The field for this year’s Indy 500 finally got a full day of running in Thursday, and the result in Practice 3 was a familiar one. Two-time defending race winner Josef Newgarden topped the timesheets with a lap of 226.632 mph. Scott Dixon came second with a speed of 225.457 mph, with Conor Daly third at 224.893 mph.
Pato O’Ward was the only other driver above 224 mph, coming in fourth with a lap at 224.467 mph. Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top five with a best speed of 223.983 mph.
Penske throws down the gauntlet early
In the early part of the session Newgarden set a fastest lap of 226.632 mph, the only driver to crack 226 mph on the session. The Penske cars stayed in the garage for most of Thursday, seemingly content with their progress until the final hour.
When he re-emerged on track, Newgarden’s qualifying simulation run sent him to the top of the no-tow speeds with a lap of 222.555 mph, ahead of Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood at 222.372 mph and teammate Scott McLaughlin’s 222.193 mph.
All three Penske cars were in the top six on the no-tow list, with Will Power (221.248) slotting in behind Devlin DeFrancesco (221.650) and Colton Herta (221.538).
Thursday practice hopefully making perfect for Indy 500
Championship leader and Wednesday‘s fastest driver Alex Palou looked to have a problem early with oil coming out of the car, but it was a minor fix instead of a major calamity. The Spaniard, who has won four of five races in 2025 but is still looking for his first career oval win, was one of just three drivers to run over 100 laps for the day and put up the sixth-fastest lap at 223.456 mph.
Colton Herta was seventh overall at 223.063 mph. He was one of just four drivers–with Newgarden, McLaughlin, and Daly–to record a top-10 lap with and without a tow Thursday. Christian Rasmussen recorded the eighth-fastest lap at 222.816 mph. He also brought out one of two caution flags on the day–and the only on-track incident–after a spin with under two hours left in the session. Rasmussen brushed the wall, narrowly missing Kyle Larson as he lost control, but did not collect any cars in the mishap.
David Malukas was ninth at 222.753 mph and McLaughlin came in tenth with a speed of 222.728. Prior to the session, Tony Kanaan completed a refresher practice session. He will be on standby in case rain forces Kyle Larson to leave for the NASCAR race at Charlotte before the race is underway at Indianapolis.
Big changes–and uncertainty–for Fast Friday
Friday practice will see the boost levels turned up to qualifying levels as teams prepare to begin setting the field Sunday. Additionally, all Honda teams will be changing out their engines overnight, hoping to bring some fresh horsepower to the fight. Another major change could be coming overnight as storms are forecast for Indianapolis that would once again wash the rubber off the track.
Full fastest speed results from IndyCar Practice 3 at the Indy 500
1: Newgarden
2: Dixon
3: Daly
4: O’Ward
5: Hunter-Reay
6: Palou
7: Herta
8: Rasmussen
9: Malukas
10: McLaughlin
11: Rossi
12: Robb
13: Veekay
14: Armstrong
15: Castroneves
16: Kirkwood
17: Larson
18: Lundgaard
19: DeFrancesco
20: Abel
21: Simpson
22: Andretti
23: Siegel
24: Power
25: Carpenter
26: Foster
27: Ericsson
28: Harvey
29: Sato
30: Rosenqvist
31: Ilott
32: Schwartzman
33: Ferrucci
34: Rahal
