Kanaan quickest in second practice

Kanaan was clocked at 27.2453 seconds - 200.842 mph - in the No. 11 Andretti Green Racing Honda/Dallara during the afternoon session, which was interrupted because of showers.

More rain is expected Friday when the 18-car field is scheduled for qualifying.

"Because this track is used only a couple of times a year, it's very dirty at the start and most of the first practice session is spent putting some rubber down," Kanaan said.

"Then the real work took place in the afternoon. Once again, I think we have a very good car, a car that is capable of winning, but that's probably also true for Scott (Dixon) and several other guys here this weekend."

If qualifying is rained out, cars will line up according to current championship standings. That bodes well for Helio Castroneves, the current points leader, and Dixon and Kanaan, who are second and third, respectively, in the standings after the first two races of the season.

Dixon recorded the second-best lap of the afternoon session, 200.390 mph in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda/Dallara, followed by teammate Wheldon at 200.250 mph in the No. 10 Ganassi Honda/Dallara. Castroneves was fourth fastest in the No. 3 Team Penske Honda/Dallara.

"We were going for speed, as were most people, with race set-up because (of the forecast), so it might be the only time we get on the track," Dixon said. "So we tried to cover as many bases as possible."

The race is one of two points events this weekend for the IndyCar Series. Champ Car teams, some of which are making the transition to the IndyCar Series, are competing this weekend in the final Champ Car race at Long Beach.

Kanaan, last year's winner at the tricky 1.52-mile oval, said his team need more work to find a balance on the track's different corners. Turns 1 and 2 have a wider turning radius than the sharper third and fourth turns.

"I'm not quite happy with the balance of the car, but we still have two days to go and a lot of work to do," Kanaan said. "It's Turn 4 where I'm having the problem, so we're trying to make the car better there. Turns 3 and 4 are the key to have a balanced car for the race; that's where you're going to make the pass."

Ed Carpenter had the fifth fastest lap in the No. 20 Vision Racing Honda/Dallara.

"We are happy to put in times that are good enough for the top five, but we also want to keep working to go faster," Carpenter said.

"So far this year our oval package has been good for us, so the goal now is to keep building off of that and keep improving it. I hope the rain holds off so we can try to qualify and see how we stack up with everybody else in qualifying."

Marco Andretti had the sixth fastest lap, followed by Ryan Briscoe, Danica Patrick, Townsend Bell and Hideki Mutoh.

Another practice session is scheduled before Friday's qualifying session.

Pos  Driver          Speed      Time       Laps
 1.  Kanaan          200.842    27.2453    58
 2.  Dixon           200.390    27.3067    56
 3.  Wheldon         200.250    27.3259    55
 4.  Castroneves     200.032    27.3556    27
 5.  Carpenter       199.737    27.3960    50
 6.  Andretti        199.675    27.4046    59
 7.  Briscoe         199.244    27.4638    39
 8.  Patrick         198.870    27.5155    55
 9.  Bell            198.005    27.6356    30
10.  Foyt IV         197.736    27.6732    35
11.  Manning         197.656    27.6844    47
12.  Mutoh           197.455    27.7127    55
13.  Hunter-Reay     197.129    27.7585    45
14.  Rice            196.961    27.7822    59
15.  Meira           196.495    27.8480    54
16.  Roth            196.070    27.9084    54
17.  Howard          192.840    28.3758    31
18.  Yasukawa        189.547    28.8688    17