Indianapolis, IN
Conor Daly, Alex Palou become 1st drivers to top 228 mph on 2nd day of Indianapolis 500 practice
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis 500 drivers turned Wednesday’s practice into a possible race day preview.
They ran in packs, created long, snaking lines through the two long straightaways and mostly avoided trouble over the frantic final 75 minutes on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile oval.
Conor Daly and Alex Palou took advantage of the cool, overcast conditions to post the fastest laps on the second practice day. Daly posted the best lap of the day at 228.080 mph with Palou just a fraction slower at 228.026. They were the only drivers to top 228, while Palou had the fastest trap speed of the day at 237.220.
“We have, we think, found some speed in other areas,” said Jack Harvey, Daly’s teammate with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. “So, generally, they’re just all excited to try and I think, I mean I think we were good the last month of May, but I think we can be a lot better this year.”
Harvey has been fast all month, though he finished 14th on Wednesday at 225.100.
The weather created ideal conditions for speed and the drivers didn’t disappoint.
Daly, the stepson of speedway president Doug Boles, seems to be making the most of his first and possibly only IndyCar start of the season. He was one of five drivers to top 225 on Tuesday, then backed that up with an even better performance Wednesday.
David Malukas was the strongest of Team Penske’s drivers, finishing third at 227.139, just behind Palou, the Spaniard who has won four series crowns and is the defending 500 champ. Graham Rahal and France’s Romain Grosjean rounded out the top five.
Though most of the 33 drivers stayed on the track as long as they could over the final 75 minutes, crew members for three previous race winners — Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves and Alexander Rossi — were also busy trying to fix problems.
Hunter-Reay, of Arrow McLaren, had a radio issue. Castroneves, of Meyer Shank Racing, had an issue with the car’s balance, while Rossi’s Ed Carpenter Racing crew worked on the engine.
Drivers return to the track Thursday then will receive a turbocharge boost Friday before making four-lap qualification runs on Saturday and Sunday. The race is scheduled for May 24.
It hasn’t just been busy on the track.
One day after series officials announced their second rule change of the month, race organizers announced all reserved seats have been sold for the second straight year and the third time since 2016. That also means fans in central Indiana will be able to watch the telecast live.
And NASCAR team BRANDed Management announced it would give 45-year-old British driver Katherine Legge a chance to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600. If Legge qualifies for both races, she’ll become the first woman to attempt racing’s “double” — 1,100 miles of racing in one day — a half century after Janet Guthrie arrived at the Brickyard with the hope of qualifying for the 33-car starting grid. When that didn’t happen, Guthrie wound up starting NASCAR’s World 600, which is now known as the Coca-Cola 600.
Indianapolis, IN
Katherine Legge Will Attempt to Make History With Indianapolis 500, NASCAR Double in Same Day
Katherine Legge will look to make motorsports history this month by competing in IndyCar and NASCAR Cup Series races on the same day.
According to ESPN, Legge’s BRANDed Management announced Wednesday that she intends to race in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on May 24, which is a feat known in racing as “the double.”
The double has been attempted 10 times by five different drivers, but Legge would be the first woman to do so if she pulls it off.
Speaking to USA Today‘s Mitchell Northam regarding her ambitious plan, Legge said, “It’s another groundbreaking thing that I can showcase to the world really that, if you set your mind to things, you can do anything, and you can do things that maybe you never even dreamt of before.”
Legge, who is a 45-year-old motorsports veteran from England, has competed in the Indy 500 four times, and she has run in eight NASCAR Cup Series races over the past two seasons.
Her best Indy 500 finish to date was 22nd in 2012, while her best result in a NASCAR Cup Series race was 17th last season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Kyle Larson was the most recent driver to run the double, doing so last season. He previously attempted it in 2024, but a rain delay during the Indy 500 caused him to miss the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
John Andretti, Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Larson have all run the double, but the only driver to ever complete every lap of both races in the same day was Stewart in 2001.
No driver running the double has ever won a race as part of it. Stewart’s finishes of sixth in the Indy 500 and third in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2001 are the best results in the double to date.
Regardless of where she finishes, Legge will etch her name in motorsports history forever if she is merely able to qualify for and compete in both the 2026 Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600.
INDIANAPOLIS — Opening day for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 featured six hours of practice around the famed 2.5-mile oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Noblesville native Conor Daly finished among the top three on the speed charts, recording a best lap of 225.838 mph.
Daly returns for his 13th Indianapolis 500 start, driving the No. 23 Chevrolet for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. The race marks the team’s lone IndyCar entry of the season, and Daly’s first Indy 500 appearance since spending 2025 as a full-time driver for Juncos Hollinger Racing, where he finished 18th in the championship standings.
“Just a good Day 1,” Daly said. “I’m very happy with the mechanical balance in the car right now.”
Much of the early session consisted of single-car runs, with pack drafting not becoming common until later in the afternoon. Even then, traffic remained manageable, and the day unfolded without major interruptions.
Despite limited drafting throughout most of the session, Daly said he was pleased with the early feel of the car and believes the team has a clear direction moving forward.
“We definitely know what we want to do for tomorrow,” Daly said. “We identified a couple things that we want to reevaluate tomorrow.”
Wind conditions also became a major factor throughout the paddock, adding another layer of challenge for drivers trying to find consistency.
“The wind is really making things interesting,” Daly said. “It seems like the last couple of years that’s changed the race a lot.”
Still, the opening day remained relatively clean despite the high speeds and steady track activity. The only significant issue came for defending Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou, who spent much of the session in the garage after reporting a problem in the rear of his car.
Palou returned to the track in the closing minutes and quickly jumped to the top of the speed charts, posting the fastest lap of the day at 225.937 mph.
Jessica Garcete is an IndyStar sports reporter. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
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