McLaughlin still holds the fastest lap of the event thus far, but the Team Penske driver’s 227.316mph (365.830km/h) in the #3 Chevrolet on Day 3 fell short of O’Ward’s 228.861mph (368.316km/h) in the #5 McLaren IndyCar Team entry.

Five hours and 45 minutes of a scheduled eight hours were green flag, with some of that time lost due to separate showers as rain brought an early end to proceedings for a third day in a row.

The big news this time, though, was two crashes, one of which involved the driver who won the Indianapolis 500 two years ago and very nearly repeated the feat in 2023.

With two hours to go, Ericsson touched the Turn 4 kerb and spun into the outside wall, then nosed the inside wall before finally coming to rest after thumping the pit wall attenuator.

The Andretti Global driver walked away under his own power but the #28 Honda entry will revert to a back-up chassis.

“I think I brushed the kerb a little bit and that’s probably enough to send it, and then you’re a passenger,” he explained.

“So, yeah, very disappointed.

“Very sorry for my team. They’ve done a very good job and they have a lot of work ahead of them now, so that’s probably the worst of the whole thing.”

The No. 28 is into the wall!

Heavy impact for @Ericsson_Marcus after a spin in Turn 4.

📺: #Indy500 practice on Peacock pic.twitter.com/EZEV1zwK20

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 16, 2024

Earlier, about 90 minutes into the session, Lundqvist lost the rear of his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda at Turn 2.

He made right-rear contact with the outside wall but did well enough to ensure that the secondary hit with the inside wall was only a very light one, before Car #8 pirouetted along the infield grass and eventually came to a stop.

“I’m alright,” said the rookie.

“It’s my mistake. I know exactly what I did; I touched the kerb in [Turn] 2 and I couldn’t hold onto it. Something they talk about often around this place.

“But it’s just a mistake in my part and obviously my team has to pay the price for it, so yeah, it sucks.”

BIG trouble for @L_Lundqvist76!

The No. 8 goes around and makes hard contact with the wall.

📺: #Indy500 practice on Peacock pic.twitter.com/ehkqcGUpZr

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 16, 2024

The other incident to bring a halt to proceedings was Conor Daly hauling a damaged #24 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Chevrolet to pit lane, late in the piece.

Two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou was classified third on the day, and first of the Hondas, with a best lap average speed of 226.915mph (365.184km/h) in the #10 CGR car.

Fourth went to Andretti’s Colton Herta with a 226.828mph (365.044km/h), but he also clocked the fastest non-tow lap of the day at 224.182mph (360.786km/h).

Fast Friday, when boost levels are turned up in preparation for qualifying, starts at 12:00 ET/Saturday at 02:00 AEST.

Results: Day 3 Practice