Takuma Sato was the fastest driver in Miller Lite Carb Day practice Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, leading the final session before the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
Two-time “500” winner Sato led with a top lap of 39.4988 seconds, 227.855 mph in the No. 11 Deloitte Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing. Sato, from Tokyo, will start eighth in the race Sunday (11 a.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, Universo, INDYCAR Radio Network).
SEE: Practice Results | Starting Lineup
“The 11 car is just getting to a nice feeling, which is exactly what I really wanted,” Sato said. “My boys did a fantastic job the entire week. The organization did fantastic, so I’m happy.”
All 33 starters combined to turn 2,355 laps (5,887.5 miles) in just two hours of incident-free track action.
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon was second at 227.285 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in breezy conditions under sunny skies and air temperatures in the low 70s. 2008 Indy 500 winner Dixon will start sixth Sunday, when the air temperature is expected to reach the high 70s.
“It didn’t start very well, to be honest,” Dixon said of the two-hour session. “The car was definitely off on balance. We had to work on it a bit. Definitely some strong competitors out there. But it was fun to run with the 21 (Rinus VeeKay), Pato (O’Ward) a little bit and then the 10 (Alex Palou).
“Where we ended was a big improvement, so good on that side of things. Again, I still think we’ve got more to find.”
Those discoveries will come on engineer’s laptops instead of at speed. The next time cars will be on track will be during the pace laps for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” at 12:45 p.m. Sunday on the 2.5-mile oval.
Reigning series champion Will Power and 2018 “500” winner Will Power was third today at 226.953 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Power starts 12th Sunday. Pole sitter Alex Palou ended up fourth at 226.945 in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda, giving Chip Ganassi Racing three of the top four cars before a large, sun-soaked Miller Lite Carb Day crowd.
Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top five at 226.872 in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda fielded by Andretti Autosport. Kirkwood will start 15th Sunday.