Andretti flies in opening practice

Andretti had the fastest lap during the first day of full practice Tuesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, clocking 226.599 mph in the No. 26 Andretti Green Racing Honda/Dallara. That was a few tenths better than teammate Tony Kanaan.

The credit for Andretti's effort went to another youngster, 19-year-old rookie Graham Rahal, whose car Andretti followed through the lap that turned out to be fastest.

"We had a really big tow, but you need the mechanical balance in order to get that speed," said Andretti, who turned 21 in March. "I'm really pleased with our guys so far. It's a good start, but this place changes."

Kanaan was clocked at 225.269 mph in the No. 11 AGR Honda/Dallara, followed by Scott Dixon, who did 225.011 in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda/Dallara. Team Penske newcomer Ryan Briscoe was fourth-fastest, followed by Dan Wheldon, Helio Castroneves and Tomas Scheckter.

"We're putting the pieces together, and hopefully we'll be where we need to be," said Castroneves, who won the race in 2001 and 2002. "It's like a chess game out here. Today we started playing out our strategy and positioning our pieces."

Another former winner, 2004 champ Buddy Rice, also threw down a solid number, going eighth-fastest of the day at 224.170 mph in the No. 15 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Honda/Dallara, ahead of Motegi winner Danica Patrick.

Will Power, fastest among the rookies and transitional drivers Sunday, was the fastest of the newcomers during Tuesday's session, recording the tenth-best lap of the day in the No. 8 KV Racing Honda/Dallara.

As impressive as the early speed were the quantity and quality of Tuesday's session. Thirty-three cars and 31 drivers took to the track during the six-hour session, recording 1,385 laps, the result of unification of two open-wheel series under the IndyCar banner during the off-season.

"I would hope the excitement really comes from the fans," Patrick said. "Those are the people who fuel everything we do. When there are fans, there's demand, and when there's demand, there's are sponsors, and when there's money, there's growth. It's a big chain reaction."

Practice resumes Wednesday at noon ET. Qualifying for the first 11 positions in the 33-car field is scheduled for Saturday.

Pos  Driver             Team                 Speed
 1.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green       226.599 mph
 2.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green       225.269 mph
 3.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi              225.011 mph
 4.  Ryan Briscoe       Penske               224.804 mph
 5.  Dan Wheldon        Ganassi              224.727 mph
 6.  Helio Castroneves  Penske               224.576 mph
 7.  Tomas Scheckter    Luczo Dragon         224.436 mph
 8.  Buddy Rice         Dreyer & Reinbold    224.170 mph
 9.  Danica Patrick     Andretti Green       224.095 mph
10.  Will Power         KV                   223.550 mph
11.  Justin Wilson      Newman/Haas/Lanigan  223.461 mph
12.  Vitor Meira        Panther              223.352 mph
13.  Hideki Mutoh       Andretti Green       223.225 mph
14.  EJ Viso            HVM                  222.643 mph
15.  Ed Carpenter       Vision               222.633 mph
16.  Alex Lloyd         Rahal Letterman      222.620 mph
17.  Townsend Bell      Dreyer & Reinbold    222.583 mph
18.  Graham Rahal       Newman/Haas/Lanigan  222.552 mph
19.  Oriol Servia       KV                   221.883 mph
20.  Davey Hamilton     Vision               221.684 mph
21.  Ryan Hunter-Reay   Rahal Letterman      221.640 mph
22.  A.J. Foyt IV       Vision               221.615 mph
23.  Darren Manning     AJ Foyt              221.314 mph
24.  Enrique Bernoldi   Conquest             220.978 mph
25.  Bruno Junqueira    Dale Coyne           220.961 mph
26.  Max Papis          Schmidt              220.686 mph
27.  Marty Roth         Roth                 220.460 mph
28.  Mario Dominguez    Pacific Coast        218.552 mph
29.  Mario Moraes       Dale Coyne           218.159 mph
30.  Sarah Fisher       Sarah Fisher         217.866 mph
31.  Milka Duno         Dreyer & Reinbold    217.412 mph