Dixon tops Indianapolis test

Scott Dixon delivered the most rousing of laps on a day full of them. His 39.8209-second effort in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda/Dallara - 226.012 mph - was the fastest of 17 cars participating in an open test session Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It was surprisingly close to Tony Kanaan's pole-winning effort of 227.566 mph last year, indicating the possibility of laps beyond 230 mph when things get serious in May.

"You've got to show a little bit of what you've got just to make sure you're heading in the right direction," Dixon said. "For the team, though, it's more about confidence at the moment. For us to do well throughout the year, this is going to help."

What his best lap - which held up against several last-minute fliers - showed Dixon was the potential of Target Chip Ganassi Racing to win the race that has eluded it since Juan Montoya won in 2000.

"We took it pretty slowly, but the car rolled off with pretty good speed," Dixon said. "We struggled with some huge understeer to start with, but we changed a few things and got going. It was cool and nice today, and that's going to give you a lot of downforce."

Among others who looked solid Wednesday were Sam Hornish Jr., just 0.1160 seconds off Dixon's pace, and Dixon's teammate, Dan Wheldon, who was clocked at 224.450 mph.

Danica Patrick had the fourth-fastest lap of the day, followed by Kosuke Matsuura, Helio Castroneves, Eddie Cheever Jr. and Tomas Scheckter.

After the IRL races at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan on April 22, action begins in earnest at the speedway in early May. The rookie orientation program begins May 7, and practice officially begins May 9 for pole qualifying May 13.

The 90th running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for May 28.