Kanaan tops Carb Day speeds at Indy

UPDATE This story was updated.

Tony Kanaan

05/27/16

He may be starting 18th in Sunday's 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, but Tony Kanaan believes he has a car that can win the historic race.

Kanaan, who will start on the outside of Row 6 in the No. 10 NTT Data Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, was fastest in today's Miller Lite Carb Day practice with a best lap of 226.280 mph on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.

Carlos Munoz was second at 224.772 mph in the No. 26 United Fiber & Data Honda, just ahead of Kanaan's teammate, Scott Dixon, third at 224.606 mph in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

"I'm happy with my car," said Kanaan, the 2013 Indy 500 winner. "Obviously, I have to pass 17 people before I get really happy with my car. After the struggle in qualifying, we really focused – me and Dixon – on the race. And you can see both of us at the top there.

"If anybody counts us out (for Sunday's race), it will be a big mistake."

Munoz, who will start the race from the middle of the second row, said Carb Day practice confirmed the strength of his car.

"Today was just a check to see the car was running good," said Munoz, who finished second to Kanaan as an Indy 500 rookie in 2013. "Everything was running good. The conditions will be different on Sunday. Every practice and qualifying I've been on the top of the charts, but that doesn't matter."

Verizon IndyCar Series points leader Simon Pagenaud, riding a three-race winning streak, was 22nd in today's practice with a speed of 222.581 mph in the No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevy.

Juan Pablo Montoya, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion and two-time race winner, was 13th at 223.571 mph in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevy. Teammate Helio Castroneves, the three-time Indy 500 winner, was 10th at 223.959 mph.

Will Power, runner-up to Montoya in last year's race, had the fourth-fastest speed (224.384 mph) in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Ryan Hunter-Reay was fifth (224.327 mph) in the No. 28 DHL Honda.

Pole sitter James Hinchcliffe was 12th fastest at 223.925 mph in the No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda. More than 1,300 laps were turned in the 70-minute session, with Pagenaud and Charlie Kimball (No. 42 Tresiba Chevy) each logging 52.

The only incident of the session came when Pippa Mann spun and crashed in Turn 4, backing her No. 63 Susan G. Komen Honda into the SAFER Barrier. Mann was uninjured.

"I'm absolutely fine," Mann said. "I just really feel sorry for the crew. I was trying to find some clean air in pack running there, got a little too low on the inside. Dropped the ball and gave them some work to do overnight.

"The good news is the damage wasn't too bad," Mann added. "Hopefully it's the right rear corner, rear attenuator, rear wing and that's all we have to fix."

The 33 cars now sit idle until Sunday's epic race. Coverage on ABC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network begins at 11 a.m. ET Sunday.

Results

Pos	No	Name	FTime	Diff	Gap	FL	Laps	ST	FSpeed	Engine
1	10	Tony Kanaan	39.774	0.000	0.000	28	42	18	226.280	Chevy
2	26	Carlos Munoz	40.041	0.2667	0.2667	10	43	5	224.772	Honda
3	9	Scott Dixon	40.070	0.2964	0.0297	25	44	13	224.606	Chevy
4	12	Will Power	40.110	0.3361	0.0397	9	48	6	224.384	Chevy
5	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	40.120	0.3462	0.0101	11	51	3	224.327	Honda
6	98	Alexander Rossi	40.129	0.3554	0.0092	35	37	11	224.276	Honda
7	6	JR Hildebrand	40.139	0.3647	0.0093	28	42	15	224.224	Chevy
8	77	Oriol Servia	40.173	0.3993	0.0346	30	48	10	224.031	Honda
9	29	Townsend Bell	40.184	0.4099	0.0106	9	50	4	223.971	Honda
10	3	Helio Castroneves	40.186	0.4122	0.0023	47	50	9	223.959	Chevy
11	7	Mikhail Aleshin	40.191	0.4175	0.0053	11	36	7	223.929	Honda
12	5	James Hinchcliffe	40.192	0.4183	0.0008	17	48	1	223.925	Honda
13	2	Juan Pablo Montoya	40.256	0.4819	0.0636	32	44	17	223.571	Chevy
14	15	Graham Rahal	40.261	0.4877	0.0058	12	47	26	223.539	Honda
15	14	Takuma Sato	40.281	0.5068	0.0191	8	40	12	223.433	Honda
16	18	Conor Daly	40.310	0.5362	0.0294	9	40	24	223.270	Honda
17	21	Josef Newgarden	40.328	0.5543	0.0181	29	39	2	223.169	Chevy
18	24	Sage Karam	40.332	0.5581	0.0038	25	37	23	223.148	Chevy
19	35	Alex Tagliani	40.335	0.5608	0.0027	30	41	33	223.133	Honda
20	20	Ed Carpenter	40.365	0.5909	0.0301	31	41	20	222.967	Chevy
21	27	Marco Andretti	40.391	0.6173	0.0264	20	35	14	222.821	Honda
22	22	Simon Pagenaud	40.435	0.6610	0.0437	32	52	8	222.581	Chevy
23	11	Sebastien Bourdais	40.447	0.6728	0.0118	12	43	19	222.516	Chevy
24	41	Jack Hawksworth	40.460	0.6858	0.0130	8	32	31	222.444	Honda
25	19	Gabby Chaves	40.462	0.6887	0.0029	16	39	21	222.428	Honda
26	42	Charlie Kimball	40.500	0.7264	0.0377	34	52	16	222.221	Chevy
27	88	Bryan Clauson	40.559	0.7849	0.0585	21	30	28	221.901	Honda
28	63	Pippa Mann	40.586	0.8118	0.0269	12	26	25	221.754	Honda
29	16	Spencer Pigot	40.589	0.8150	0.0032	16	42	29	221.736	Honda
30	8	Max Chilton	40.687	0.9135	0.0985	19	43	22	221.199	Chevy
31	25	Stefan Wilson	40.726	0.9524	0.0389	6	42	30	220.988	Chevy
32	61	Matt Brabham	40.806	1.0317	0.0793	9	45	27	220.559	Chevy
33	4	Buddy Lazier	42.861	3.0872	2.0555	18	19	32	209.981	Chevy