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Hornish records fastest lap so far

Sam Hornish Jr. recorded the fastest lap of the month - nearly 230mph - little more than an hour before qualifying began Saturday for the Indianapolis 500

Hornish was clocked at 229.996 mph in the No. 6 Marlboro Team Penske Honda/Dallara, marking the seventh time in eight practice sessions that he's been the fastest in the field.

The lap was the first in the 229 mph range this month; Dan Wheldon held the previous high when he topped 228 mph last week.

Hornish's teammate, Helio Castroneves, also appears to be a threat to win the pole after he recorded a lap of 228.838 mph during the morning session.

Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Scott Dixon and Wheldon followed with laps over 228 mph.

Others who should be in contention for the first three rows include Tony Kanaan, consistently the fastest of the Andretti Green Racing entries this month; Vitor Meira, who had the sixth-fastest lap in Saturday's practice; Vision Racing teammates Townsend Bell and Tomas Scheckter; Fernandez Racing teammates Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsuura; and the rest of the AGR lineup - Michael and Marco Andretti, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta.

Rain, which has interrupted or ended every practice session since practice opened for the entire field May 9, was not expected to be a problem Saturday.

Because of the rainout of two qualifying sessions last week, IRL IndyCar Series officials will attempt to fill the entire 33-car grid in six hours today.

Pos  Driver              Make            Speed (mph)
 1.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dallara-Honda   229.996
 2.  Helio Castroneves   Dallara-Honda   228.838
 3.  Scott Dixon         Dallara-Honda   228.092
 4.  Dan Wheldon         Dallara-Honda   228.085
 5.  Tony Kanaan         Dallara-Honda   227.292
 6.  Vitor Meira         Dallara-Honda   227.083
 7.  Tomas Scheckter     Dallara-Honda   226.820
 8.  Townsend Bell       Dallara-Honda   226.552
 9.  Marco Andretti      Dallara-Honda   226.370
10.  Kosuke Matsuura     Dallara-Honda   226.160
11.  Bryan Herta         Dallara-Honda   225.965
12.  Scott Sharp         Dallara-Honda   225.688
13.  Dario Franchitti    Dallara-Honda   225.358
14.  Ed Carpenter        Dallara-Honda   225.195
15.  Michael Andretti    Dallara-Honda   224.623
16.  Danica Patrick      Panoz-Honda     224.396
17.  Buddy Rice          Panoz-Honda     224.327
18.  Max Papis           Dallara-Honda   223.369
19.  Eddie Cheever Jr    Dallara-Honda   223.072
20.  Jeff Bucknum        Dallara-Honda   222.298
21.  Buddy Lazier        Dallara-Honda   222.105
22.  PJ Chesson          Dallara-Honda   222.024
23.  Jaques Lazier       Panoz-Honda     221.839
24.  Larry Foyt          Dallara-Honda   221.744
25.  Jeff Simmons        Panoz-Honda     221.148
26.  Airton Dare         Panoz-Honda     221.076
27.  Felipe Giaffone     Dallara-Honda   220.928
28.  Roger Yasukawa      Panoz-Honda     220.692
29.  Al Unser Jr         Dallara-Honda   219.160
30.  Marty Roth          Dallara-Honda   219.010
31.  Stephan Gregoire    Panoz-Honda     219.009
32.  PJ Jones            Panoz-Honda     214.861
Previous article Hornish still fastest in final practice
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