"Fast Friday" proved just that at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with six Verizon IndyCar Series drivers running laps in excess of 230 mph on the final full practice day before qualifying for the 99th Running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.

Speeds have been up in practice on the 2.5-mile oval this week from a year ago, in great part due to the new aerodynamic bodywork kits developed by Honda and Chevrolet this season. In addition, INDYCAR again granted additional engine turbocharger boost to the manufacturers today through qualifying weekend that will yield approximately 40 added horsepower and faster speeds.

Taking advantage of it all, Simon Pagenaud posted the fastest lap of the month in the final half-hour of practice. Battling shifting winds, Pagenaud's top lap was 230.698 mph in the No. 22 Avaya Team Penske Chevrolet.

"The conditions were difficult," said Pagenaud, who earned $10,000 and the F.E. Harding Fastest Lap Award for topping the chart on Fast Friday. "The conditions were finally hot and there are a lot of differences in how the body kits react depending on the weather. For Team Penske, the biggest thing is we worked really well as a team to get different versions of aero levels for tomorrow and understanding that, so we can look at that information tonight and decided very precisely what we need."

Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Scott Dixon (230.655) and Tony Kanaan (230.457) were nipping at Pagenaud's heels on the speed chart, with Andretti Autosport's Marco Andretti leading the Honda contingent fourth overall with a lap of 230.312. Also eclipsing the 230 plateau were Team Penske's Will Power (230.206) and Chip Ganassi Racing's Sage Karam (230.166), the latter acknowledging he was wary of the windy conditions.

"It was very slippery," said Karam, driver of the No. 8 Comfort Revolution/Big Machine Records Chevrolet. "In qualifying trim in general, the cars are very sketchy. Every lap I was out there, I felt like I was going to crash. Tomorrow's going to be the longest five laps (one warmup lap at speed and four qualifying laps) of my life. The car is really, really fast, but it's on edge. I think we have a good shot at the Fast Nine, which is the goal. ...I think it will come down to the most fearless driver winning the pole this weekend."

A year ago, only one driver - two-time defending Verizon P1 Award winner Ed Carpenter - crested 230 mph prior to the first qualifying day. While many of the top laps today were set with aid of a "tow" from leading cars cutting through the air in front of them, three drivers - Dixon, Power and Karam - posted "no-tow" laps that still topped 230. All 34 cars entered in this year's Indianapolis 500 took to the track.

Attention now fully shifts to qualifying mode. Two hours of practice are scheduled for Saturday morning, ahead of the six-hour, 50-minute qualifying session that sets the provisional field. All cars return Sunday for qualifying that sets the final starting grid, and with 34 entries, the potential for cars "bumping" their way into and out of the field looms large.