Sharp fastest on opening day

Sharp, who won the previous Indy Racing League race at Nazareth, is looking for his second consecutive pole position for the Brickyard classic. He set a best lap at 227.571mph around the 2.5-mile oval.

"Coming in here for me was more of a concern of picking up where we left off with the testing, and making sure the team is running on all cylinders, which it obviously is," said the Kelley Racing driver. "And it's great having Al [Unser Jr, team-mate] right there with me."

Last year's race winner, Helio Castroneves, was the only other driver to break 127mph, while Unser Jr was third fastest.

Motegi CART race winner Bruno Junqueira was the fourth fastest driver of the day, beating his Ganassi Racing team-mate Jeff Ward by two tenths of a second.

Eddie Cheever drove both his own car and and his team's T-car after Tomas Scheckter was suspended for three days of Indy practice following his shunt with Jaques Lazier at Nazareth.

Alex Barron and Laurent Redon managed impressive rookie runs, going sixth and seventh fastest. NASCAR ace Robby Gordon flew from the Richmond Winston Cup round to Indy and was rewarded for his effort with the 13th best time.

Scott Sharp, Dallara-Chevrolet, 39.5481s, 227.571mph
Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevrolet, 39.5764s, 227.408mph
Al Unser Jr, Dallara-Chevrolet, 39.6677s, 226.885mph
Bruno Junqueira, G-Force-Chevrolet, 39.6767s, 226.833mph
Eddie Cheever Jr Dallara-Infiniti, 39.7572s, 226.374mph
Alex Barron, Dallara-Chevrolet, 39.7930s, 226.170mph
Laurent Redon, Dallara-Infiniti, 39.7993s, 226.135mph
Arie Luyendyk, G-Force-Chevrolet, 39.8669s, 225.751mph
Robbie Buhl, G-Force-Infiniti, 39.8930s, 225.603mph
Jeff Ward, G-Force-Chevrolet, 39.8953s, 225.590mph
Felipe Giaffone, G-Force-Chevrolet, 39.9924s, 225.043mph
Paul Tracy, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.0194s, 224.891mph
Robby Gordon, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.0232s, 224.870mph
Sam Hornish Jr, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.0312s, 224.825mph
PJ Jones, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.0563s, 224.684mph
Gil de Ferran, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.0888s, 224.502mph
Tony Kanaan, G-Force-Chevrolet, 40.1206s, 224.324mph
Jimmy Vasser, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.1265s, 224,291mph
Billy Boat, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.1820s, 223.981mph
Rick Treadway, G-Force-Chevrolet, 40.2090s, 223.830mph
Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.2958s, 223.348mph
Mark Dismore, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.3741s, 222.915mph
Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.7175s, 221.035mph
Max Papis, Dallara-Infiniti, 40.7744s, 220.727mph
Anthony Lazzaro, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.8914s, 220.095mph
Robby McGehee, Dallara-Chevrolet, 40.8988s, 220.055mph
Michael Andretti, Dallara-Chevrolet, 41.1851s, 218.526mph
Kenny Brack, G-Force-Chevrolet, 42.0304s, 214.131mph
John DeVries, Dallara-Chevrolet, 43.6026s, 206.410mph
Shigeaki Hattori, Dallara-Infiniti, 47.2853s, 190.334mph