Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin led the one rehearsal of the weekend ahead of the IndyCar doubleheader at Iowa Speedway.
The New Zealander achieved an incredible speed of 185.891mph on the 0.894-mile oval track, whose lower lanes on all 4 corners were recently paved.
Reigning two-time series champion Alex Palou ultimately placed his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in second overall, just 0.0331 seconds slower.
Third place went to Pato O'Ward, driver of the #5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 0.1633 seconds behind McLaughlin.
Fourth place went to David Malukas of Meyer Shank Racing, followed by Alexander Rossi of Arrow McLaren.
Pietro Fittipaldi of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team accomplished probably the most laps within the session with 112, ending seventeenth (0.4794 seconds).
The IndyCar Series race day began with a special 30-minute high-line session that featured a unique right-side tire compound tailored to the running of two groups that split into 15-minute heats each.
The short outing ended with victory for Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson, who set a fastest lap time of 177.399 mph, just ahead of Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino’s best time of 177.380 mph.
It was the one positive moment of the afternoon for Ericsson, who got here on the pitch just 10 minutes into his regular 90-minute training session following a brief break.
Ericsson was turning into Turn 3 when the rear of his No. 28 Honda jumped out as he entered the resurfaced a part of the corner. Despite his best efforts to regain control, the automobile slid down the track and the suitable side hit the Turn 4 wall hard before racing across the straight and coming to a stop near the inside the sector.
He was fifth within the standings on the time, having reached a speed of 179.694 mph after completing just three laps.
“Really strange,” said Ericsson. “We did the entire test here and we didn’t have any danger from behind. We did some high-line practice and the automobile felt great; I felt super comfortable.
“It kind of came out of nowhere. Really frustrating.”
The session resumed around 10 minutes later and Ericsson's team-mate Colton Herta moved into first place shortly afterwards with a quick lap of 182.083mph.
AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci surged into first place mid-race at 182.273 mph, but was dethroned by McLaughlin, who was then pushed by Rossi. But it was Palou’s 185.519 mph lap that caught everyone’s attention shortly after.
McLaughlin responded with a simulated qualifying run and topped the timesheets, reaching a speed of 185.891 mph with 26 minutes left within the race.
Although Katherine Legge, making her first IndyCar appearance because the Indianapolis 500 in May, began strongly early within the session, she had a difficult moment after spinning out of Turn 4 just two minutes in. Fortunately, she didn’t make contact with the wall and was in a position to proceed after stalling on the straight, which brought out a yellow flag.
With seven minutes to go, Canapino’s promising session almost led to tears when he was forced to brake hard to catch the much slower Will Power and spun out at Turn 3. Then, coming out of the pits, Canapino was hit within the left rear by Dixon, who appeared to have mistakenly pitted the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of rookie Nolan Siegel.
In the ultimate moments of practice, McLaughlin attempted a high line but ended up spinning. He managed to maintain the ball off the wall because the incident ended practice.
