By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Practice for the Indianapolis 500 was a mix of qualifying simulations, race setups and, of course, rain on Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Pato O’Ward drove his Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to the fastest speed of the day at 228.861 mph, with Wednesday’s fast runner Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske second at 227.316 on the 2.5-mile track. Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing was third at 226.828.
After two days of rain and little track time since practice began Tuesday, teams put in their heaviest workload of the week, many making simulated qualifying runs while others stayed in race setups.
O’Ward and McLaughlin drove their best laps in traffic with the help of an aerodynamic tow, while Colton Herta of Andretti Global posted the fastest no-tow speed of 224.182. Teammate Kyle Kirkwood ran second on the no-tow list at 223.387.
And then it rained. Again.
Light rain fell with about an hour remaining in practice, wiping out what usually is a hectic time with cars running race setups in packs. The track was yellow for about 30 minutes before re-opening, with only a few cars making simulated qualifying runs before rain fell again just before the 6 o’clock.
Cars will have extra turbo boost Friday in preparation for weekend qualifying, although the forecast for rain could limit much-needed time to set up for 100 extra horsepower that’s expected to increase lap speeds by about 10 mph.
“We’re going to need to get a few runs in with the boost,” O’Ward said. “You saw guys today get super consistent four-lap runs. But (with extra boost) you’ll feel it. The car goes to a different dimension with the boost. It’s a very different car.”
The Andretti cars ran qualifying sims early, with Herta and Kirkwood 1-2, Marco Andretti seventh and Marcus Ericsson eighth before a late-afternoon crash.
Herta also was fourth on the overall speed chart at 226.828 and Andretti sixth at 226.554.
Ericsson’s car wound up in pieces after a hard crash exiting Turn 4. He spun into the outside wall and nosed into the inside barrier before piling sideways into the attenuator that protects the end of the pit road wall on the main straight.
Earlier, Linus Lundqvist of Chip Ganassi Racing crashed into the outside wall exiting Turn 2, slid down backstraight and kissed the inside wall. His earlier lap of 226.261 was seventh fastest of the day.