Practice 2: Da Matta edges times

Leading the contenders was CART championship front runner Cristiano da Matta, who clocked a 1m06.505s (122.228 mph) lap in his Newman-Haas Lola-Toyota. That was just enough to top his countryman Bruno Junqueira, who made a big improvement overnight to run 1m06.551s.

Da Matta's team-mate Christian Fittipaldi was third fastest, while Michael Andretti, Carpentier and Kenny Brack were the only other drivers to break 1m07s. Paul Tracy was next up, though the Canadian ended the session in the gravel trap at the end of the back straight after spinning off in his Lola-Honda.

Dario Franchitti was 10th fastest on 1m07.267s to lead Oriol Servia, who made a nice improvement to run 11th. But Friday top-six runners Alex Tagliani and Scott Dixon were stuck in the 1m08s bracket.

Despite being locked into a front row spot, Carpentier said he'll be going for it in qualifying.

"We're going to try to get another point," he said. "If we can do that and confirm the pole, it would be fantastic. If not, we're starting on the front row."