Final practice: Rahal one-two

Team Rahal again established itself as the superspeedway master in the final Champ Car practice as Kenny Brack upped the ante to 233.973 mph in his Lola-Ford. His team mate Max Papis was the only other driver above 233.

The Rahal cars were the class of the field in the 500-miler at the similar Michigan International Speedway in July, but the drivers managed to crash each other out with just 40 miles to go. They repeated the stunt with considerably less damage again a few weeks later at Mid-Ohio.

Cristiano da Matta was third fastest on Saturday morning at 232.609 mph to complete a Lola 1-2-3, while Tony Kanaan was the fastest Honda and Reynard runner at 231.908 mph.

The Penske Reynard-Hondas were seemingly off the pace, with champion Gil de Ferran 19th and Helio Castroneves 20th, both just over 229 mph.

With the huge draft created by the Handford rear wing, it's difficult to assess how much of an advantage the Rahal cars will have when the are on the track by themselves for single-car qualifying. The pole speed is expected to be in the 225-227 mph range.