Josef Newgarden led a straightforward warm-up session early on Saturday morning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Piloting the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet, the 31-year-old Tennessee native put down a flying lap of 1m10.9281s (123.973 mph) to lead the final practice session before the race around the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit.
Finishing runner-up to Newgarden was rookie Kyle Kirkwood, who throttled the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet within 0.0614s of top spot. Another rookie, Christian Lundgaard, ended up third in the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.
The Andretti Autosport duo of Alexander Rossi and Colton Herta placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
Rookie Callum Ilott, who just signed a contract extension with Juncos Hollinger Racing on Thursday, was sixth. Reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou elevated his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to seventh.
Pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist managed to put his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet to eighth. Team Penske’s Will Power, who logged the most laps of any driver in the top 10 with 22, was ninth.
Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was 10th.
Championship leader Marcus Ericsson, who will start from last for today’s 85-lap race after a mechanical issue in qualifying, managed to put the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in 11th in the warm-up session. He was followed by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay in 12th.
Up Next: The Gallagher Grand Prix at 12 p.m. ET, with live coverage on NBC and the IndyCar Radio Network.
