Hornish stays at top of times

Rain again kept cars off the track for most of the scheduled practice session Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, marking the sixth consecutive day in which the weather has interrupted or halted preparation for the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500, and the eighth consecutive day of precipitation at the track.

This time, thunderstorms kept cars in the garages until 3:45 p.m. Rain again began to fall shortly after 5:30, sending teams back to Gasoline Alley with yet another premature end to practice.

"The rain sucks a little bit, but it's the same for everybody," said Vitor Meira, who turned the tenth-best lap of the day before parking the No. 4T Panther Racing Honda/Dallara.

"We're really happy with the car. That's why we went back to the garage early. Even with the rain, we're pleased with where we're at."

As has been the case in all but one of the previous practice sessions, Marlboro Team Penske led the way.

Sam Hornish Jr. was clocked at 224.951 mph in the No. 6 Penske Honda/Dallara in the final minutes before rain fell, topping Helio Castroneves' lap of 224.437 mph in the No. 3T Penske Honda/Dallara.

The short practice session was costly to two teams, as Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Thiago Medeiros crashed in the same area of Turn 1 in separate incidents. Luyendyk was just entering his second lap when the No. 61 Luyendyk Racing Honda/Panoz snapped around and struck the wall, heavily damaging the left rear.

"I wasn't even up to speed yet," Luyendyk said. "I don't feel like I drove it into Turn 1 very hard. I couldn't have been going faster than 180.

"I tried to save it and stay out of the wall, but we made contact. It's a shame. We need the laps more than anybody else out there."

Thirty-one drivers were on the track Thursday, including Max Papis, who posted the 19th-fastest lap of the day in his first appearance in the No. 52 Cheever Racing Honda/Dallara.

"I was just getting acquainted with open-wheel racing and getting acquainted with Indianapolis again," said Papis, the veteran whose resume includes Formula One, sports cars, Champ Cars and IROC. "In my head I was going to go flat out on lap 15, but I actually was able to do it on lap 12."

The only drivers who didn't make it on the track during the shortened session were Larry Foyt, P.J. Jones and Jeff Bucknum. Jones is the only driver on the entry list who has yet to practice.

Practice sessions are scheduled for Friday - when forecasts call for no chance of rain - and Saturday morning before the entire field attempts to qualify.

The first two days of qualifying were rained out last weekend. Saturday's forecast also makes a claim for clear skies and dry conditions, but rain is back in the picture for Sunday's scheduled Bump Day activities.

Pos  Driver             Make           Speed (mph)
 1.  Sam Hornish Jr     Dallara-Honda  224.951
 2.  Helio Castroneves  Dallara-Honda  224.437
 3.  Dan Wheldon        Dallara-Honda  222.616
 4.  Scott Dixon        Dallara-Honda  222.461
 5.  Scott Sharp        Dallara-Honda  222.425
 6.  Jeff Simmons       Panoz-Honda    221.716
 7.  Tony Kanaan        Dallara-Honda  221.707
 8.  Townsend Bell      Dallara-Honda  221.329
 9.  Tomas Scheckter    Dallara-Honda  221.299
10.  Vitor Meira        Dallara-Honda  221.180
11.  Danica Patrick     Panoz-Honda    220.900
12.  Dario Franchitti   Dallara-Honda  220.765
13.  Buddy Rice         Panoz-Honda    220.137
14.  Ed Carpenter       Dallara-Honda  220.106
15.  Kosuke Matsuura    Dallara-Honda  219.975
16.  Michael Andretti   Dallara-Honda  219.898
17.  Marco Andretti     Dallara-Honda  219.620
18.  Bryan Herta        Dallara-Honda  218.593
19.  Max Papis          Dallara-Honda  218.331
20.  Felipe Giaffone    Dallara-Honda  218.110
21.  Jaques Lazier      Panoz-Honda    217.225
22.  Buddy Lazier       Dallara-Honda  216.906
23.  Thiago Medeiros    Panoz-Honda    216.791
24.  Eddie Cheever Jr   Dallara-Honda  216.782
25.  Al Unser Jr        Dallara-Honda  216.283
26.  P.J. Chesson       Dallara-Honda  215.537
27.  Stephan Gregoire   Panoz-Honda    214.267
28.  Marty Roth         Dallara-Honda  212.304
29.  Airton Dare        Panoz-Honda    211.432
30.  Jon Herb           Panoz-Honda    203.629
31.  Arie Luyendyk Jr   Panoz-Honda    138.857