FORT WORTH, Texas — Simon Pagenaud says the No. 22 Avaya Team Penske Chevrolet “is a carryover from Indy,” which means it’s fast on the straights and handles well in the corners.
Pagenaud recorded the fastest lap at 216.172 mph (24.2307 seconds) on the 1.455-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval in the late-morning practice session. Chevrolet and Honda split the top 10 positions on the lap speed chart ahead of NTT Data qualifying.
Watch qualifications at 4:15 p.m. (ET) today on RaceControl.indycar.com along with real-time Timing & Scoring and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcast. If you can’t watch it live, NBCSN telecasts the single-car qualifying at 6 p.m. (ET). A 30-minute practice starting at 7:45 p.m. (ET) closes the day.
“It’s very stable, very good and traffic and very good on its own,” Pagenaud said. “We need to work tonight in practice, when it will be cooler like the race, we’ll try to make it even better. But this is a good start.”
NBCSN will broadcast the 27th Indy car race at Texas Motor Speedway at 8 p.m. (ET) June 6.
During the session, Verizon IndyCar Series teams were taking various approaches in their attempt to find efficient downforce with their Chevrolet and Honda superspeedway aerodynamic platforms.
Rear wheel guard closures were mandated by INDYCAR earlier this week. Experimentation included an asymmetrical rear wheel guard winglet (right side on No. 3 Chevrolet of Helio Castroneves and left side on No. 2 Chevrolet of Team Penske teammate Juan Pablo Montoya), two winglets on right side of No. 14 Honda of Takuma Sato and one of other side, and road course tire ramp flicks and underwing diffusers.
Reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Will Power, who earned the Verizon P1 Award for the pole positions in 2014, was second on the speed chart (216.126 mph in the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Takuma Sato, runner-up in Race 2 of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans on May 31, was third (216.078 mph) in the No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Honda.
Tony Kanaan, who won at TMS in June 2004 and returned four months later to celebrate his series championship, was fourth fast (215.685) in the No. 10 NTT Group Chevrolet. Teammate Scott Dixon (215.314) was fifth in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
The top 20 cars were separated by 0.5192 of a second.
Ryan Hunter-Reay’s No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport Honda made rearward contact with the Turn 2 SAFER Barrier with 35-minutes left in the 75-minute practice session. He was checked at the infield care center and cleared to drive.
“Just got up in the dirty air and the car just turned around, but not sure why,” he said.
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