Penske, Ganassi Stand Tall in Indy 500 Practice | ARD

by Dylan Spaulding | Auto Racing Digest

SPEEDWAY, IN. — Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing set the standard going into qualifying for this year’s Indianapolis 500.

Across five practice sessions, all three Team Penske drivers — Josef Newgarden, Will Power, and Scott McLaughlin — topped the timing charts at least once.

For Ganassi, Alex Palou led the third session Wednesday. Meanwhile, Felix Rosenqvist topped the charts in the brief practice session Friday.

Other notables include 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, who has had a week to forget — wrecking in Thursday’s practice and finding himself behind the eight ball in terms of speed Friday morning.

Overall, Penske and Ganassi come into the weekend showing the strength that makes them the favorites to win the pole.

As for teams that may see their drivers miss the cut for this year’s 500, Prema and Dale Coyne Racing have also been off the pace in practice. Callum Ilott, Robert Shwartzman, and Jacob Abel all near the bottom of the timing charts earlier in the week.

However, Prema did find speed on Friday, which could propel them into the team’s first Indy 500 appearance.

While it is hard to pick a favorite at this point, Penske and Ganassi seem to have all their bells and whistles in-tune to make them race-winning caliber teams.

Alex Palou, the defending NTT IndyCar champion, is an intriguing option for winning this year’s race and can finally check off the other major trophy in the series that alludes to him.