Conor Daly leads Fast Friday, Ed Jones quickest in single-car runs

Conor Daly bested Andretti Autosport teammate Marco Andretti in the final minutes of Fast Friday to set the fastest lap of the week in practice for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

Increased power from the turbochargers ensured that drivers would turn their quickest laps of the week. Daly circled the 2.5-mile oval in 38.8426s (231.704 mph), a clear .1436s ahead of Andretti’s lap time of 38.9862s (230.851 mph).

Ed Jones repeated his performance from yesterday and set the quickest lap without a tow at 39.1124 (230.106 mph). He ended up 10th on the overall speed chart. His three-time Indy 500 pole-sitting teammate Ed Carpenter logged the second quickest lap at 39.1510 (229.879 mph) and was sixth fastest in overall time.

The third ECR entry of Spencer Pigot out-performed his teammates on the overall speed chart with the fourth quickest time of 39.0504s (230.471 mph), behind 2017 race winner Takuma Sato in third.

2016 race winner Alexander Rossi carried the banner for Honda and Andretti Autosport in the no-tow category at 39.1512s (229.878 mph) ahead of the Team Penske Chevrolets of Will Power and Simon Pagenaud.

Ryan Hunter-Reay made it three Andretti Autosport Hondas on the overall timesheet but was only 24th in the no tow ranking. Rounding out the top ten in overall times were Carpenter, Pagenaud, Charlie Kimball, Newgarden and Jones.

The final two cars in the 230 mph bracket were former Indy winners Power and Tony Kanaan in 11th and 12th respectively.

Fernando Alonso made his return driving his backup No. 66 McLaren Racing Chevrolet. He logged 77 laps today after a day’s hiatus due to a Crash on Wednesday and scored his personal best time of the week at 39.2451s (229.328 mph).

The only major incident of the day occurred when Juncos Racing’s Kyle Kaiser crashed early in the afternoon. The 2017 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires champion spun coming off Turn 3 and backed into the SAFER Barrier. The accident was similar to Patricio O’Ward’s shunt yesterday.

The No. 32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet lifted off the ground and slid on its side before flipping back onto its bottom. Kaiser was uninjured in the accident. The accident dealt another blow to the Speedway, Indiana based squad as their primary sponsors bailed two days before opening practice.

The team is assembling a backup chassis using the tub that Kaiser raced at the IndyCar Classic at the Circuit of the Americas in March. The is working to prepare the car in time for tomorrow’s opening qualifying session despite being short on spare parts.