Dixon also fastest in Friday practice

Target Chip Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon recorded the fastest laps Friday during practice for the 91st Indianapolis 500. With just one short practice session remaining before Saturday's pole qualifying, the Ganassi cars appear to be the fastest of the field.

Scott Dixon posted the fastest lap of the week - 39.6184 seconds (227.167 mph) - in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda/Dallara, the second time in two days that he'd topped the speed chart.

Dan Wheldon, who had the fastest laps during the first two days of practice earlier this week, had the second-best lap of Friday's session - 39.7088 seconds (226.650 mph) - early in the session in the No. 10 Ganassi entry.

"On our first run we had a bit of understeer, but on our second run we took some wing out and it just went quicker," Dixon said. "We got a bit of a tow off Sam (Hornish Jr) and got a 227."

Friday's laps by Dixon and Wheldon were the two fastest of the week, leaving drivers from Ganassi's two primary challengers, Andretti Green Racing and Team Penske, wondering if they had enough to prevent Ganassi from winning the pole.

"We've been good all week, and I think we'll be there," Kanaan said. "We're competitive, for sure. Tomorrow is the most stressful day of the month other than the race. ... I do well under pressure."

Kanaan had the third-fastest lap of Friday's session - 226.236 mph - in the No. 11 AGR Honda/Dallara, followed by two teammates, Marco Andretti and Dario Franchitti. Penske's Hornish, last year's race winner, had the sixth-best lap of the day.

Overall, Danica Patrick's 226.358 mph lap from Thursday's session held up as third-best of the week. Kanaan's lap from Friday's session was fourth-best overall.

"It's been a little bit hit and miss for us," Patrick said. "Every now and again we go out and have a run that's not that great, so I hope that doesn't happen for qualifying."

But will anyone have enough to give the Ganassi cars a run for the pole? If you ask the Ganassi drivers, they'll say yes.

"It's all about getting the most out of it," Wheldon said. "If we can do that, we'll have a good shot at the pole. At the end of the day, you really can't get too excited. You have to focus on the race."

Following Dixon, Wheldon, Kanaan, Andretti, Franchitti and Hornish in Friday's session was Patrick in seventh place and Vision Racing's Ed Carpenter in eighth place.

While the battle for the pole appears to be between the three super-teams of the IndyCar Series - Ganassi, AGR and Penske - Tony George's Vision team has broken into the top 10 consistently during the four days of practice leading up to qualifying.

The new qualifying format - in which the fastest 11 cars are set on the grid after one pass through the field before bumping begins for the 11th position - should get its first real test Saturday after two years of weather interruptions. Forecasts call for sunny skies and a temperature near 80 degrees.

Buddy Rice has the first draw when qualifying begins Saturday at noon ET, followed by Dixon.

The only incident of the day involved Milka Duno, who crashed about two hours into Friday's session when she lost control of her No. 23 SAMAX Motorsports Honda/Dallara in Turn 1.

The car struck the SAFER barrier rear-first, severely damaging the rear of the car and knocking a hole in the fence. Repairs to the fence led to a short delay.

Duno, who walked from the crash, was taken to the infield medical center and released.

Pos  Driver              Speed
 1.  Scott Dixon         227.167
 2.  Dan Wheldon         226.650
 3.  Tony Kanaan         226.236
 4.  Marco Andretti      226.230
 5.  Dario Franchitti    226.189
 6.  Sam Hornish Jr.     225.587
 7.  Danica Patrick      225.295
 8.  Ed Carpenter        225.015
 9.  Helio Castroneves   224.726
10.  Tomas Scheckter     224.215
11.  Darren Manning      224.054
12.  Ryan Briscoe        224.036
13.  Buddy Rice          224.025
14.  Michael Andretti    223.998
15.  Vitor Meira         223.934
16.  Sarah Fisher        223.706
17.  Scott Sharp         223.623
18.  AJ Foyt IV          223.561
19.  Kosuke Matsuura     222.959
20.  Jeff Simmons        222.756
21.  Davey Hamilton      222.190
22.  Buddy Lazier        221.541
23.  Al Unser Jr         221.457
24.  Marty Roth          220.164
25.  Jaques Lazier       219.312
26.  Milka Duno          218.640
27.  Jon Herb            217.758
28.  Stephan Gregoire    215.749