The only on-track activity for the Verizon IndyCar Series on Saturday saw a session that ran green nearly entirely; a blown tire from Tristan Vautier’s No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing entry and an inspection caution were the only stops in the session. However, speed was relegated to a secondary role, as most teams and drivers focused on racing setups.
Josef Newgarden, driving the No. 67 CFH Racing Chevrolet, topped the session with a 21.541 second lap time with an average speed of 169.626 mph.
The young American driver led early in the session, before his time was bested by Chip Ganassi Racing's Tony Kanaan with a 21.788 second lap. This was Kanaan's quickest lap of the opening practice session of the weekend, despite clocking 36 more laps throughout the session.
Scott Dixon, Kanaan's stablemate at Ganassi, jumped second shortly after, and just like his teammate, the 21.824 time, clocked in his fourth fast lap, also ended up being his fastest of the session.
Quick times seemed to slow down as the session entered its late stages, but the last 10 minutes brought intensity as drivers improved upon their lap times.
Takuma Sato was first to jump to the top, with a 21.670 second lap. Two minutes later, Newgarden struck back, clocking a lap of 21.731 seconds.
Despite the driver of the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises car improving his time to a 21.649 before the time expired, it was only good for third fastest, as the American set the quickest lap and Simon Pagenaud came out of nowhere with a 21.569 second lap in the final moments of the first practice.
Sato, at third quickest, was the top Honda with his aforementioned 21.649 second lap. Winner last time out at the MAVTV500, Graham Rahal, was fourth quickest and hence the next Honda, while Tony Kanaan completed the top-five behind these two.
The last practice before qualifying will be held Sunday morning at 10:15 am ET.
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Pete Liguori is a writer for the VAVEL USA Racing section. Follow him on Twitter at @PeteUSSports.