INDIANAPOLIS — Sebastien Bourdais took a deep breath Friday.

After an early race-day exit last weekend and an engine change Thursday night, he moved into position to contend for the Indianapolis 500 pole.

Sebastien Bourdais of France is one of a number of drivers contending for the pole position in the Indianapolis 500. Weather has led to an ever shifting leaderboard in practice. Associated Press/Darron Cummings

The Dale Coyne Racing driver jumped to the top of the speed chart with some extra horsepower, posting the fastest lap of the week at 233.116 mph. Now the Frenchman and everyone else in Gasoline Alley must wait to see if the constantly changing leaderboard creates a wide-open pole shootout this weekend.

“It’s pretty exciting just to be in the mix, knowing that we seemingly have a chance to do well in qualifying,” Bourdais said. “Every other time I’ve been there, I’ve never been in contention to really be any kind of factor, and that’s just boring.”

The practice sessions haven’t provided much help sorting out what to expect in qualifying.

Many teams started the week in race trim, rather than using the quicker, lighter qualifying setups. The result: Five drivers from five teams found themselves in the No. 1 spot on the leaderboard.

Until drivers got the extra boost Friday, the fastest lap of the week came from Jay Howard – a 36-year-old driver whose only career Indy start came in 2011. He went 226.774 on Thursday.

The weather hasn’t cooperated, either.

After dealing with high winds Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, rain washed out more than 21/2 hours of what was expected to be a busy final full day of practice before the first day of qualifying.

More rain was expected Friday night, which could leave drivers with little rubber on the track when qualifying begins Saturday. More rain is expected both days of qualifying, too.

The one constant, of course, is everybody expects Team Penske again to be in contention.

IndyCar Grand Prix winner Will Power and three-time 500 winner Helio Castroneves have alternated the first five pole wins this season and finished one-two in practice Tuesday.

Penske’s other drivers – two-time Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, defending series champion Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden – each have started on Indy’s three-car front row in the past. Montoya was fifth Friday at 231.682, the fastest Chevrolet on the track.

Team owner Michael Andretti has six cars trying to make the field and his son, Marco, had the fastest car on opening day. Teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy winner, finished among the five fastest each of the four days he turned laps.

NASCAR CUP SERIES: Kyle Larson took the pole for the All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway after Kurt Busch was assessed a penalty.

Larson had an average speed of 144.839 mph over three laps that also included a mandatory four-tire pit stop Friday night. Kyle Busch will start alongside Larson on Saturday night.

Kurt Busch appeared to have locked up the pole after finishing a second faster than Larson, but officials assessed a 10-second penalty after it was determined he had two loose lug nuts.

XFINITY SERIES: Fox Sports will use an on-air team comprised entirely of active drivers to call the June 10 race at Pocono.

Fox Sports believes it will be the first time a nationally televised live sporting event will feature a complete team of athletes actively competing in that sport.

Kevin Harvick will be the play-by-play announcer, alongside analysts Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer. Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will cover pit road. Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin will host coverage from the “Hollywood Hotel” mobile studio.

TRUCKS: Kyle Busch raced to his second straight win, leading 90 of 134 laps in a dominating run at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch has 48 career Truck Series victories and 173 wins overall in NASCAR’s top three series. He led all three stages en route to his seventh Truck Series win at Charlotte.

Points leader Johnny Sauter was second.

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