50 laps: Greg Ray hits the wall

Ray's Dallara-Chevrolet hit the wall backwards and spun down the track. One of his rear wheels came perilously close to landing on his cockpit and actually bounced clean over the top of the wreck. But Ray walked away from the shunt uninjured.

"The car was pretty loose from the start," said Ray. "Going into Turn 1 it just got away from me."

Poleman Bruno Junqueira led from the off but lost time during the first round of pitstops during the yellow flag period when he stalled.

Most drivers used the caution period to make their first stops - except those unlucky enough to come in before Ray's shunt.

Young rookie Tomas Scheckter jumped up from fifth to the lead after the stops and stayed out front as the race went green again.

Second placed driver Sam Hornish Jr made a move on the South African as the pair lapped a backmarker. The cars were briefly three abreast, with Scheckter getting very close to the outside wall. But he held his ground and Hornish Jr was forced to cede.

Tony Kanaan used the incident to get a run on Hornish and now holds second.

Scott Sharp is fourth, with Felipe Giaffone and Gil de Ferran completing the top six.

Junqueira has fallen back to 21st. Dario Franchitti is 30th.