Allmendinger tops damp warm-up

Such is the heat here, the track dried rapidly, and Allmendinger worked down to within two seconds of yesterday's pole position. However, the surface was slippery enough to cause one spin for pole-sitter Sebastien Bourdais (Newman/Haas Racing) and two for Forsythe Championship Racing's Paul Tracy. They finished third and fourth respectively.

Alex Tagliani of Team Australia, known for shining in treacherous track conditions finished second, a little over a tenth of a second behind Allmendinger.

Several drivers besides Bourdais and Tracy had off-track excursions, but the only red-flag was caused when Dan Clarke of CTE Racing-HVM stalled after a harmless spin. He and compatriot Katherine Legge (PKV Racing) finished the session 16th and 17th.

Star of the session was Rocketsports' Nicky Pastorelli, who was ninth, less than a tenth behind the Newman/Haas car of Bruno Junqueira, and ahead of Mario Dominguez (Forsythe). The Dutchman was also top rookie of the session, but will start from 16th on the grid.