Day 4: Scott at the Sharp end

The historic oval went green at 2:26 pm to kick off an incident-free session. Defending Indy pole winner Scott Sharp demonstrated that he is again a threat for the top starting spot on Saturday by clocking a 228.350mph lap in his Kelley Racing Dallara-Chevrolet. Surprising rookie Laurent Redon impressed once more, notching up the second best lap of the day at 228.046mph, while Helio Castroneves was just a tick behind at 228.036mph.

Never known as a strong qualifier, Al Unser Jr showed almost as much speed as his Kelley team-mate Sharp. Unser was fourth quickest at 227.840mph, leading a group in the 227-mph bracket that also included Bruno Junqueira, Robbie Buhl and Kenny Brack.

"It feels great, obviously," Sharp remarked. "But you don't want to peak too early. You want to be fastest on Saturday (Pole Day) and on race day. But things are great for the Kelley team. I was first, Al was fourth and it could have gone either way."

Sharp said the uncertain weather pattern hanging over the Midwest prompted the Kelley team to run their qualifying simulation today rather than waiting until later in the week.

"We decided to go for it and get it over with," he stated. "From what we've heard, we could lose most of Thursday and we don't want to risk having a problem on Friday.

"That's everything we've got at the moment," he added. "High 227, low 228 is all that's in the car, but I figure we might need a little more to beat the Nissans on Pole Day. If it stays cool, it should be faster, and if the wind stays low, conditions could be ideal."

Dario Franchitti ran 65 laps and topped the 225 mark, but he was 19th fastest on the day, two spots behind Michael Andretti and five spots ahead of Paul Tracy. The Team Green drivers cited a lack of grip but said they had plenty of horsepower.

Sarah Fisher turned her first laps of the month for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and got up to 222.773mph, while Johnny Herbert found 220.444mph in the Duesenberg Dallara-Chevrolet. The day's fastest first-day runner was Tomas Scheckter, who ran 225.805mph in his Team Cheever Dallara-Infiniti.

Raul Boesel has been fitted for a seat and is expected to be announced as Team Menard's latest driver on Thursday morning, replacing the injured PJ Jones.