Chevy aero advantage on display at Gateway

Verizon IndyCar Series drivers have been raving about Gateway's newly repaved surface since testing here earlier this month, and with many of the teams getting some test laps in before race weekend, Friday's fast speeds didn't come as much of a surprise.

"It's very Phoenix-esque I would say now, even newer," said Josef Newgarden, who will start second in Saturday night's race. "So we tried to keep up with it as much as we could, tried to get on that page as quickly as possible just because the track time was so limited for everyone. You only had an hour, so everyone tried to do as much work as they could. I'm sure people would have liked a little bit more track time to try and dial it in, but the speed is not a surprise."

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Also unsurprising is Penske's decided aero advantage around the 1.25-mile track, which is drawing comparisons to Phoenix – a race won by Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud in April. The rest of the paddock Saturday could be difficult for the rest of the field, given that pole-sitter Will Power was more than 5mph faster than the first non-Penske, Ed Carpenter, who will start fifth.

"[It] could be like Phoenix where it's quite – if you're not able to pass cars," Power said. "I think there was a bigger gap in qualifying just because it's such a short weekend. If you've got four cars, you can really trim a lot. I don't think the gap will be like that in the race. I do think Chevy will have an advantage, but it'll be interesting to see how easy it is to pass. I would expect two grooves to open up in 3-4. I just don't know."

"I think we could get a little bit wider here as far as lane usage than Phoenix," Newgarden suggested. "I think it's possible in [Turns] 3 and 4 we can potentially open up a half lane or potentially maybe a second lane. Depends on how much people use it. If people don't run up there, then it won't open up. But if they do, I think it's possible to open it, and I think we could have a better race than what we had at Phoenix.

"You also have to factor in the straights are a little longer, so that gives us more time. There's not a dogleg like there is on the back straight at Phoenix. I'm kind of comparing it to that. It's new pavement. It's most similar to that track, and I think we have the potential to have a better race than we had there."