Texas IndyCar: Kanaan leads O’Ward in practice
Tony Kanaan returned to NTT IndyCar Series action with top time in the only practice session ahead of tonight’s Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda driver was the only driver to nudge past the 220mph barrier with his 16th of 54 laps turned at the 1.5-mile oval near Fort Worth. This was a psychological boost for the Brazilian driver considering he will have to start from the 12th and last row of the grid. Qualifying has been canned due to inclement weather compressing the schedule, and the grid will be set by entrant points, which leaves the 2004 champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner relying on Jimmie Johnson’s points accrued from the opening two rounds of the season.
Although most running was done in traffic, Kanaan was also top of the no-tow speeds.
Pato O’Ward, who topped the last test at TMS, was second fastest in the #5 Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet, ahead of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda’s Takuma Sato.
Four-time and defending Texas winner Scott Dixon, along with Marcus Ericsson ensured there were three Ganassi cars in the top six, while Alex Palou, points leader and therefore polesitter for tonight’s race, was 11th.
Team Penske-Chevrolets were fifth, eighth, 16th and 20th in practice, with Simon Pagenaud – runner-up here last year – leading the quartet.
Befitting the race sponsor he shares, Genesys, James Hinchcliffe was fastest of the Andretti Autosport-Hondas.
Conor Daly, displaced by regular team owner, oval specialist Ed Carpenter, comfortably eclipsed his usual team boss with 12th fastest in the Carlin-Chevy.
This evening's 212-lap race has been brought forward by 35mins to 6.10pm local (Central) time, and will see Palou leading Will Power, Scott Dixon, Colton Herta, Simon Pagenaud and Jack Harvey.
| Cla | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Gap | Mph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tony Kanaan |  Chip Ganassi Racing | 54 | 23.545 | 220.173 | |
| 2 |  Patricio O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | 73 | 23.570 | 0.025 | 219.934 |
| 3 |  Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 70 | 23.577 | 0.032 | 219.868 |
| 4 |  Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 56 | 23.593 | 0.048 | 219.723 |
| 5 |  Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | 62 | 23.595 | 0.049 | 219.708 |
| 6 |  Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 88 | 23.596 | 0.050 | 219.698 |
| 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Arrow McLaren SP | 71 | 23.631 | 0.086 | 219.366 |
| 8 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 67 | 23.689 | 0.144 | 218.827 |
| 9 |  James Hinchcliffe | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | 87 | 23.702 | 0.157 | 218.707 |
| 10 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 81 | 23.707 | 0.162 | 218.668 |
| 11 |  Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | 86 | 23.768 | 0.223 | 218.105 |
| 12 | Conor Daly |  Carlin | 55 | 23.778 | 0.233 | 218.010 |
| 13 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | 37 | 23.811 | 0.266 | 217.707 |
| 14 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | 47 | 23.891 | 0.346 | 216.982 |
| 15 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing | 52 | 23.933 | 0.388 | 216.604 |
| 16 |  Will Power | Team Penske | 56 | 23.937 | 0.392 | 216.560 |
| 17 | Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport | 42 | 23.938 | 0.393 | 216.558 |
| 18 |  Rinus van Kalmthout | Ed Carpenter Racing | 39 | 23.977 | 0.432 | 216.201 |
| 19 | Ed Carpenter | Ed Carpenter Racing | 55 | 23.986 | 0.441 | 216.118 |
| 20 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | 83 | 24.039 | 0.494 | 215.647 |
| 21 |  Ed Jones | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan | 79 | 24.105 | 0.560 | 215.056 |
| 22 | Sébastien Bourdais | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 71 | 24.111 | 0.566 | 214.998 |
| 23 | Dalton Kellett | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 93 | 24.211 | 0.666 | 214.115 |
| 24 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Dale Coyne Racing with RWR | 85 | 24.292 | 0.747 | 213.401 |
| View full results | ||||||
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