hour was provided by Spencer Pigot who crashed his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda on Wednesday, missed practice as his crew built him a new car yesterday, but returned to the track today. He clocked a 229mph lap in the draft and a 225 running solo and in race trim.
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