SEBRING, Fla. Pato OWard was quickest overall as the countdown to the NTT IndyCar Series season accelerated Feb. 17 during the first of two days of testing at Sebring Intl Raceway.

OWard led the overall time charts with a top lap of 52.3470 seconds during the morning session in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on the 1.67-mile short course at the historic circuit in Central Florida.

The 26 participating drivers were separated into morning and afternoon groups, with each receiving four hours of track time.

Oh, man, its the best feeling in the world; its the best job in the world, OWard said. I was so excited to come back to Sebring and get into an IndyCar Series car, getting to work with the engineers again. It definitely feels like home, and its a second family to me. So always excited to get rolling.

Marcus Armstrong was second overall with the quickest time in the afternoon session, 52.3675, in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of his Meyer Shank Racing teammate Felix Rosenqvist. The Swede was ill with a fever and didnt participate.

In the end, we limited the running on the 60 car to save tires for Felix, but I feel really fresh, Armstrong said. Feel like I havent done anything. Feel like I could do it all again. So happy that Im not tired after doing so many laps.

The time sheets showed there was no clear advantage in track and weather conditions during either of the two sessions. Three of the five quickest times came in the morning, two in the afternoon. The top 10 times overall were split evenly between the two groups.

Two-time defending and three-time series champion Alex Palou was third overall at 52.4948 from the morning session in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Honda. Conor Daly produced a strong afternoon session in the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, ending up fourth overall at 52.5931.

We were fast all day in our group, Daly said. So, thats really encouraging. We made a lot of progress with a lot of changes that we wanted to get through. And thats what this testing is for. Its so important. To be fast and at the front, thats our goal every day.

Christian Lundgaard rounded out the top five at 52.6626 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, as he helped the team put two cars in the top five. Lundgaard joined Arrow McLaren after driving for the last three seasons for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Arrow McLaren wasnt the only team flexing its muscle in the Florida sunshine. Juncos Hollinger Racing, one of the smaller teams in the series, put two cars in the top six when Sting Ray Robb ended up sixth overall at 52.7761 while running in the morning session in the teams No. 77 Chevrolet. Robb joined Juncos Hollinger after driving last season for A.J. Foyt Racing.

There was one incident with contact. Nolan Siegel was unhurt in the afternoon session after hitting a barrier at the exit of Turn 7 in his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

Drivers combined to turn 1,311 laps between the two sessions. But one driver whose track time was limited was six-time series champion Scott Dixon, who turned only two laps in the afternoon in his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda due to a mechanical problem.