Ed Jones used an early tow before ambient and track temperatures hit uncomfortable highs to post the best lap in practice on Fast Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, taking the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan Honda to the top with a best lap of 231.569mph.

By the midpoint in the day — while teams focused on qualifying simulations using the extra 90hp produced by added turbocharger boost — Jones was closely followed at 3 p.m. by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato in the No. 30 Honda (231.243mph), Scott Dixon in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (231.292mph), Alex Palou in the No. 10 CGR Honda (231.208mph), Alexander Rossi in the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda (231.052mph), and Pato O’Ward in the first of the Chevy-powered runners with the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP entry (231.014mph).

Santino Ferrucci recovered from his Thursday crash to make it out in the No. 45 RLL Honda just after 2 p.m., and the underdogs at Top Gun Racing, after missing the opening 2.5 hours of the session, emerged to send RC Enerson out for a pair of qualifying sims in the No. 75 Chevy that left it in P35 (224.736mph).

The session runs until 6 p.m. ET.