Prac: Wheldon in control

AGR racer Wheldon's fastest lap, 25.279s (216.466 mph), was nearly a tenth faster than the next man up Vitor Meira driving for Team Rahal. Wheldon's team-mate, Bryan Herta, had the third-fastest lap, followed by Buddy Rice, Sam Hornish Jr, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon.

Little more than half a second separated the 22 cars as they took to the 1.5-mile tri-oval for the first time during free practice. Most cars were in race trim, on full tanks and running in packs. They swapped the lead, going three-wide through turns and dicing at will.

"I got a very good draft to get that lap," Wheldon said. "You qualify here on your own, but you race in a pack of 22. You have to make sure you're ready for that."

Chicagoland Speedway has been the site of some of the IRL's closest races since its inception in 2001. The track still holds the record for closest margin of victory - Hornish's 0.0024s win over Al Unser Jr in 2002 - and was the scene of a memorable three-wide finish last year among Hornish, Dixon and Herta.

"It was a little wild at the end of the afternoon session with all of the cars running in race trim," Rice said. "Qualifying doesn't mean a lot at this place. It is the similar 1.5-mile oval race, with everyone jockeying around for the last 25 laps. We've played the game all year on these kinds of tracks."

During Friday's two practice sessions, 20 of the 22 cars were clocked in the 25.3s through 25.7s bracket. IRL points leader Tony Kanaan, who can mathematically clinch the championship if he wins and Wheldon and Rice encounter early problems, had the fastest lap during the morning session - 214.875mph - which dropped to eighth overall in the afternoon.

Hornish and Franchitti were held out of the morning practice session as penalties for recent incidents on pit road. Hornish pulled away early during a pit stop at Nazareth Speedway, spilling fuel on his Marlboro Team Penske crew members. Franchitti was sent early from a stop at Pikes Peak International Raceway, injuring his vent/jack man, Mike Miller.