Newgarden Tops Carb Day Practice Ahead of Indy 500

Newgarden’s race-pace lap underscores Chevrolet competitiveness as teams finished two-hour race simulations before Sunday’s race.

Overview

Josef Newgarden posted the fastest lap of Carb Day, reaching 228.342 mph in the two-hour final practice and completing 55 laps in Team Penske’s No. 2 Chevrolet.
Chevrolet showed strong form with Christian Rasmussen second and David Malukas third on the speed charts, suggesting race-day pace for multiple Chevy entries.
Alexander Rossi was medically cleared to return and ran 48 laps with a carbon-fiber brace on his injured right ankle, showing no pain while driving and using a prepared backup car.
Alex Palou, the pole-sitter and defending winner, had his No. 10 briefly taken to the garage for a team inspection before returning to the track and logging more laps.
The session produced 2,169 collective laps with no incidents and Scott Dixon led the field in mileage at 96 laps, leaving all 33 starters staged and ready for the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.