Power leads Penske sweep in Gateway practice

Team Penske was the class of the field in Friday's opening practice for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Will Power's 185.551mph lap led the Penske parade in the one-hour session, barely edging Josef Newgarden (+0.0114s), Simon Pagenaud (+0.2031s) and Helio Castroneves (+0.2077s).

"Team Penske tested well here and so far, so good," Power said.

Among several welcome surprises, Dale Coyne Racing rookie Ed Jones was fifth quickest and the fastest Honda, and the AJ Foyt duo of Conor Daly and Carlos Munoz were a nice addition to the top 10, with Daly finishing seventh quickest and Munoz 16th after a brief flirtation with the top three.

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"We're not Penske but we're pretty good," Daly said. "And if we're fifth in qualifying that would be good. but we've got this car to repeat all three times and that's a good sign."

Sebastien Bourdais' highly anticipated return – a mere 14 weeks after fracturing his hip and pelvis during Indy 500 qualifying – resulted in the 15th-fastest time.

"This is a tough oval to come back on and I had to gradually get more comfortable but it was pretty good," Bourdais said. "Just happy to be back out there."

There were no on-track incidents, but Max Chilton's No. 8 Honda spun exiting his pit after his install lap, clipping an IndyCar official but no other cars as he slid past Alexander Rossi's pit. Chilton was penalized five minutes of practice time and will be fined. There was also a brief yellow for a track inspection.

UP NEXT: A quick turnaround for qualifying at 7:30 p.m. ET.