Australian Will Power has laid down a marker ahead of next weekend’s Indianapolis 500 by topping the timesheets in the traditional Fast Friday event.

Power logged a top speed of 232.672m/h (374.452km/h) to be the driver to beat ahead of qualifying for the iconic 500-mile race.

“Even when the car was out of traffic, it was pretty good,” Power said.

“It is going to be really tight for pole. There are a lot of quick guys out there.

“I look forward to (qualifying). To get pole here it has to be your day. It’s just the way that it is at this place. It’s the same for the race.”

Rookie Matt Brabham, driving for the Australian-backed Pirtek Team Murray outfit, completed 57 laps and was 24th on the speed chart with a best lap of 229.253m/h (368.947km/h).

“We had some ups-and-downs throughout the day and some side-to-sides as well. We’re just chipping away and trying to keep it clean,” Brabham said.

“We were being a bit conservative and we’re just working our way through it. Everyone’s trimming out and trying for their big qualifying setups.

“Hopefully we’re further up on the grid and can have a good run at it.”

Power’s fastest lap on Friday earned him $US10,000 ($A13,855).

Qualifying for next week’s Indy 500 starts on Saturday (Sunday morning AEST), with the fastest nine cars from the day advancing to Sunday’s (Monday morning AEST) Fast Nine Shootout to determine pole position.

The remaining 24 cars move on to group one qualifying to determine starting positions 10 to 33 on the grid.