Franchitti fastest in Carb Day practice

This morning's traditional one-hour practice period is the only opportunity for teams to do any mileage between the end of qualifying and the race itself.

Polesitter Helio Castroneves (Penske) was fastest early on, before Franchitti moved to the front with a lap of 39.8983s (225.574mph) on his 12th tour of the hour.

Dixon then moved up to second, 0.0735s behind, with second-place qualifier Will Power third in the quickest of the Penske entries.

Fazzt impressed yet again, with Bruno Junqueira a remarkable fourth fastest. The Brazilian only got in the car for the first time in morning practice before Bump Day qualifying last Sunday, then produced a speed that would have got him in the top ten had he participated in Pole Day. He will start 25th.

Junqueira's team-mate Alex Tagliani, who qualified an amazing fifth, was 10th today.

Castroneves ended the hour fifth, followed by KV Racing's EJ Viso, 2005 Indy winner Dan Wheldon (Panther), Viso's team-mate Mario Moraes, and De Ferran Dragon driver Raphael Matos.

Marco Andretti was the top Andretti Autosport driver in 12th position. His team-mate Danica Patrick's troubles continued, as only a late effort got her as high as 21st.

But the driver who struggled for pace most today was Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Racing), who was at the tail of the field in 33rd. The American qualified ninth last weekend.

The Carb Day hour passed without incident, running entirely uninterrupted by yellow flags.

Pos  Driver               Team               Time      Gap
 1.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi            39.8983s
 2.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi            39.9718s  + 0.0735s
 3.  Will Power           Penske             40.0012s  + 0.1029s
 4.  Bruno Junqueira      Fazzt              40.0182s  + 0.1199s
 5.  Helio Castroneves    Penske             40.0439s  + 0.1456s
 6.  EJ Viso              KV                 40.1036s  + 0.2053s
 7.  Dan Wheldon          Panther            40.1353s  + 0.2370s
 8.  Mario Moraes         KV                 40.1582s  + 0.2599s
 9.  Raphael Matos        De Ferran Dragon   40.2358s  + 0.3375s
10.  Alex Tagliani        Fazzt              40.2644s  + 0.3661s
11.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske             40.2698s  + 0.3715s
12.  Marco Andretti       Andretti           40.2814s  + 0.3831s
13.  Ed Carpenter         Panther/Vision     40.2939s  + 0.3956s
14.  Townsend Bell        Ganassi/Schmidt    40.3611s  + 0.4628s
15.  Takuma Sato          KV                 40.3633s  + 0.4650s
16.  Vitor Meira          Foyt               40.4286s  + 0.5303s
17.  Mike Conway          Dreyer & Reinbold  40.4287s  + 0.5304s
18.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti           40.4441s  + 0.5458s
19.  Tomas Scheckter      Dreyer & Reinbold  40.4518s  + 0.5535s
20.  Tony Kanaan          Andretti           40.4657s  + 0.5674s
21.  Danica Patrick       Andretti           40.4847s  + 0.5864s
22.  Mario Romancini      Conquest           40.5367s  + 0.6384s
23.  Bertrand Baguette    Conquest           40.5424s  + 0.6441s
24.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM                40.5996s  + 0.7013s
25.  Davey Hamilton       De Ferran Dragon   40.6017s  + 0.7034s
26.  Hideki Mutoh         Newman/Haas        40.6190s  + 0.7207s
27.  John Andretti        Andretti           40.6515s  + 0.7532s
28.  Alex Lloyd           Dale Coyne         40.7120s  + 0.8137s
29.  Justin Wilson        Dreyer & Reinbold  40.7189s  + 0.8206s
30.  Sarah Fisher         Sarah Fisher       40.7389s  + 0.8406s
31.  Sebastian Saavedra   Herta              40.7957s  + 0.8974s
32.  Ana Beatriz          Dreyer & Reinbold  40.8393s  + 0.9410s
33.  Graham Rahal         Rahal Letterman    40.9095s  + 1.0112s