Newgarden sets the pace in IMS Open Test morning session

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden led the group of 24 veterans during the two-hour opening session at the Indy Open Test.

Newgarden wound his No. 2 Team Penske Chevy up to a best lap of 223.415mph, and had fellow two-timer Takuma Sato directly behind in second with the No. 75 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda (222.850mph). Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was third in the No. 5 Chevy (221.842mph) followed by Penske’s Scott McLaughlin in the No. 3 Chevy (221.715mph), AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci in the No. 14 Chevy (221.449mph) and Penske’s David Malukas completed the top six with the No. 12 Chevy (221.441mph).

"I love this place,” O’Ward said. “Today, I was coming down the tunnel, knowing it was kind of the first day of May, I think it’s good to call it, is awesome. It’s awesome to be here. I genuinely love it more, and more, and more the longer that I get to come here, to have this opportunity to race at the Indy 500.

"That was our first run, basically, and it feels good, nothing feels strange, and just happy to be back here.”

Defending Indy 500 winner Alex Palou kept his running to a minimum, turning eight laps, which left the No. 10 Honda 18th in the session (218.156mph).

“We just wanted to make sure everything was good,” the Chip Ganassi Racing driver told RACER. “We had a little issue, so we came out to run quickly again to be sure everything was OK before we go out this afternoon.”

Teams were met by overcast skies and temperatures in the low 60s and other than dealing with remnants of the overnight rain that causes water to seep from Turn 2, no issues or meaningful delays occurred.

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