INDIANAPOLIS -- Fast Friday lived up to its name as six Verizon IndyCar Series drivers exceeded 230 mph during the last full day of practice for the 99th Indianapolis 500.
Team Penske's Simon Pagenaud paced the action for the second day in a row, finding 230.698 mph during Happy Hour in his No. 22 Avaya Chevrolet. Scott Dixon held the honors for most of the day at 230.643 mph, and while the Target Ganassi Racing pilot improved to 230.655 mph late in the day, he was unable to best his rival.
However, the IMS timing system calculated that Dixon's lap was achieved without the benefit of a tow, whereas Pagenaud gained about 1.2 mph through the draft when he ran.
In general, it was a subdued day at IMS in the wake of a pair of accidents earlier in the week in which Chevrolet cars went airborne and upside down. Dixon, for example, ran only seven laps shortly after the track opened at noon and did not emerge from his garage again until well after 5 p.m.
Friday's hot and windy conditions likely contributed to a lack of activity throughout the day. A total of 1,055 laps were turned, about half the number you would expect on a practice day not affected by rain.
Speed remains the main story heading into Indy's qualifying weekend, but the ease with which the cars of Helio Castroneves (on Wednesday) and Josef Newgarden (Thursday) took to the air still dominated pit lane discussion on Friday.
Tony Kanaan, who was third-fastest on Friday at 230.457 mph in his Ganassi Chevrolet, admitted that the accidents prompted many competitors to take a somewhat cautious approach in working toward a qualifying setup.
"Obviously, it rings the bell," Kanaan said. "You get all pumped; it's natural. You get aggressive until something happens to somebody. Then it's like, 'Oooh -- OK.' We haven't been that aggressive, but that was our mentality all week. I'm pretty sure a lot of guys are the same, especially after what they saw with Helio.
"It's kind of like when an engine blows," he continued. "That manufacturer is going to be more cautious and stop everybody to take a look at what happened. Especially with this being a new aero kit that we don't know all the stages of trimming the last downforce and how fast you can go -- for sure, everybody is being extra careful."
Dixon said the newness of the speedway version of the Honda and Chevrolet aero kits had every competitor taking a rational approach.
Although many hours of wind tunnel research and computer simulations went into the design of the new aerodynamic components, actual track testing of the parts was limited to a few days and took place at venues other than IMS, including Texas Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in California.
"Right now, it feels a lot more comfortable than when we started," Dixon remarked. "We have some good direction, but it's always hard at this place, especially when you're trying to cram in both race running and qualifying running in one week and trying to decipher a new aero kit.
"Chevy gave us a lot of data from wind tunnel running and some on-track stuff, but actually running through ride-height maps and all that kind of stuff takes time. It comes down to taking the best guess at a good combination of downforce and drag."
On Friday, Firestone revealed that Newgarden's crash was triggered when a rear tire lost pressure after striking debris. Kanaan said that learning the cause of at least one of the wrecks was a relief, and added that he is pleased that Chevrolet and the IndyCar Series are investigating why the cars of Castroneves and Newgarden took to the air after relatively straightforward, single-car crashes.
But he cautioned against armchair engineers jumping to conclusions about the incidents.
"I get mad when I see people trying to make conclusions and they have no clue," Kanaan said. "They're not driving the cars. I don't have the data, I'm not an engineer, but I know for a fact that I'm driving it.
"This is the Speedway," he continued. "Things sometimes happen that aren't supposed to happen. I think sometimes we are all overreacting and trying to make this thing 100 percent safe. We've made the cars pretty safe, but we're not going to make it 100 percent."
That element of risk, Kanaan believes, is part of the allure of Indianapolis.
"That's who we are; that's why we get the recognition that we get," he said. "Not everybody can do this. And that's the way it's supposed to be. And the old days were even better.
"Nowadays, we made it so much safer and so much easier. ... Go talk to Mario [Andretti] and A.J. [Foyt] and those guys. That's when the risks were real and the technology wasn't there. So we are a bit different. And I hope it continues like this. This shouldn't be a place where everybody can come and drive."
For his part, Andretti believes that Indianapolis is a track that deserves more respect than any other.
"This place does not forgive anyone," Mario said. "Whether it's a slight mistake or whatever, it's going to catch you out. Every little mistake is magnified here because of the speed itself, and the slightest setup change on the car is so magnified here.
"A couple of thousandths here or there can be the difference between a car that's really good and a car that's really bad."
That's particularly important in qualifying, which has taken on more emphasis than ever at Indianapolis.
In the past, a driver might make one four-lap qualifying attempt on Pole Day and be locked in almost immediately. With the new format instituted in 2014, every driver will make at least three runs spread over two days.
Under the new system, the fastest 33 cars were to be determined on the first qualifying day, Saturday, but it was rained out. Now all the action is on Sunday (10 a.m.-noon ET on ESPN3, 1-3 p.m. ET on ABC).
Unless additional entries materialize (and they won't, due to a lack of available engines and chassis), there will be only 34 entries competing for the 33 starting positions this year.
Qualifying promises to be extraordinarily close, as on Friday the top 23 drivers were within 2 mph. Pippa Mann, the 33rd-fastest driver Friday, was just 5.2 mph off Pagenaud's pace.
Dixon, who won at Indianapolis in 2008 from pole position, is probably the front-runner for this year's top qualifying prize. But even as a former Indy winner and a three-time IndyCar Series champion, he knows how difficult the task at hand will be.
"Some days are easier than others, but once you've been to this race track for a while you know that it can bite you very quickly," Dixon said. "It always demands a lot of respect and focus, and a lack of respect is where it's going to catch you out. You see that even from the best guys.
"It catches you out," he added. "It's a difficult place, and if you're trying to go fast, there's a high possibility of biting it."