Conor Daly turns fastest lap on Fast-Friday at Indy

Conor Daly top-dog on Fast Friday

Conor Daly, this year driving for Andretti Autosport, turned the fastest lap on Fast Friday at 231.704 mph to top teammate Marco Andretti who sat at the top most of the day.

However, Daly only had the 22nd fastest no-tow time and Marco the 7th.

While a dozen drivers turned laps in excess of 230 mph as teams dialed in their NTT IndyCar Series cars for the emotional next two days when the 33 grid positions for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing" will be determined, the times were all with a tow and hence totally irrelevant for qualifying.

"We got lucky a little bit there at the end with that tow, said Day. "Everyone else is in the same spot, everyone had a similar gap. I think our car is quite strong. It is step-by-step, you got to take it one step at a time. We are making small changes trying to work up to the perfect car. I think we are in a good spot right now, just have to keep working at it."

“It is the four laps that we care about, said Andretti. "Bryan Herta (strategist) has been really keeping me focused on trying to get clear track today. I am proud myself, normally, on Fast Friday I am out seeking tows. Today, we focused on the four laps. I ended really happy about our four-lap average. Tomorrow, it will be different conditions as Indy always is – tail wind into Turn 2, up to 17 mph, we are going to earn our money tomorrow."

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"]The real top-dogs on Fast Friday, a day when the turbo boost gets turned up on all the engines, were Ed Jones, Ed Carpenter and Alexander Rossi who had the fastest no-tow speeds and go into qualifying as the early pole favorites.

"We got to the point we were hoping to get to today," said Rossi. "The NAPA AUTO PARTS team has done an amazing job and Andretti Autosport always comes with fantastic race cars here. It is hot but I feel good about it – we will see tomorrow. A lot is going to depend on the (qualifying) draw that we get. As we know the temperatures are going to sky rocket pretty quickly. Hopefully lady luck is on our side and we get an early run at it. Hopefully a clean run and get it done. You can’t be confident here. As soon as you get confident, things start to go sideways. We will close the loop on today and see what areas we can execute better tomorrow. There are always tiny little things you can find around here so we will make sure we analyze it tonight. You can’t be complacent. You got to attack every chance you get."

Ed Jones – fastest no-tow man

All 36 entered cars benefited from an extra 1,000 millibars of turbocharger boost that increased engine output by some 50 horsepower Friday and through qualifying weekend. While most of the fastest laps were also aided by an aerodynamic tow from a leading car, Ed Jones did eclipse the 230 mark with a no-tow lap of 230.106 mph in the No. 63 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet.

Other drivers to surpass 230 mph with tow-aided laps on Friday were Takuma Sato, Spencer Pigot, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter, Simon Pagenaud, Charlie Kimball, Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Tony Kanaan.

Fernando Alonso continued to struggle to find speed in his McLaren Chevy and was 24th quick overall, but only 30th quick on the no-tow charts.

Alonso totaled 77 laps on the day – the most of any driver – in the backup No. 66 McLaren Racing Chevrolet, with his final circuit of 229.328 mph on the 2.5-mile oval standing as his best and 24th among all drivers.

"It was a positive day for us," Alonso said. "We were able to put the car on track and try different directions on the setup and learn a little bit about the track and the day. Obviously, the boost was up today, so the speeds were higher and it was more a (qualifying) preparation than race setups.

"But we had a lot of new tires (unused) from the last couple of days, so we were able to do a lot of runs. Hopefully, that information will give us tomorrow a little bit of confidence into qualifying."

Pigot's Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy is fast

Daly's day got even better when his team drew the first spot in the qualifying order for his entry. It means the 27-year-old Indiana native and son of former Indy car and F1 driver Derek Daly can make his initial four-lap qualifying attempt in potentially the coolest, best conditions of the day.

"All right, I'll take it," Daly said. "That's good. We'll take that. I hope it's nice and cool – 65 degrees, no wind and full power. We'll see."

Pigot drew the second qualifying position, with 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi third. Zach Veach, Rossi and Daly's teammate at Andretti Autosport, drew the last qualifying position of the 36 primary cars.

Kyle Kaiser was involved in the only incident of the day when his No. 32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet made hard contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 3. The 2017 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires champion was uninjured. The car sustained heavy damage and the Juncos crew expected to work into the night to repair it in a bid to qualify on Saturday.

Fast Friday Speeds

No-Tow Times

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