There’s Fast, Then There’s Fast Friday Fast at Indy
Photo Credit: Chris Owens, Penske Entertainment
Fast Friday, the final day of practice before qualifications for the Indianapolis 500, is known for its high speeds. Since the adoption of the current engine formula in 2012, drivers and teams are allowed extra turbocharger boost to simulate the speeds they’ll experience in qualifying on Saturday and Sunday. It’s a day that drivers look forward to as much as the fans.
Pato O’Ward, who posted the fastest average speed on Thursday of 228.861 miles per hour around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway in his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, says it’s one of the most enjoyable experiences of the month.
“Oh, yeah, you feel it. It's so cool. Honestly, it's one of the coolest parts about the whole process is just those four laps in qualifying. They can be very enjoyable, but they can be miserable, as well. Like you've got to get it right, and puts a lot of emphasis on -- you'll really see a lot of the work that these teams go through in the off-season making those things go as fast as possible.”
That extra turbocharger boost, which equates to an extra 10-miles-per-hour, or so, makes the speedway look, feel and sound different according to O’Ward.
“Yeah, I mean, everything just gets -- you feel the difference. I think the biggest thing is there's so much more speed that you're carrying through the corner. Front right (tire) takes a bit more of a beating, and whenever it does decide not to give you that peak grip from lap 1 to lap 4, that wall comes fast, really, really fast.
“You can hear the engine,” O’Ward continued. “You can hear the different pitch of the engine that it's producing. It's freaking badass.”
Photo Credit: Joe Skibinski, Penske Entertainment
Last year’s pole winner, Alex Palou, driver of the No.10 DHL Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing, concurs.
“Yeah, I think it's such a big difference. You cannot imagine the difference between today and tomorrow for the drivers. It's super fun.
“I mean, we're used to now being at 220 miles an hour when we're alone average, and then suddenly you pick up probably 10 miles an hour, a little bit more. I would say that the engine sounds a lot different. Everything is on the limit, and the wind changes, as well.
“You feel it. You know that you are in the limit.
“While today you're running, but when you're alone you're not in the limit with the conditions and the boost that we had.
“Yeah, cannot wait.”
Photo Credit: Joe Skibinski, Penske Entertainment
But Mother Nature may have different ideas. In a week that has seen limited practice time because of rain, showers or a thunderstorm is not out of the question for Friday.
According to O’Ward, it’s imperative that drivers get to practice with the added boost before qualifying begins on Saturday.
“Oh, yeah. We're going to need to get a few runs in with the boost. You'll see guys today getting super consistent four-lap runs, but as soon as those boosts come up, some fourth laps for people are going to be like -- I mean, you feel it. It's just so much faster.
“The car just goes to a different dimension with the boost. It's really almost incomparable to what it is now. Right now you try and pepper it in as good as you can, but you're going way faster. It's a lot more downforce, but you're also trimming (aerodynamic drag) more. It's a very different -- yeah, very different car at that point.”
If Friday’s 6-hour practice schedule is compressed because of rain, O’Ward says teams may not get a good read on four-lap, ten-mile qualifying simulations because of crowded track conditions.
“I think everybody would like to get at least two outings, I would say. Problem around here is that there's 34 cars, and if there's another car on track, you're getting towed, no matter how far back you are. You try and have maybe two, maybe three cars on track at the same time, nicely spaced out, but sometimes you just can't time it, or people obviously will put their program in front of yours.
“But as long as we can get a read of what it's like.”
Photo Credit: Chris Jones, Penske Entertainment
O’Ward was one of those who did qualifying sims using the lower boost levels on Thursday.
Palou, who set the record for the fastest four-lap, pole winning run in the history of the speedway at 234.217 mph last year, did not.
“It was in the plan. We didn't do any qualifying simulation this year or the previous year. I've never done it without the boost. No, it's not concerning. It didn't change our plans today. It changed a bit our plans that we couldn't really get a lot of running on traffic. There was, I would say, 40 percent of the teams (doing} qualifying sims this morning, so the packs were not big, and we had a lot of sitting time. So we didn't really get as much running as we wanted.
“But yeah, not concerned about qualifying. I might get (concerned) tomorrow, but…”
Once qualifying is completed, turbo boost levels will return to normal for practice on Monday, Carb Day next Friday and race day.. Given his enthusiasm for running with the Fast Friday and qualifying boost levels, how would O’Ward like to race with that extra boost?
“Oh, my God, those boosts for racing would be gnarly. Too gnarly, I’d say. I wouldn't say no. Why not?”