Takuma Sato again ran the fastest lap of the day in the last half hour of Fast Friday practice. His 232.789 mph circuit beat Alexander Rossi’s speed of 231.883 set early in the day

. Tony Kanaan had the best four lap average of 230.517 mph, edging Sato’s teammate David Maluka, who ran four laps at 230.286. the rest of the top 12 drivers, in order- Sage Karam, Pato O’Ward, Sato, Jimmie Johnson, Simon Pagenaud. Helio Castroneves, Marcus Ericsson, Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, and Felix Rosenqvist.

Gusty winds made consistent four lap qualifying simulations difficult. Several drivers waited until late in the day to get on the track. Scott Dixon ran four laps after 5 pm. He had the fifth best lap at 231.530 mph.

Christian Lundgaard was the last driver to get on track in the last 30 minutes.

Malukas ran the most laps, 39, and Dixon and Alex Palou ran only four laps each. Malukas credited Sato with helping find the speed he ahs shown this week.

Top Twelve

Teams in the top 12 single laps today:

Coyne- 2

Andretti – 1

Penske- 3

Ganassi- 4

AMSP- 2

Notes

Ed Carpenter racing did not get a driver in the top 12, but I would not count them out tomorrow. Other than Coyne and Ganassi, today was difficult to judge the relative strength of teams. Conor Daly was 14th, just a half mile an hour slower than Palou in 12th.

Time Change-

A reminder about the revised schedule for tomorrow:

8 a.m. – IMS Gates Open
8:30-9 a.m. – Practice Group 1
9-9:30 a.m. – Practice Group 2
11 a.m. – PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying begins 

All action is on Peacock

. Qualifying is slated to run until the original stop time of 5:50 PM, weather permitting.

From earlier:

IMS Sustainability- Small Steps Now, Big Steps Later

IMS Sustainability- Small Steps Now, Bigger Steps Later