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Scott Dixon rallies from spin; Marco Andretti paces Indy 500 practice

Indy 500 practice Dixon

INDIANAPOLIS -- Scott Dixon spun but still soared to near the top of the speed chart in Indy 500 practice Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, who had qualified second to pole-sitter Marco Andretti two hours earlier, lost control of his No. 9 Dallara-Honda about 40 minutes into the midafternoon session.

Dixon was OK after making light contact with the left front and left rear with his No. 9 Dallara-Honda, which his Chip Ganassi Racing team quickly repaired.

MARCO’S MOMENT: An Andretti back on the Indy 500 pole position

SUNDAY AFTERNOON PRACTICE: Click here for the speed chart from IMS

An hour and 2 minutes later, Dixon was back on the 2.5-mile oval and posted the third-fastest lap (223.686 mph) in the closing minutes of the session.

Andretti led the practice -- and the speed charts for the fourth time in the past five days -- with a 224.122 mph lap, followed by Helio Castroneves (224.067).

“I was just getting up to speed and kind of turned in and got a little wider than normal and felt fine, just kept turning it,” Dixon said after the incident. “And there’s actually a big bump there, and it hit the bump. And as soon as it hit the bump, the front wheels came off, and the rear just came around. I’m very lucky.

“It just barely brushed the walls. It actually looks like the car’s fine. Just the front and rear wing, so pretty lucky in that situation.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay (223.327) was fourth, followed by Santino Ferrucci (223.127).

Conor Daly, Marcus Ericsson, Pato O’Ward, Ed Carpenter and Fernando Alonso rounded out the top 10 as teams switched back to focusing on race setups after receiving an extra turbo boost for qualifying over the past three days.

Other notables: Fernando Alonso (11th); Alexander Rossi (12th); Will Power (13th); Josef Newgarden (20th); Colton Herta (21st); Tony Kanaan (22nd); Simon Pagenaud (23rd); Takuma Sato (26th); Graham Rahal (30th).

Click here for the speeds from Sunday afternoon’s practice.

The field of the 104th Indy 500 will return to the track Friday at IMS for a two-hour practice on Carb Day (11 a.m. ET, NBCSN, NBC Sports Gold) that will be the last warmup for the Aug. 23 race (1 p.m. ET, NBC).