INDIANAPOLIS — Scott McLaughlin was the fastest man at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday afternoon (May 16), placing first in the practice session on Fast Friday with a speed of 233.954 mph.
McLaughlin’s time lap not only was the best of Friday, but it was the fastest of the five Indianapolis 500 practice sessions combined so far. He laid down his time early in the six-hour session, and the closest challenger didn’t come until the very end, when Scott Dixon‘s 232.561 mph put him in second. However, Dixon’s lap was the fastest of the non-tow speeds. His Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou was third.
Kyle Kirkwood was fourth, and his Andretti Global teammate Colton Herta rounded out the top five. Will Power, Christian Lundgaard, Conor Daly, Marcus Armstrong and Sting Ray Robb completed the top 10.
FAST FRIDAY RESULTS
Friday was a tricky day for the NTT IndyCar Series field, as the track was especially treacherous on the day. Due to that as well as drivers making mock qualifying runs, only 533 laps were completed by the 34 drivers, down significantly from 2,213 laps the day before. As drivers practiced their mock qualifying runs, many were forced to lift or abort their runs altogether to avoid crashing their racecars.
Two drivers weren’t so fortunate. Less than an hour into the session, and on his very first lap of the day, Kyffin Simpson went for a spin and went airborne after contact with the outside wall. Simpson was OK, but the car was not. He never returned to the track and was credited with 34th, dead last, in the practice.
Kyffin Simpson goes AIRBORNE at @IMS 😳 pic.twitter.com/WlrjY3ilHb
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 16, 2025
The other driver to crash was Kyle Larson. The NASCAR Cup Series champion waited until just over an hour left in practice to take to the racetrack. The first two laps went OK, but on lap 3, he lost control and went head on into the outside wall.
OH NO, KYLE LARSON 😬
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 16, 2025
The No. 17 car spins and makes contact with the Turn 3 wall. pic.twitter.com/ozbn2tF3FJ
It marked the second time Larson had crashed in this Indy 500 attempt, as he also crashed in the test in April. The Arrow McLaren team assembled a backup car blisteringly fast, and he appears to be set to go for qualifying.
The IndyCar field has one more practice session to go before qualifying. That will begin on Saturday, May 17, at 8:30 p.m. ET., and will be shown on FOX Sports 2. It will be split into two groups, and each will only have 30 minutes of track time.
That practice will be followed immediately by qualifying at 11 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 for the first two and a half hours. FS2 will show qualifying from 1:30-4 p.m. ET, and the final two hours will be on FOX.
Following the practice, the 34 entries drew for the qualifying order. Marcus Ericsson drew the No. 1 spot.
And here’s the last 4 picks, including @KyleLarsonRacin’s pic.twitter.com/blmJrjvdZ0
— Michael Massie (@m_massie22) May 16, 2025
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020.
Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.