Simon Pagenaud has logged the fastest lap of the first practice session from Texas Motor Speedway, logging a lap of 223.087 MPH around the 1.5-mile oval.
Pagenaud put his Meyer Shank Racing Honda on the top of the charts early, and his time held throughout the hour-long session.
Felix Rosenqvist was just a hair slower, and was able to log the second fastest time in his Arrow McLaren SP Chevy. He was followed by Colton Herta, who seems to be quick on any type of track drives.
The times are possibly not representative of overall pace, because teams tested out different setups throughout the session. Varying levels of downforce and a few extra pieces of bargeboard are available to teams, and this was the only session to properly test out those options.
Regardless of that fact, some drivers punched a bit above their weight, including Callum Ilott in fourth place in the Juncos Hollinger entry, and Romain Grosjean who ended the session ninth in his superspeedway debut.
Jimmie Johnson ended in 22nd position, and it was obvious that he was being a little more careful than the other drivers. The NASCAR champion drove his car firmly in the preferred lower groove, and will look to up his comfort level as the weekend goes along.
Cool and sunny conditions greeted the field of drivers, which provided them with ideal track conditions for the late morning session.
The added grip afforded by the track allowed drivers to test out a little bit of side-by-side running, but even that was limited to just a few occurrences.
As the track warms up later today, and into the day tomorrow for the race, the track could become slicker, which will give drivers something to think about before trying to make a bold pass into the turns.
There is some worry that this weekend’s race will become a single file affair, much as it has been in recent years.
Qualifying will take place in just two hours, when the 27 drivers will attack the track one at a time in an attempt to put together the perfect lap.
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