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Castroneves leads final practice ahead of Saturday Indy 500 qualifying

Helio Castroneves Indy 500 Practice 5

Helio Castroneves during Indy 500 practice. Photo: IndyCar

Bret Kelley

Only 11 cars to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a final practice on Saturday morning ahead of qualifying for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500 Presented by PennGrade Motor Oil.

Of the 11 who ventured out on track, Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves was the fastest with a lap of 229.505 mph - a lap that was also completed without a tow.

Teammate Will Power was second with a lap of 229.015 mph - his non-tow speed was all but identical at 229.014 mph.

The session was originally planned to be three parts with the field divided into two groups - Group 1 would go first for 30 minutes, followed by a 30-minute session for Group 2, with a 30-minute “all skate” session to finish up, with everyone allowed on track at that time.

However, overnight rains altered the schedule, and only the individual Group sessions took place.

Of note: Graham had a fastest lap of 225.293 mph, down slightly from his speed yesterday, which put him 34th on the non-tow chart.

Also, James Davison, the driver of the collaborative No. 33 Jonathan Byrd’s Chevrolet - A.J. Foyt Racing, Jonathan Byrd’s Racing, and Belardi Auto Racing are all collaborating in that effort - returned to the track after Friday’s crash in a repaired car.

Davison’s fastest lap in the session came in at 226.596 mph, but his best non-tow lap was at 224.732 mph.

Times are below. Qualifying begins at 11:00 a.m.

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