Hours after winning the pole position for the Indianapolis 500, Marco Andretti went fastest in the late practice session Sunday evening.
In a hectic end to the session that saw the top spot change multiple times in a matter of minutes, the No. 98 Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco Andretti and Curb-Agajanian Honda took the top spot with a best lap of 224.122 mph.
Team Penske finally showed some pace in race trim, with Helio Castroneves finishing in second. The three time Indy 500 champion had a fastest lap of 224.067 mph, only 0.055 mph slower than Andretti.
It wouldn’t be all sunshine for Penske however, as Will Power, Josef Newgarden, and Simon Pagenaud all continued to struggle outside of the top ten, finishing the session thirteenth, twentieth, and twenty-third respectively.
After getting beat by Andretti for the pole earlier in the day and then within the last minutes of practice, Scott Dixon finished the session third fastest. This comes after a spin for the five time series champ just after two hours to go in the session, when Dixon ran a little bit wide in turn four and hit a bump, spinning the car around. Luckily for Dixon, the damage was minimal. Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson would finish eighth.
Ryan Hunter-Reay would finish the session in fourth, yet another strong session for the Andretti Autosport driver, but was followed by Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan driver Santino Ferrucci in fifth, the first time Ferrucci finds himself in the top ten of a session all week.
Conor Daly would finish sixth for Ed Carpenter Racing, yet another Chevrolet in the top ten. His boss, Ed Carpenter, would also be in the top ten, finishing ninth. Arrow McLaren SP‘s Patricio O’Ward would be the fourth and final Chevrolet in the top ten in eighth.
Rookie Alex Palou would yet again find himself in the top ten, finishing tenth with a best lap of 222.409 mph. Just behind him would be another very famous Spaniard by the name of Fernando Alonso in eleventh, who had a much better run today than he did in qualifying on Saturday.
The next time these drivers will be on track is Friday 21 August, also known as ‘Carb Day’. Teams will look to make final adjustments to perfect their cars for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” just a few days later.
Practice 6 Top 12 Results
| RANK | CAR NO. | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | BEST TIME | BEST SPEED |
| 1 | 98 | Marco Andretti | USA | Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti and Curb-Agajanian | 00:40.1567 | 224.122 |
| 2 | 3 | Helio Castroneves | BRA | Team Penske | 00:40.1666 | 224.067 |
| 3 | 9 | Scott Dixon | NZL | Chip Ganassi Racing | 00:40.2349 | 223.686 |
| 4 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | USA | Andretti Autosport | 00:40.2996 | 223.327 |
| 5 | 18 | Santino Ferrucci | USA | Dale Coyne Racing w/Vasser-Sullivan | 00:40.3357 | 223.127 |
| 6 | 47 | Conor Daly | USA | Ed Carpenter Racing | 00:40.3474 | 223.063 |
| 7 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | SWE | Chip Ganassi Racing | 00:40.3847 | 222.857 |
| 8 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | MEX | Arrow McLaren SP | 00:40.4023 | 222.76 |
| 9 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | USA | Ed Carpenter Racing | 00:40.4533 | 222.479 |
| 10 | 55 | Alex Palou (R) | ESP | Dale Coyne Racing w/Team Goh | 00:40.4660 | 222.409 |
| 11 | 66 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Arrow McLaren SP | 00:40.4762 | 222.353 |
| 12 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | USA | Andretti Autosport | 00:40.4769 | 222.349 |
You can find the full session results here.
