Indy 500 2012: Josef Newgarden Fastest On Day 1

On the first day of driving at Indianapolis, Josef Newgarden had the fastest lap at 220.250 miles an hour.

Newgarden - who, at 21 years old, is in his first full year on the IndyCar circuit - is doing work for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, an upstart team including Bryan Clausen, who took his first official laps as an IndyCar racer on Thursday, and finished in third with a lap of 219.623 miles per hour.

Finishing in second was last year's near winner J.R. Hildebrand, who had a lap of 219.692 miles per hour.

That said, all this isn't too important when it comes to the actual race. There's almost two weeks until the race itself and six more days of qualifying to go, but the squad with Newgarden and Clausen racing for them should feel good about their opening day

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