One of the most successful drivers in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey NTT IndyCar Series race backed up his reputation in Saturday’s practice session as the fastest driver in the one-hour practice.
It was Andretti Global’s Colton Herta, who drove the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda to the best lap time at 1:08.2300 for a speed of 118.083 miles per hour.
This weekend’s contest is at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca on the Monterey Peninsula of the Central California coast.
Herta is a two-time race winner and two-time pole winner at Laguna Seca. This is his fifth race at the track where his father, Bryan, also won twice (1998 and 1999) and had three-straight poles from 1997-’99.
Click here for the full results.
Team Penske’s Will Power was second at 1:08.4261 (117.745 mph) in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who clocked in at 1:08.4387 (117.723 mph) in the No. 10 DHL Honda.
Scott McLaughlin, who has the fastest overall time from Friday’s practice, was fourth Saturday at 1:08.4602 (117.686 mph) in the No. 3 Chevrolet for Team Penske.
Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren rounded out the top five at 1:08.4679 (117.673 mph) in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
Ed Carpenter Racing rookie driver Christian Rasmussen was involved in a hard crash just five minutes into the session when he slammed into the turn 10 wall. It brought out the red flag.
The driver was checked and released by the IU Health IndyCar Medical staff.
Sting Ray Robb and Kyffin Simpson brought out two more red flags, but their incidents were not serious.
Qualifications for Sunday’s race begin at 5 p.m. Eastern Time today.