Josef Newgarden set the fastest time in the final practice for the Indianapolis 500 with a lap of 228.342 mph in the Chevrolet number 2 of Team Penske, a two‑hour session that closed out preparations for the 33 drivers ahead of Sunday's race. The winner of the 2023 and 2024 editions will start from the sixth row, in 23rd place, and his confidence in coming through the field is backed by his own track record at this circuit. In 2023 he won starting 17th, and last year he climbed from 32nd to sixth place before retiring due to a fuel pressure problem. "Sunday is what matters. The Chevy team did a great job this month and I'm ready to race," he said after climbing out of the car following 55 laps. The last winner from such a deep starting spot was Johnny Rutherford in 1974, when he started 25th.

Rossi and O'Ward back in action after Monday's crash

Alexander Rossi and Pato O'Ward returned to turning laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after the multi‑car crash on Monday in Turn 2. Rossi, who starts second on Sunday in the Ed Carpenter Racing car, was medically cleared on Thursday after undergoing outpatient procedures for minor injuries to a finger on his left hand and his right ankle. He completed 48 laps with a special brace on his foot and explained that the pain is minimal and that he passed reaction tests in a simulator before receiving clearance. O'Ward, who tried to avoid Rossi's spin that Monday, spun himself and ended up hitting the stricken car. He walked away from the crash unhurt and was released from the medical centre the same day. Arrow McLaren discarded the damaged chassis – the one O'Ward had used in all his previous Indy 500s – and prepared a back‑up car with which he had already won at Iowa and Toronto in 2025. On Carb Day he ran 58 laps and finished 20th, with the setup from the original car transferred to the new chassis.

Photo By Penske Entertainment

Palou and a setback in the garage before the race

Alex Palou, the pole‑sitter for the 110th edition and defending race winner, finished sixth with 225.986 mph in a session that included a hitch. With one hour and twenty minutes remaining, the mechanics at Chip Ganassi Racing detected something they didn't like on the No. 10 car and took it back to the garage for inspection. The Spaniard returned to the track later and added laps, reaching a total of 69. Palou is seeking to become the seventh driver to win two consecutive Indianapolis 500s. Dennis Hauger was the fastest of the four rookies on the 2.5‑mile oval, finishing tenth with 225.187 mph in the Honda of Dale Coyne Racing.

Photo By Penske Entertainment

Long‑run pace and traffic in Friday's session

The session totalled 2,169 laps among the 33 cars and had only one caution‑flag interruption when Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 winner, had to slow on track due to a loose right‑rear wheel on the Andretti Global Honda. Scott Dixon logged the most laps with 96 and the 14th‑fastest time, with a final stint dedicated to testing fuel‑saving pace. Felix Rosenqvist turned only 45 laps, the lowest number of the session. Newgarden had also topped Monday's practice, which was shortened by rain, with 226.198 mph, confirming the Penske's consistency in long‑run pace.

Race day schedule for Sunday

The race starts Sunday at 10 a.m. ET, with Brendan Fraser scheduled to wave the green flag at 12:45 p.m. Live coverage begins at 8 a.m. in Mexico City, 9 a.m. in Bogotá, 11 a.m. in Buenos Aires, and 4 p.m. in Spain.

110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Final Practice (Carb Day)

Pos	Nº	Piloto	Equipo	Mejor tiempo	Vel. (mph)	Diferencia	Gap	Vueltas
1	#2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	00:39.415	228.342	--.---	--.---	55
2	#21	Christian Rasmussen	ECR	00:39.565	227.474	0.150	0.150	49
3	#12	David Malukas	Team Penske	00:39.724	226.565	0.309	0.159	54
4	#23	Conor Daly	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	00:39.763	226.341	0.348	0.039	81
5	#75	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	00:39.780	226.244	0.366	0.017	93
6	#10	Alex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	00:39.826	225.986	0.411	0.045	69
7	#27	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian	00:39.838	225.917	0.423	0.012	49
8	#3	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	00:39.886	225.642	0.472	0.049	53
9	#66	Marcus Armstrong	Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian	00:39.943	225.322	0.528	0.057	73
10	#19	Dennis Hauger	Dale Coyne Racing	00:39.967	225.187	0.552	0.024	64
11	#18	Romain Grosjean	Dale Coyne Racing	00:39.973	225.151	0.559	0.006	91
12	#15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	00:39.990	225.058	0.575	0.017	88
13	#24	Jack Harvey	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	00:39.999	225.003	0.585	0.010	86
14	#9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	00:40.015	224.917	0.600	0.015	96
15	#28	Marcus Ericsson	Andretti Global	00:40.019	224.896	0.604	0.004	61
16	#76	Rinus VeeKay	Juncos Hollinger Racing	00:40.052	224.706	0.638	0.034	59
17	#14	Santino Ferrucci	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	00:40.104	224.415	0.690	0.052	51
18	#45	Louis Foster	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	00:40.119	224.334	0.704	0.015	73
19	#06	Helio Castroneves	Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian	00:40.126	224.293	0.712	0.007	70
20	#5	Pato O'Ward	Arrow McLaren	00:40.142	224.202	0.728	0.016	58
21	#4	Caio Collet	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	00:40.156	224.126	0.742	0.014	56
22	#60	Felix Rosenqvist	Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian	00:40.198	223.890	0.784	0.042	45
23	#8	Kyffin Simpson	Chip Ganassi Racing	00:40.255	223.577	0.840	0.056	89
24	#33	Ed Carpenter	ECR	00:40.256	223.571	0.841	0.001	63
25	#31	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Arrow McLaren	00:40.341	223.101	0.926	0.085	57
26	#26	Will Power	Andretti Global	00:40.369	222.946	0.954	0.028	89
27	#6	Nolan Siegel	Arrow McLaren	00:40.373	222.922	0.958	0.004	55
28	#51	Jacob Abel	Abel Motorsports	00:40.373	222.922	0.958	0.000	64
29	#47	Mick Schumacher	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	00:40.409	222.723	0.995	0.036	67
30	#7	Christian Lundgaard	Arrow McLaren	00:40.458	222.455	1.043	0.049	57
31	#20	Alexander Rossi	ECR	00:40.487	222.291	1.073	0.030	48
32	#77	Sting Ray Robb	Juncos Hollinger Racing	00:40.523	222.094	1.109	0.036	58
33	#11	Katherine Legge	HMD Motorsports w/ AJ Foyt Racing	00:40.537	222.018	1.123	0.014	48