Hornish tops busy practice day

Thirty one cars combined for 1,767 laps, the fastest of which was Hornish's effort of 225.006 mph in the No. 6 Team Penske Honda/Dallara.

"We feel pretty good so far, but we know we have to get it exactly right before race day," Hornish said. "There's no room for error in the Indy 500."

Others who showed speed included the group of favorites from the three biggest teams -- Penske, Target Chip Ganassi and Andretti Green.

Ganassi's Scott Dixon had the second fastest lap Friday - 224.458 mph - followed by AGR's Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Marco Andretti.

John Andretti led the list of those who have yet to qualify, followed by Roger Yasukawa, Marty Roth and Phil Giebler.

Andretti returned to an open-wheel car at IMS for the first time since 1994 in impressive style, posting the ninth-fastest lap during a busy day of practice.

Andretti was clocked at 40.3895 seconds - 222.830 mph - in his first practice session in the No. 33 Panther Racing Honda/Dallara.

"I'm all over the place in Turn 1, but everywhere else I feel pretty good," Andretti said.

"Al (Unser) Sr and my cousin (Michael Andretti) have been telling me I can't run the NASCAR line. I told them I don't do it on purpose. When I turn in, I'm going too fast. I can't just stop and change where I want to be."

Andretti, a nephew of Mario Andretti and cousin of Michael, has competed in the last ten NASCAR Brickyard 400s at Indy, but he hasn't raced in the 500 since finishing tenth in 1994.

"I've got plenty to learn," he said. "I'll be asking a lot of questions."

Eleven cars that haven't made the field practiced on Friday; the race needs another 11 qualifiers to ensure the full field of 33 cars.

Roberto Moreno, who is replacing injured Stephan Gregoire in the No. 77 Chastain Motorsports Honda/Panoz, was not on track today.

However, 11th-hour entry Alex Barron and the No. 98 CURB/Beck Motorsports Honda/Dallara did make it on to the track.

A one-hour practice session is scheduled Saturday morning before qualifying begins at noon.

Pos  Driver             Speed
 1.  Sam Hornish Jr     225.006
 2.  Scott Dixon        224.458
 3.  Tony Kanaan        224.340
 4.  Dario Franchitti   224.253
 5.  Marco Andretti     223.668
 6.  Dan Wheldon        223.338
 7.  Helio Castroneves  223.212
 8.  Danica Patrick     222.913
 9.  John Andretti      222.830
10.  Roger Yasukawa     222.409
11.  Ed Carpenter       222.350
12.  Tomas Scheckter    222.259
13.  Sarah Fisher       222.057
14.  Marty Roth         221.749
15.  Scott Sharp        221.508
16.  Vitor Meira        221.411
17.  Buddy Rice         221.218
18.  Phil Giebler       220.992
19.  Kosuke Matsuura    220.968
20.  Michael Andretti   220.711
21.  Darren Manning     220.659
22.  Jeff Simmons       220.572
23.  Al Unser Jr        220.344
24.  Jon Herb           220.037
25.  Jaques Lazier      219.830
26.  Buddy Lazier       219.046
27.  Milka Duno         218.025
28.  Davey Hamilton     217.452
29.  P. Jones           217.164
30.  Alex Barron        216.432
31.  Jimmy Kite         215.262