2013 Indianapolis 500 Practice: Rookie Carlos Munoz tops Thursday practice with 225-mph lap

One day after a Honda driver (Dario Franchitti) took their first turn atop the speed charts, Chevrolet and Andretti Autosport recaptured the top spot in Indianapolis 500 practice with driver Carlos Munoz. Munoz turned a lap time of 39.9711 at 225.163 mph on Thursday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

He turned the fast lap during the final 10 minutes of practice.

An Andretti driver has been the fastest in four of the six sessions thus far in May. Munoz is the only driver to be fastest more than once, scoring the best overall time in the most recent session.

Continuing the theme of the month, Team Andretti drivers scored the top three spots in practice and four of the top six overall. Munoz led teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti in taking the Thursday podium. Like most fast laps this month, Munoz attributed his time to the tow from running in the draft.

But most importantly, Munoz says his car is comfortable running in a pack, the key component to winning once the actual race begins on May 26.

“But yeah, this last run I felt really comfortable each time I ran behind people in racing conditions,” Munoz said. “Each time I felt more comfortable. We are improving the car from the beginning until now, and I think right now we are really strong. We have a real strong car every time we test, and we can go back and make sure we have a pretty competitive car.”

IndyCar just announced Thursday the turbo boost settings for the remainder of the month.

As with the 2012 race, the boost level will be upped from 130 kPa to 140 kPa for “Fast Friday” and qualifying on Saturday and Sunday. Race Day settings will remain at 130. Munoz is looking forward to experiencing how the car handles with the qualifying settings applied to Friday’s final session before chasing the pole.

“I’m excited to feel more speed again,” Munoz said. “I’m comfortable and think we’ll have a great car, a really secure car. But I will tell you tomorrow how I feel after my first run how it feels to have this boost.”

Have Andretti Autosport set themselves up for a pole position amongst one of its five drivers? The complete speeds from Tuesday’s practice session can be found below.