Ed Carpenter has set the fastest lap of the short Saturday morning practice session for this year’s Indy 500, lapping the circuit at 234.410 MPH.
That lap is the fastest single lap turned at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since Arie Luyendyk completed a lap at over 237 MPH in 1996.
Behind Carpenter was a trio of Chip Ganassi Racing drivers, who have all looked dialed in the entire week.
Conditions for the short morning session were much more representative of conditions expected later in the day for qualifying, thus many drivers chose to head out and turn some laps.
10 drivers, however, chose to use the data they gathered during the gusty Friday practice to set up their cars for qualifying.
The fastest no-tow lap, which is calculated as a fast lap with no car in front to provide a draft, was set by Scott Dixon, followed closely by Alexander Rossi.
There is only a short break until qualifying, which will set positions 13-33 for next Sunday’s race. The top 12 will run again on Sunday to lock in the top spots.
Rain is forecast to arrive shortly after qualifying begins, however, so drivers may only get one attempt to make their four-lap runs and not have a chance to better their times later in the afternoon.
