Late Run Powers Daly, Honda to the Top on “Fast Friday” at Indianapolis
• Conor Daly, Marco Andretti lead the way in final practice day before qualifying
• Takuma Sato completes Honda top-three sweep of Friday practice speeds
• Qualifying starts Saturday, pole and final three starting positions determined Sunday
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (May 18, 2019) – “Fast Friday” once again lived up to its name today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a lap of 231.704 miles per hour in the final minutes of practice boosted Honda’s Conor Daly to the top of the speed chart for both the day and the week in preparation for this weekend’s Indianapolis 500 qualifying.
Daly’s run, on a qualifying simulation with a “tow” from his Andretti Autosport teammate Zach Veach during the final five minutes of today’s practice, made him the only driver to top 231 mph this week, and paced a 1-2 result for Andretti Autosport. Teammate Marco Andretti led the way for most of the day, and ended Fast Friday ranked second, with a best lap speed of 230.851 mph. Takuma Sato completed a 1-3 sweep for Honda, with a best lap speed of 230.755 mph.
First-round qualifying on Saturday will determine the starting positions for 21 drivers from the 36 entries at the Speedway – the fourth through the 10th starting rows – as well as the nine pole contenders. Sunday’s final qualifying will determine the final three starters in the field of 33, followed by the “Fast Nine” shootout to award the coveted pole position.
The nine fastest drivers from Saturday’s first-round qualifying will battle for the pole on Sunday, with each driver making a single qualifying run to determine his starting placement in the first three rows of the “500”.
Live NBC Sports Network television coverage of first-day qualifying action from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway starts Saturday at 5 p.m. EDT. NBC Gold will offer continuous coverage throughout the day, including morning practice at 8:30 a.m., and qualifying at 11 a.m. EDT.
The 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 takes place on Sunday, May 26, with live television coverage on NBC starting at 11 a.m. EDT.
Quote:
Conor Daly (Andretti Autosport Honda) Fastest in “Fast Friday” practice: “I’m just thankful to be here, honestly. It’s incredible to be a part of this team. Obviously, they’ve been super successful here. The U.S. Air Force, that’s the group that made it happen for me, and that’s awesome. We’ve just been working away at it [gaining speed]. It certainly will be interesting tomorrow to see what’s going to happen [in first round qualifying]. I think ‘no-tow’ wise, everyone is closer than we expected. The Honda guys are working super hard, and I’ve been super happy with my group and our engine and our car. We’re just step by step, one change at a time, trying to make this thing go as fast as possible, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow [in qualifying].”