Dixon quickest in short-run practice

Scott Dixon turned the quickest laps during an abbreviated open test at the Iowa Speedway on Friday afternoon. Originally scheduled for four hours, the IndyCar Series was able to run for just one hour and forty-five minutes before rain hit the Newton, Iowa track.

"Today it was definitely very fast," said Dixon, who circled the seventh eighth's of a mile track in 17.6006 seconds, (182.857 miles per hour). "There is tons of grip for us. I think in that direction the race is going to look very exciting."

His teammate, Dan Wheldon, was second quickest and made some interesting comparisons after making his first laps around the newest facility on the IndyCar Series calendar.

"It's kind of a cross between (1.5 mile) Kentucky and (1.0 mile) Pikes Peak," said Wheldon, who was the first driver to mention bumps through turns one and two. "They are kind of what we call, 'high frequency.' Not enough to really upset the car, but that is what you hope for in other cars so you can pass."

Dixon also thought it could be hard to get around other cars. "I think it's going to be difficult to pass," he said. "But I had a lot of fun out there today and it's a cool track."

Wheldon agreed. "It bodes for some great racing. You can certainly run side by side, but to flat out overtake somebody that's a similar speed is difficult."

Third quickest during the test session was Sam Hornish, Jr., who got up to speed as soon as he hit the track. "We were able to run flat out after about three laps, so we just tried to trim out the car as the day went on. Despite the rain, I think we're in pretty good shape heading in to tomorrow (Saturday)."

Not getting up to speed was Milka Duno. The rookie was expected to struggle on a challenging short track like Iowa - and she did. After running well over 50 laps, she was over three seconds off the pace.

She would then close the gap considerably, but would finish the day a full 1.1 seconds off Dixon's pace and over half a second behind the 19th slowest car - Kosuke Matsuura.

The IndyCar Series will practice and qualify tomorrow, weather permitting. The forecast calls for rain through the morning, then clearing in the afternoon. Sunday is expected to be 89F degrees and humid for the noon starting time.

Pos  Driver                Diff    Best Time   Best Speed
1    Scott Dixon (9)       ...     17.6006     182.857
2    Dan Wheldon (10)      0.0704  17.6710     182.129
3    Sam Hornish Jr (6)    0.0706  17.6712     182.127
4    Helio Castroneves (3) 0.0868  17.6874     181.960
5    Marco Andretti (26)   0.0957  17.6963     181.869
6    Dario Franchitti (27) 0.1225  17.7231     181.594
7    Buddy Rice (15)       0.1557  17.7563     181.254
8    Tomas Scheckter (2)   0.1656  17.7662     181.153
9    Ed Carpenter (20)     0.1668  17.7674     181.141
10   Jeff Simmons (17)     0.1866  17.7872     180.939
11   Danica Patrick (7)    0.1973  17.7979     180.830
12   Tony Kanaan (11)      0.2224  17.8230     180.576
13   Scott Sharp (8)       0.2429  17.8435     180.368
14   AJ Foyt IV (22)       0.2598  17.8604     180.198
15   Darren Manning (14)   0.3373  17.9379     179.419
16   Sarah Fisher (5)      0.3696  17.9702     179.097
17   Vitor Meira (4)       0.3973  17.9979     178.821
18   Kosuke Matsuura (55)  0.5539  18.1545     177.278
19   Milka Duno (23)       1.1650  18.7656     171.505

ORS / CAPSIS International