Fast Friday concludes with Felix Rosenqvist on top

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Felix Rosenqvist started the Indianapolis 500 practice week on the back foot but ends Fast Friday on top of the NTT INDYCAR Series leaderboard.

He became the only driver to surpass the 233mph limit with his 233.372mph speed.

The additional 100 horsepower soared the times to over 5mph higher than the previous build-up sessions.

“We started pretty slow, to be honest,” Rosenqvist said. “It’s kind of rare you’re able to crawl out of a hole like that. I think our first run was like a 230-something. We just found basically 3 mph. That’s kind of cool. The car felt pretty good.

“Sometimes that happens, like once you find a little speed, it kind of comes. It kind of starts flowing. The balance was really good.” he remarked at his lap.

Rain forced a two-hour delay which resulted in only five hours of running, down from the original six that was planned.

After Rosenqvist, Alexander Rossi built upon his good Thursday to second with 232.932mph today.

Two more top drivers in Thursday’s non-tow leaderboard showed up in the top five after today’s qualifying simulations were complete.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin ended the day third with 232.674mph and first in the non-tow leaderboard. Then two-time INDY 500 winner Takuma Sato slotted into fourth with his ever so slightly slower 232.655mph.

Finally, Andretti Global found their way into the final spot in the top five after their hot single-car speed that started the week. Marcus Ericsson finished the session fifth with a speed of 232.622mph.

Alex Palou, Ed Carpenter, Pato O’Ward, Rinus VeeKay, and Nolan Siegel rounded out the top ten as they all eclipsed the 232.4mph speed.

Full Results and More

The 2008 winner Scott Dixon will be the first driver in the qualifying line Saturday morning after his son drew the No. 1 coin. The full draw is below.

But, before the PPG Armed Forces Qualifying Weekend gets underway tomorrow morning, the INDYCAR Series has one remaining hour-long practice session to get their setups just right.