Fast Friday Practice Was Delayed Due to Early Rain; Sato, Foster, Rahal & Schumacher Eventually Able To Make Sim Runs Ahead of Qualifying

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

110th Running of the Indianapolis 500

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

FAST FRIDAY NOTES / QUOTES – May 15, 2026

FAST FRIDAY PRACTICE WAS DELAYED DUE TO EARLY RAIN BUT SATO, FOSTER, RAHAL AND SCHUMACHER WERE EVENTUALLY ABLE TO MAKE SIMULATION RUNS AHEAD OF QUALIFYING FOR THE INDY 500

1) Felix Rosenqvist 233.372 mph 6th on the no tow chart

4) Takuma Sato 232.655 mph 17th on the no tow chart

24) Louis Foster 231.707 mph 18th on the no tow chart

26) Graham Rahal 231.627 mph 20th on the no tow chart

32) Mick Schumacher 230.749 mph 29th on the no tow chart

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 United Rentals Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Overall, very good day. Was trying to find a little bit more speed at the end but in general, I’m very happy with the balance and the speed of the car. Will be in the fight to try to make the top 15 for sure.”

FAST FACTS: Rahal was 6th on the timesheets Tuesday and 4th Wednesday… Will be his 19th Indy 500. His best qualifying position in the Indy 500 is fourth in 2009 with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing and best finish is third with Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing in 2011 and RLL in 2020. Detailed information is available upon request… Has SIX INDYCAR SERIES wins (2008 – St. Pete street course; 2015 – Fontana Super Speedway, Mid-Ohio road course; 2016 – Texas Super Speedway; 2017 Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) and FIVE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street; 2023 – IMS road, Portland) and his highest series season-ending standing is fourth place in 2015… He is 9th in INDYCAR SERIES point standings with 141 and his pit crew leads the Firestone Pit Stop Challenge.

LOUIS FOSTER, No. 45 Droplight Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We had a good day today and learned a lot about where we need to be for tomorrow. I’m super happy with the feel of the car. I think we’re in a stronger position than we were last year but we didn’t get a great draw on the qualifying order so we’re going out 28th. We’ll see what we have tomorrow. We will bring the full beans and we’ll see what we’ve got. It will be an interesting day with the weather, so maybe it will play into our hands, who knows.”

FAST FACTS: Will be Foster’s second Indy 500. In 2025, he qualified 20th and finished 12th. His best series start to date is pole at Road America in 2025 and his best finish came at the previous race — the Sonsio Grand Prix – of seventh place… He is ranked in 19th place in the point standings with 86.

MICK SCHUMACHER, No. 47 ENVE Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “Fast Friday was all right. We learned a lot with the extra boost and got some good takeaways on what we need for tomorrow and hopefully we’ll put it all together.”

FAST FACTS: This will be his first Indy 500. His best INDYCAR start came on the Phoenix oval with 4th place and his best series finish also came there with 18th place despite having an issue with a wheel gun on a pit stop. He is ranked third in the Rookie of the Year standings and 25th in series standings with 54 points.

TAKUMA SATO, No. 75 AMADA Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think in the end, it was a quite productive day and we learned quite a lot. We were able to try some items on our list including some experimental things as well and we gathered good date to look over tonight. Hopefully we put everything together for tomorrow.”

FAST FACTS: The two-time Indy 500 champion earned his second front-row start for the team (third overall, after 2020) with a career-best starting position of second. He led the first 51 of 88 laps — the most in the race — before a pit error dropped him to a ninth-place finish. Despite the setback, he was the highest-qualifying Honda-powered driver among the 15 Honda entries, starting second. In 2024, he started 10th for his 15th Indy 500 and finished 14th. He competed for RLL full time in 2012 and from 2018-2021 and won the Indy 500 with RLL in 2020. He has earned six NTT INDYCAR SERIES wins, four of which have come with RLL, including the team’s second Indy 500 win in 2020. Sato competed in oval races with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023. Other Indy 500 highlights with RLL include the 2012 where he was alongside eventual winner Franchitti in Turn 1 on the final lap but his race ended due to contact after he was squeezed down on the apron and lost control of his race car. He also finished third for RLL in 2019 and was a contender in the final laps… Has SIX INDYCAR SERIES wins (2013 – Long Beach street course, 2017 – Indy 500 oval, 2018 – Portland road, 2019 – Barber road, Gateway oval; 2020 Indy 500 ) and 10 poles (2011 Iowa oval, Edmonton street; 2013 Houston Race 1 street; 2014 St. Pete street, Detroit Race 2 street; 2017 Detroit Race 2, Pocono oval; 2019 Barber road, Texas oval; 2020 St. Louis – Race 2).

NEXT UP: The first day of Indy 500 qualifying will begin at 11 a.m. Practice will take place tomorrow from 8:30 – 9:30 a.m. and coverage will air on FS2. Coverage of qualifying will air on FS2 from 11:00 – 2:00 p.m., on FS1 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. and on FOX from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m. ET.