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A lot has gone against Josef Newgarden as he has pursued an unprecedented third straight Indianapolis 500 victory on Sunday, but Friday presented some good news.

The Team Penske driver posted the top speed at 225.687 mph during Friday’s Carb Day practice session, the last teams will have on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval before the 109th running of the 200-lap race.

That came just two days after the iconic racing team made wholesale changes to its leadership in the wake of IndyCar officials finding the team had made modifications to two of its vehicles during an inspection prior to qualifying.

The sanctioning body moved the cars of Newgarden and Will Power to the back of the 33-car starting field. The team was also fined $100,000 for each violation, and team founder Roger Penske dismissed the team’s top three IndyCar executives as a result.

Penske, whose principal company owns the speedway, issued a statement apologizing to the team’s fans and partners for the “organizational failures” that have taken place over the past two years. Penske has fielded racing teams for nearly 60 years, and his drivers have won a record 20 Indy 500s during that time.

Now, in addition to trying to become the first-ever three-peat winner, Newgarden also seeks to be the first to win the race after starting from the back row. Tom Sneva, a former Penske racer, came the closest. In 1980, he started last in the field and finished second.

“Good final run here,” said Newgarden, who will start 32nd. “Excited to check the car off again and work with the team. I’m really excited for Sunday.”

Sunday’s field includes eight former winners. Newgarden and Power are two, along with Marcus Ericsson (Row 3, ninth), Alexander Rossi (Row 4, 12th), Helio Castroneves (Row 8, 22nd) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (Row 9, 25th). Takuma Sato, another two-time winner, posted the second-fastest speed on Friday at 225.415 mph. Scott Dixon, the 2008 winner, was the only other driver to top 225 mph during Carb Day.

Dixon qualified fourth in Row 2, and Sato, who won in 2017 and 2020, is in the front row next to pole sitter Robert Shwartzman.

Shwartzman is the first rookie to take the pole since Teo Fabi in 1983. The Israeli driver for Prema Racing is also vying to become the first rookie to take the checkered flag since Rossi nine years ago.

While Sato’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda was one of the fastest on the track Friday, the Japanese driver’s day did not end well as he lost speed on the back straightaway.

“We were pointing in the right direction, so I want to check all the data,” Sato said. “We had a mechanical failure on the last run and lost performance on one side of the car. It’s too early for me to say what that was until the team investigates it, but I almost lost control in Turn 1.”

Newgarden is not the only driver chasing history.

Kyle Larson plans to begin his day in Indianapolis and complete the 500. After he’s finished there, he’ll take off for Charlotte to drive in NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night. Four others have tried the double, and only Tony Stewart has been able to complete all 600 laps. That happened in 2001, when he finished sixth in Indianapolis and third in Charlotte.

–Field Level Media