Dixon Fastest in practice 3

More than five hours into practice on Thursday for the Indianapolis 500, teams spent the final minutes showing off.

Dixon had the last laugh, recording a lap of 39.7398 seconds - 226.473 mph - in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda/Dallara. His lap completed a run in which four drivers topped each other during the final 15 minutes of the session.

"At the end of the day, when we put a setup on that we were happy with and kind of trimmed it out a bit, the car came to life and we were able to do it," Dixon said.

"But hey, it's only Thursday. Dan [Wheldon]'s still pretty quick, and I don't think we've seen nearly anything from Penske yet."

Danica Patrick nearly bettered Dixon's lap with a last-minute run of 39.7601 seconds - 226.358 mph - in the No. 7 Andretti Green Racing Honda/Dallara.

Tomas Scheckter and Ryan Briscoe also held the top spot for at least a portion of the final half hour of the session, when hot, sticky conditions gave way to more favourable track temperatures.

Dan Wheldon, who had the fastest lap in both of the first two days of full-field practice for the May 27 race, also recorded a solid flyer in the final minutes, a 226.206 mph lap that stood as third best after the smoke had cleared.

"Everyone was trying to lay down a lap," Wheldon said. "We definitely feel strong. We're just working on the car and getting a little closer to qualifying trim because pole day is coming up. For the most part, we're in good shape."

Dixon's lap, which he recorded two minutes before the chequered flag was waved, is the best of the week so far, exceeding Wheldon's best lap (226.391 mph) from Wednesday's session.

What caught other teams' attention during the late flurry was that Dixon's best laps appeared to come without aerodynamic help from other cars.

"We did some 226 laps on the first set of tyres, but we came into the pits because we were getting into some traffic," Dixon explained.

"We opted to throw on a new set and go back out there. That's when we did the 226.4. There was a car a good ways off in the distance, maybe six or seven seconds ahead.

"It's pretty difficult to get at least some help when everybody is running, but when you're in that situation, it's the same for everybody."

Patrick, whose team have been struggling to find balance in their five cars during the opening days of practice, indicated her lap was recorded with the aid of a tow.

"I'm not going to say we're doing 226s out there on our own, but at least the car will pull the time," she said. "I still believe we have work to do, for sure. The car is not 100 per cent comfortable."

Perhaps most surprising of the group of 10 that dropped below 40 seconds on Thursday was Briscoe, whose one-off with Luczo Dragon Racing - a team fielded by Roger Penske's son, Jay - is turning heads as dangerously competitive.

"The speeds were very promising, and all the while with a very comfortable car. I guess things are looking pretty good for us," he said.

Following Dixon, Patrick, Wheldon, Scheckter and Briscoe on Thursday's speed chart were Marco Andretti, Sam Hornish Jr, Vitor Meira, Kosuke Matsuura and Helio Castroneves.

Pos  Driver             Chassis  Speed
 1.  Scott Dixon        Dallara  226.473
 2.  Danica Patrick     Dallara  226.358
 3.  Dan Wheldon        Dallara  226.206
 4.  Tomas Scheckter    Dallara  226.161
 5.  Ryan Briscoe       Dallara  225.995
 6.  Marco Andretti     Dallara  225.881
 7.  Sam Hornish Jr     Dallara  225.803
 8.  Vitor Meira        Dallara  225.441
 9.  Kosuke Matsuura    Dallara  225.350
10.  Helio Castroneves  Dallara  225.095
11.  Dario Franchitti   Dallara  224.794
12.  Tony Kanaan        Dallara  224.525
13.  Sarah Fisher       Dallara  224.375
14.  Ed Carpenter       Dallara  223.930
15.  Scott Sharp        Dallara  223.895
16.  Darren Manning     Dallara  223.693
17.  Michael Andretti   Dallara  222.783
18.  Buddy Rice         Dallara  222.383
19.  Buddy Lazier       Dallara  222.059
20.  A. Foyt IV         Dallara  221.867
21.  Jeff Simmons       Dallara  221.702
22.  Marty Roth         Dallara  220.340
23.  Davey Hamilton     Dallara  219.060
24.  Milka Duno         Dallara  218.908
25.  Al Unser Jr        Dallara  218.466
26.  Stephan Gregoire   Panoz    218.270