Dixon, a six-time IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner, throttled to a flying lap of 227.206mph around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“Yeah, I think we rolled off pretty good,” Dixon said. We tried to go through some sequences and changes. Some are a little bit okay, some not so much. I think the track conditions changed quite a bit from the start to the finish as well. It was good. Car seems pretty fast, pulls up well, pretty consistent.”
And Dixon provided his stance on what’s possible in trying to convert this pace from starting 21st on Sunday.
“I think you have to just take the moment as it is,” Dixon said. “You don't wanna rush in too much. You know, obviously we got some positions to make up. How long and what the weather does is out of our control, man. So, we can't do too much about that. Hopefully, move up as quick as possible. I'd like to pass 20 on the first lap, but that's probably not going to happen.
Four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves ended up putting his No. 06 Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) Honda in second, just 0.0466s (226.939mph) behind Dixon. The Brazilian logged 103 laps, third-most on the day.
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was quickest among the Chevrolet-powered entries and sat 0.0943s off the pace-setting mark.
Andretti Global’s Colton Herta, who impressed with his passing prowess in Monday’s practice, ended up fourth at 0.1725s behind.
The highest rookie was found in fifth as Tom Blomqvist put the No. 66 MSR Honda in fifth, 0.3084s behind.
Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 winner and last year’s runner-up, was sixth in the No. 28 Andretti Global Honda. Agustin Canapino (Juncos Hollinger Racing), who pounded around for 105 laps (second-most), finished seventh, ahead of MSR’s Felix Rosenqvist in eighth and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou in ninth.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy 500 winner, rounded out the rest of the top 10.
Graham Rahal managed to complete 106 laps, the most in the session, with a best of 224.353mph that slotted him 17th overall.
There was a wild moment with 52 minutes left in the two-hour session when Takuma Sato charged hard off of Turn 4 and had so much pace he locked up the brakes and created a brief smokeshow. Uniquely, the two-time Indy 500 winner slowed down enough to not receive a penalty despite the dramatic entrance.
Takuma Sato LOCKS IT UP entering pit road!
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 24, 2024
📺: #Indy500 Carb Day on Peacock pic.twitter.com/21CfTy32fk
The only caution of the session came out with 16 minutes remaining after the No. 17 Arrow McLaren-Hendrick Chevrolet of Kyle Larson ran out of fuel on the backstretch, which required a tow-in back to the pits for service.
