The second day of on-track running for the 110th Indianapolis 500 shuffled the order and produced eye-catching speed headlines as a native competitor climbed to the top of the charts. Local driver Conor Daly posted the session’s quickest lap at 228.080 mph in the No. 23 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet, capitalizing on a significant aerodynamic pull from traffic about an hour into the six-hour window. The run arrived as teams continued to chase a delicate balance between raw pace and stability, using busy packs on the 2.5-mile oval to replicate race conditions and extract maximum speed.
Behind Daly, reigning champion Alex Palou remained a constant threat: he finished just 0.0093 seconds adrift with a best of 228.027 mph in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, reaffirming the speed he showed on opening day. David Malukas slotted into third with a top of 227.139 mph, while long runs and late-session charge moves elevated Graham Rahal to fourth at 226.835 mph and Romain Grosjean to fifth at 226.591 mph. Those shifts underscored how tow timing and track position can rapidly change the practice pecking order.
Top ten and no-tow benchmarks
A wider look at the boards showed several familiar names peppering the top ten: six-time champion Scott Dixon was sixth, followed by Scott McLaughlin in seventh, Josef Newgarden eighth, Santino Ferrucci ninth and Kyle Kirkwood rounding out the top ten. When teams measured performance without aerodynamic benefit, Pato O’Ward led the way among solo efforts with a best of 221.409 mph, trailed closely by Alexander Rossi at 221.392 mph and Marcus Ericsson at 221.204 mph. Those marks are the baseline many race strategists reference when discussing fuel windows and overtaking potential.
Why tows matter and what “no-tow” tells us
The practice session highlighted the dramatic influence of aerodynamic drafting, with many top speeds coming when cars linked up for a slipstream. For clarity, no-tow is the lap speed recorded when a car runs alone without a trailing aerodynamic benefit from other machines, and it serves as a useful performance baseline for pure car balance. Drivers such as Daly and Palou used traffic to unlock peak lap speeds, whereas the fastest no-tow runs — led by O’Ward — offered teams a cleaner reference to assess stability and engine response when the car lacks the extra push from a lead vehicle.
Workload, reliability and service notes
Teams also monitored durability and mileage: Palou completed the most laps on the day, logging 118 laps, while Ferrucci was the only other driver to exceed 100 with 102 laps. At the other end of the spectrum, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Sting Ray Robb ran just 44 laps, and Ed Carpenter recorded 48 laps. The day produced no on-track incidents, a relief for crews and officials, though broadcast reports noted Alexander Rossi entered the garage late in the session as his team performed an engine change to address reliability concerns.
Session totals and the path to race day
Collectively, the full entry list completed a substantial workload, turning a total of 2,542 incident-free laps during the session — a clear uptick from opening day figures — as squads adjusted setups and experimented with tow patterns. Practice continuity and the ability to run long stints without interruption remain crucial in the fortnight leading to the showpiece. With the 110th Indianapolis 500 set for Sunday, May 24 and further practice scheduled before qualifying, teams will parse the data to refine tire life predictions, drafting strategy and qualifying trim while keeping an eye on short-term reliability fixes and race-day balance.