Newgarden was coy about his pace, despite having a winning record and the fastest lap of the first session. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
The NTT IndyCar Series took to the short 7/8-mile oval of Iowa Speedway on Friday afternoon, with 28 drivers setting laps in the only practice session of the weekend.
There is only one practice due to the weekend featuring a double-header of races, and much of the allotted track time in set aside for the dual feature-length races on Saturday and Sunday.
Right from the start, Josef Newgarden showed that he is still the fastest driver around the track.
He set the fastest lap early and held it the entire 90-minute session, with his early lap of 18.2420 seconds the holding for the entirety.
Newgarden has won three of the last five races around Iowa, and if early pace is worth anything, will add to that total later this weekend.
Fellow Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin set the second fastest lap, completing his best circuit just 0.0477 seconds slower.
Marcus Ericsson rounded out the top three, and did so by completing the most total laps of anyone with 126 under his belt.
In all, there were over 2700 total laps completed, showing just how important the lone practice session is to the entire field.
There were two brief stoppages, with the first due to the Juncos Hollinger Racing rookie Agustin Canapino spinning across the track.
He was leaving the pits and spun just as soon as he left the pit limiter, sliding from the apron up onto the racing surface before coming to rest.
Alexander Rossi was able to avoid him as he sped past, but Canapino needed to have his Chevy power plant restarted before he was able to continue.
The second yellow was for Santino Ferrucci, who got high into the rubber marbles and very nearly pushed into the outside wall. No damage was done, however, and the session returned to green quickly.
The drivers will return to the track early Saturday morning for a single-car qualifying session.
The unique circumstances of the weekend schedule dictate that the first lap of qualifying sets the grid for the first race, and the second lap the grid for the second race. Plenty on the line after just one practice session available.
Keyword: Newgarden paces field in lone IndyCar practice from Iowa