Sato leads Indy 500 Carb Day practice
Takuma Sato claimed the Carb Day honors on Friday as the Indianapolis 500 field completed its final practice session ahead of Sunday’s race, although the main talking point immediately after the checkered flag was tire wear.
The drivers were greeted with cool conditions similar to those being forecast for Sunday, but one of the knock-on effects was increased tire degradation that left some teams calculating whether stint lengths for the race might be dictated more by rubber life than fuel capacity.
At least two Ganassi cars — those of Marcus Ericsson and Alex Palou — showed cording on their front-lefts, although the only actual tire failure of the day was the result of debris. Andretti Autosport’s Devlin DeFrancesco suffered a cut front-right in Turn 2 with just over 20 minutes to go, and did a remarkable job to keep the No. 29 Honda out of the barriers.
By that point, several teams had already learned all they wanted to and put their cars away, includin
