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
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