Indy 500: Aleshin leads Sunday morning practice pace

He's not eligible for the pole position but rookie Mikhail Aleshin turned in the fastest lap of the month during Sunday morning's practice period.

The Russian native ran 232.917mph in Sam Schmidt's Dallara-Honda and Josef Newgarden – who will be running for the pole later this afternoon – was close behind at 232.340mph in Sarah Fisher's Dallara-Honda as 27 drivers took times on a gorgeous morning for going fast.

Kurt Busch, just back from NASCAR's Sprint All-Star race, continued to impress with a lap of 231.775mph and 2012 IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay posted 231.203.

Ed Carpenter, who set quick time on Saturday, chose not to practice on Sunday morning which indicates he feels pretty good about his chances at making it two consecutive poles at Indianapolis.