SANTINO FERRUCCI

Josef Newgarden kept the focus simple all week.

Two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden was cleared Thursday to practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway following his collapse after crashing at Iowa.

Two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden has been released from a Des Moines hospital and returned to his Tennessee home, where he will wait for an evaluation to determine if he can race this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Colton Herta rolled his Indianapolis 500 car end-over-end during the final practice for Sunday's race.

Jack Harvey failed the cognitive test he was required to take following a hard crash in practice at Texas Motor Speedway and was not cleared to compete Sunday. Santino Ferrucci was named the replacement driver in the No. 45 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Ferrucci drove the car in five races last year, and as a current Dallas resident was available when RLL needed an emergency fill-in.

Alex Palou earned the first pole of his IndyCar career and put himself in position to reclaim the championship lead headed into Sunday’s race at Portland International Raceway.

Oliver Askew got a late call from former team Arrow McLaren SP to be the replacement driver for Felix Rosenqvist in Sunday's IndyCar race at Bell Isle.

Scott Dixon was again atop the leaderboard for the final practice before the Indianapolis 500.

IndyCar Indy 500 Auto Racing Graham Rahal waits next to his car in the opening 30 minutes of practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Friday, May 21, 2021. As the competition hit the track, the Rahal cars waited in their penalty box but drivers didn't worry about the lost time. RLL went first and third in last year's Indy 500 with Sato, and this season added Ferrucci to the lineup following his fourth-place finish a year ago. Winning an Indy 500 was a bucket list item for Lanigan, who was led into team ownership by his late friend Walter Payton. But to get himself into a position where he could win the Indy 500 was great to see.”___More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The three cars from Rahal Letterman Lanigan were idled or the first 30 minutes of Friday practice for the Indianapolis 500.

IndyCar said it was unaware of a Rahal photo shoot and so the track was “hot” for the entire field. McLaughlin and Simona de Silvestro saw the three Rahal cars ahead as they sped through the corner and both immediately slowed to roughly 170 mph. Herta could not see the Rahal cars and it was too late when he noticed McLaughlin and de Silvestro had slowed. The Australian rookie Penske driver told the Rahal team he hoped the photo turned out well while tweeting a replay of the incident. “There’s enough experience from these young guys, they’re quick enough, that I wouldn’t be surprised if one of us won the Indy 500,” Herta said.

IndyCar has punished Rahal Letterman Lanigan for trying to stage a photo in the opening minutes of Indianapolis 500 practice.

FILE - Ed Jones sits in his car during practice for an IndyCar Series auto race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, in this Saturday, July 7, 2018, file photo. Ed Jones will return to IndyCar after a one-year absence for a second stint driving for Dale Coyne Racing. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)Ed Jones will return to IndyCar after a one-year absence for a second stint driving for Dale Coyne Racing. “We’re very happy to have Ed Jones back with us. "Ed had a great rookie season at DCR in 2017, which included our best finish of third at the Indianapolis 500.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – IndyCar opened the second week of March giddy to finally start its season. The entire industry left St. Pete in March unsure how IndyCar could survive. Yet here IndyCar is, back on the St. Pete streets preparing to crown a champion in Sunday's season finale. Now this cruel 2020 season closes right back at St. Pete, the only street course to survive the schedule disruptions and where it all fell apart in March. Askew missed two races but returned for St. Pete, his final race in another unpopular firing by Arrow McLaren.

Two-time and defending champ Josef Newgarden, who won the second race of the Iowa doubleheader, has yet to turn 30. Pagenaud, who like Newgarden drives for Team Penske, won the first Iowa race on Friday night. The natural ebb and flow of sports dictates there must be a wave of youngsters waiting to replace them. Not surprisingly, Ferrucci was fired by his Trident Racing team. Take the doubleheader this weekend, where Herta and VeeKay were in contention Friday night before a caution flag waved.