Dixon quickest in Texas practice

The Ganassi driver spent most of the hour-long session at the head of the times, recording a best average speed of 216.387mph, 0.3mph ahead of second-fastest runner Ryan Briscoe in the lead Penske Dallara-Honda.

Will Power was third fastest for Penske, just ahead of the session's surprise package, KV's EJ Viso. Dan Wheldon followed up his strong Indianapolis 500 form by setting the fifth fastest time for Panther, but last weekend's winner Dario Franchitti was back in ninth for Ganassi, almost 2mph down on his team-mate.

Another shock was Milka Duno recording the sixth fastest time for Dale Coyne, making her comfortably the quickest of the four female racers in the field. Her team-mate Alex Lloyd had been in the top ten till the final moments, when he slipped to 11th.

Tomas Scheckter, who is standing in for the injured Mike Conway at Dreter and Reinbold, was 20th fastest, while ex-Formula 1 racer Takuma Sato was back in 24th for KV and clearly has work to do ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session.

Pos  Driver               Team               Time      Gap
 1.  Scott Dixon          Ganassi            24.2066s
 2.  Ryan Briscoe         Penske             24.2390s  + 0.0324s
 3.  Will Power           Penske             24.2627s  + 0.0561s
 4.  EJ Viso              KV                 24.3507s  + 0.1441s
 5.  Dan Wheldon          Panther            24.3591s  + 0.1525s
 6.  Milka Duno           Dale Coyne         24.3938s  + 0.1872s
 7.  Marco Andretti       Andretti           24.3982s  + 0.1916s
 8.  Tony Kanaan          Andretti           24.4084s  + 0.2018s
 9.  Dario Franchitti     Ganassi            24.4182s  + 0.2116s
10.  Helio Castroneves    Penske             24.4374s  + 0.2308s
11.  Alex Lloyd           Dale Coyne         24.4387s  + 0.2321s
12.  Alex Tagliani        FAZZT              24.4437s  + 0.2371s
13.  Justin Wilson        Dreyer & Reinbold  24.4682s  + 0.2616s
14.  Bertrand Baguette    Conquest           24.4772s  + 0.2706s
15.  Danica Patrick       Andretti           24.4803s  + 0.2737s
16.  Sarah Fisher         Sarah Fisher       24.4913s  + 0.2847s
17.  Vitor Meira          Foyt               24.5023s  + 0.2957s
18.  Mario Moraes         KV                 24.5327s  + 0.3261s
19.  Hideki Mutoh         Newman/Haas        24.5495s  + 0.3429s
20.  Tomas Scheckter      Dreyer & Reinbold  24.5513s  + 0.3447s
21.  Ryan Hunter-Reay     Andretti           24.5581s  + 0.3515s
22.  Raphael Matos        de Ferran Dragon   24.5959s  + 0.3893s
23.  Jay Howard           Sarah Fisher       24.5996s  + 0.3930s
24.  Takuma Sato          KV                 24.6009s  + 0.3943s
25.  Simona de Silvestro  HVM                24.6240s  + 0.4174s
26.  Mario Romancini      Conquest           24.6288s  + 0.4222s