Andretti on top in day 4 at IMS

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (WISH) - IndyCar driver Marco Andretti was the fastest car of the month on day four of practice Tuesday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Andretti clocked the best speed so far this month - 223.676 mph - with less than 10 minutes left in practice Tuesday.The RC Cola driver is the first to break the 223 mark in the new car.

When asked how he has been so fast, Andretti said: “It’s the tow.”

Andretti’s teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe finished the afternoon in the top five of best speeds as well, with speeds exceeding 221 mph. Tuesday was the third day in a row that an Andretti car has finished in the top five speeds during practice.

The top 10 speeds for Tuesday practice are:

• Marco Andretti: 223.676 mph
• Helio Castroneves: 222.025 mph
• James Hinchcliffe: 221.864 mph
• Graham Rahal: 221.855 mph
• Ryan Hunter-Reay: 221.814 mph
• Charlie Kimball: 221.677 mph
• Will Power: 221.169 mph
• Dario Franchitti: 221.056 mph
• Takumo Sato: 220.843 mph
• Scott Dixon: 220.800 mph

Weather continued to be ideal for practice with highs in the upper 70s. Second-year Indy 500 driver JR Hildebrand said the weather has allowed his team to turn numerous miles on their Chevrolet engine.

“We are doing a lot of miles because weather is good,” Hildebrand said. “We don’t have to jam to get a bunch of laps because rain isn’t on the way.”

Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe agreed that the weather has not been a hazard for drivers.

“Conditions have been perfect out there,” Briscoe said. “Right now, with the winds and so forth, we haven’t had any real obstacles thrown at us.”

Weather will heat up this weekend, with highs in the 80s for qualifications Saturday.

Dragon Racing’s Katherine Legge and Sebastian Bourdais did not practice on Tuesday. Both drivers have yet to practice at the speedway due to a lawsuit with engine provider Lotus. Owner Jay Penske continues to look for an engine for his racing team.

WISH-TV Sports Director Anthony Calhoun and team will continue to have all of your Indianapolis 500 coverage starting Wednesday at noon.