Wheldon tops Homestead test

 Moments before a heavy accident in Turn 2, Wheldon posted the fastest lap during the first day of IRL IndyCar Series testing. Wheldon, the 2005 IRL champion and last year's runner-up, was not hurt in the crash, but his No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda/Dallara was destroyed.
 
"It was a very hard hit," Wheldon said. "When they checked the (impact recording data in the) earpiece, all the lights were on. It was like a Christmas tree.

"Accidents happen. You've got to expect this. We do this day in and day out. Mistakes happen. I made a mistake. It's unfortunate, but it happens."
 
Still, Wheldon's best lap of 24.8816 seconds - 214.858 mph - around the 1.5-mile oval was slightly more than 0.12 seconds better than the next-best lap, recorded by Marco Andretti and the No. 26 Andretti Green Racing Honda/Dallara.
 
"The car is very quick, which is really good," Wheldon said.
 
Following Wheldon and Andretti in the rare night test - a preparation for the IndyCar opener under the lights March 24 at Homestead - was Wheldon's Ganassi teammate, Scott Dixon. Helio Castroneves had the fourth-best lap in the No. 3 Team Penske Honda/Dallara, followed by Dario Franchitti, Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Kanaan and Vitor Meira.
 
The test resumes Thursday following a session for the Indy Pro Series cars.

Pos  Driver               Time     Laps
 1.  Dan Wheldon          24.8816   77
 2.  Marco Andretti      + 0.1204  102
 3.  Scott Dixon         + 0.1356  121
 4.  Helio Castroneves   + 0.1532  117
 5.  Dario Franchitti    + 0.1577   88
 6.  Sam Hornish Jr      + 0.2327  148
 7.  Tony Kanaan         + 0.2960   40
 8.  Vitor Meira         + 0.3018  145
 9.  Buddy Rice          + 0.3158   70
10.  Danica Patrick      + 0.3398   64
11.  Ed Carpenter        + 0.3511   90
12.  Kosuke Matsuura     + 0.3715  113
13.  Tomas Scheckter     + 0.4312   84
14.  Jeff Simmons        + 0.4611  143
15.  Sarah Fisher        + 0.4702   77
16.  Scott Sharp         + 0.4800  105
17.  A J Foyt IV         + 0.6002   83
18.  Marty Roth          + 0.8681  105
19.  Darren Manning      + 0.8751   51