Josef Newgarden Paces First Day of 2023 Indy 500 Open Test

For the second year in a row, Josef Newgarden paced Thursday’s portion of the April Open Test for the 2023 Indianapolis 500.

The No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet went around the 2.5-mile oval at an average speed of 227.686 mph. Second fastest was Conor Daly in the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet at 227.466 mph.

Third fastest was the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Scott Dixon ahead of the No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda of Kyle Kirkwood. Takuma Sato rounded out the top five in the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, the Japanese driver being the first of the part-time runners.

The track had some yellows for track inspections and for one period when a brief sprinkling of rain went over the Speedway. There also was one yellow flag for a tow-in for Katherine Legge after she ran out of fuel.

There was one incident of car contact as Callum Ilott exited his pit stall and veered into Rinus VeeKay in the fast lane on pit road. VeeKay lightly brushed the pit wall and Ilott received a five minute hold by race control for the contact.

Traffic on pit lane.@callum_ilott pushes @rinusveekay wide and into the wall. The No. 21 sustains minor damage.#INDYCAR // #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/yR1g0xTIGb

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 20, 2023

The open test began with a two hour session for veteran drivers that Marcus Ericsson led in the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Rookie Orientation and the veteran refresher program took place next and all refreshers and ROP programs were completed after Agustin Canapino did his final ROP lap in the final session for everybody.