After a busy first day of testing, one trend definitely stands out – Honda. In the second session, the Japanese manufacturer swept the top four positions, perhaps signaling an increased competitiveness this year.
Colton Herta keeps his Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Autosport at the top of the leaderboard, further asserting himself as the leader of the Andretti quartet.
Christian Lundgaard carried the torch for RLL in this session, getting his Hy-Vee Honda up to the runner-up slot in the second session of the day. Follow that up with the Alex Palou in third. Palou led the way for a seemingly stout lineup for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023.
Romain Grosjean looks to finally break through for his first IndyCar win in 2023. Grosjean managed to get his DHL Honda up to the fourth position, the closest teammate for Herta. It should be noted, Kirkwood suffered a clutch failure that prevented him from getting a competitive lap in.
And the last driver to highlight is the defending champion himself, Will Power. The Verizon 5G Chevrolet finished in the fifth spot.
| 1 | Colton Herta | #26 Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian |
| 2 | Christian Lundgaard | #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 3 | Álex Palou | #10 Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 4 | Romain Grosjean | #28 Andretti Autosport |
| 5 | Will Power | #12 Team Penske |
| 6 | Scott Dixon | #9 Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 7 | Callum Ilott | #77 Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 8 | Scott McLaughlin | #3 Team Penske |
| 9 | Simon Pagenaud | #60 Meyer Shank Racing |
| 10 | Marcus Armstrong | #11 Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 11 | Rinus VeeKay | #21 Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 12 | Marcus Ericsson | #8 Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 13 | Devlin DeFrancesco | #29 Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
| 14 | David Malukas | #18 Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorpsorts |
| 15 | Pato O’Ward | #5 Arrow McLaren |
| 16 | Alexander Rossi | #7 Arrow McLaren |
| 17 | Josef Newgarden | #2 Team Penske |
| 18 | Jack Harvey | #30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 19 | Felix Rosenqvist | #6 Arrow McLaren |
| 20 | Agustin Canapino | #78 Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 21 | Graham Rahal | #15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 22 | Conor Daly | #20 Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 23 | Santino Ferrucci | #14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 24 | Helio Castroneves | #06 Meyer Shank Racing |
| 25 | Sting Ray Robb | #51 Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing |
| 26 | Benjamin Pedersen | #55 A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | #27 Andretti Autosport |
One last thing to note is a relatively unexpected but welcome change to the rules. The Indianapolis 500 will no longer be a double points event. This could potentially remove some of the pressure drivers might have felt in the past to compete at the event before they felt comfortable on ovals. But overall, it simplifies things for the championship. Every race is equal. And more importantly, whoever gets the most points ends up the champion.