Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin in the No.3 PPG Chevrolet led the way in the second practice session, the final one before qualifying for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday morning. The New Zealander who leads the rookie points standings set a 01:10.8755s and ended the session just ahead of Colton Herta in the No.26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Autosport who set a time of 01:11.0224s ending the morning just ahead of championship leader Alex Palou in the No.10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda who set a time of 01:11.03112s.
Simon Pagenaud in the No.22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet was fourth fastest just ahead of his teammate Will Power in the No.12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet.
Alexander Rossi in the No.27 NAPA Auto Parts Andretti Autosport Honda was just behind Felix Rosenqvist who ended the session in sixth place for Arrow McLaren SP while Ryan Hunter Reay in the No.28 DHL Honda was eighth with a 01:11.5207s just ahead of Ed Jones in the No.18 SealMaster Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan while Josef Newgarden who led the way on Friday rounded out the top ten in the No.2 Hitachi Chevrolet.
Jack Harvey in the No.60 AutoNation Sirius XM Honda was 11th with a 01:11.7038s just ahead of Marcus Ericsson and Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe in the No.29 Genesys Honda.
Graham Rahal in the No.15 United Rentals Honda was 14th with a 01:11.8445s ending the session just ahead of his teammate Oliver Askew in the No.45 HyVee Honda who set a 01:11.9214s ending the session just ahead of Romain Grosjean who set a time of 01:12.0508s.
Max Chilton was 17th with a 01:12.0596s just ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda who set a 01:12.0952s. Callum Ilott was 19th for Juncos Hollinger Racing with a 01:12.1117s just ahead of Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward in the No.5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet who set a 01:12.1348s.
Helio Castroneves was 21st with a 01:12.2817s just ahead of Sebastien Bourdais in the No.14 ROKiT Chevrolet who set a 01:12.3335s just ahead of Conor Daly who set a 01:12.4126s while Jimmie Johnson was 24th just ahead of Rinus VeeKay who brought out one of two red flags after hitting the tire wall hard at Turn 4. Takuma Sato was 26th while Dalton Kellett rounded out the order having also brought out the red flag following his own crash at Turn 4.