Fast Friday was all about Marco Andretti and Honda, as the Nazareth, Pennsylvania native set the fastest time and the Japanese manufacturer had all but one car in the top ten for the fourth Indianapolis 500 practice session.
The cars received a boost for this session, putting them at upwards of 700 horsepower, and it would be Marco Andretti who would set a lap speed of 233.491 mph early in the session that lasted all the way to the checkered flag. That lap was the fastest lap recorded on Fast Friday since Arie Luyendyk set a lap at 239.260 mph in 1996.
Second place would be the only Chevrolet in the top ten, driven by Conor Daly for Ed Carpenter Racing at 232.337 mph. The next fastest Chevrolet would be Will Power in eleventh.
Scott Dixon would be the fastest of the Chip Ganassi Racing machines putting his No. 9 car in third. Dixon’s teammate Marcus Ericsson would also finish the session in the top ten finishing tenth.
Dixon would be followed by fellow veteran Ryan Hunter-Reay for Andretti Autosport, setting a lap of 232.124.
Spencer Pigot, who is racing for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with Citrone/Buhl Autosport, made a surprise appearance in the top five with a speed of 232.116 mph. Alex Palou would be the fastest rookie yet again in sixth with a speed of 231.989 mph.
James Hinchcliffe would make it three Andretti powered cars in the top ten as he put his No. 29 Genesys Honda in seventh at 231.967 mph. The last of four Andretti affiliated cars in the top ten would belong to Alexander Rossi, who would finish the session in ninth place.
Takuma Sato split the two Andretti cars of Hinchcliffe and Rossi, putting his RLLR Honda in eighth with a speed of 231.880.
Team Penske struggled greatly today, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, and Helio Castroneves were all unable to find speed finishing seventeenth, twenty-second, and twenty-ninth respectively. Will Power was the only Penske driver to break the 231 mph barrier.
But it was all Chevrolets, not just Penske, that failed to find speed. Outside of Daly and Power, the next fastest Chevy was that of Charlie Kimball in sixteenth.
Even Fernando Alonso, who has finished in the top ten in both practice sessions so far despite crashing at the end of Thursday, languished in twenty fifth place.
Chevrolet will hope that this was only a fluke, as teams prepare for Qualifying tomorrow.
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | BEST TIME | BEST SPEED | DIFFERENCE | GAP |
| 1 | 98 | Marco Andretti | USA | Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian | 00:38.5454 | 233.491 | –.—- | –.—- |
| 2 | 47 | Conor Daly | USA | Ed Carpenter Racing | 00:38.7368 | 232.337 | 0.1914 | 0.1914 |
| 3 | 9 | Scott Dixon | NZ | Chip Ganassi Racing | 00:38.7446 | 232.29 | 0.1992 | 0.0078 |
| 4 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | USA | Andretti Autosport | 00:38.7723 | 232.124 | 0.2269 | 0.0277 |
| 5 | 45 | Spencer Pigot | USA | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing w/ Citrone/Buhl Autosport | 00:38.7737 | 232.116 | 0.2283 | 0.0014 |
| 6 | 55 | Alex Palou (R) | ESP | Dale Coyne Racing w/ Team Goh | 00:38.7949 | 231.989 | 0.2495 | 0.0212 |
| 7 | 29 | James Hinchcliffe | CAN | Andretti Autosport | 00:38.7987 | 231.967 | 0.2533 | 0.0038 |
| 8 | 30 | Takuma Sato | JPN | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 00:38.8132 | 231.88 | 0.2678 | 0.0145 |
| 9 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | USA | Andretti Autosport | 00:38.8167 | 231.859 | 0.2713 | 0.0035 |
| 10 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | SWE | Chip Ganassi Racing | 00:38.8327 | 231.763 | 0.2873 | 0.016 |
| 11 | 12 | Will Power | AUS | Team Penske | 00:38.8592 | 231.605 | 0.3138 | 0.0265 |
| 12 | 60 | Jack Harvey | ENG | Meyer Shank Racing | 00:38.8601 | 231.6 | 0.3147 | 0.0009 |
You can view the full results here.
