Pato O’Ward led the Friday practice session at Long Beach. NTT IndyCar Series drivers hit the streets after IMSA finished their practice races. IndyCar decided to split the field into two groups during part of the practice session, allowing the 27 drivers to take laps on the 1.97-mile street course for the first 45 minutes. They then could only go out on track in one of the two 10-minute sessions that followed. This split format was designed to give fans more time with the cars on track and allow drivers to complete laps without traffic. Pato O’Ward took the top spot with a lap time of 1:06.6874, just 0.094 seconds ahead of Will Power. Scott McLaughlin and Felix Rosenqvist also performed well, finishing third and fourth, respectively. The harder Firestone tires proved to be a challenge for the drivers, as the second flying lap resulted in the fastest speeds. Theo Pourchaire made his IndyCar debut and impressed with the 21st fastest time of the afternoon. Despite some gear shifting issues, Kyle Kirkwood managed to complete the session without incident. The second practice session will take place on Saturday morning.
