Dan Wheldon led the first IndyCar Series practice session at the Richmond International Raceway by just 0.0146seconds over a surprisingly quick Marco Andretti. 2006 Richmond winner Sam Hornish, Jr., was third fastest while Vitor Meira suffered another suspension failure and hit the turn three wall.

Wheldon's lap of 15.6902 seconds works out to an average speed of 172.082miles per hour around the three quarter mile bullring that is RIR.

The three female drivers entered for Saturday night's 250 lap race had varied, but predictable success in the first practice session. Danica Patrick, running for the strong Andretti Green Racing team was seventh fastest; Sarah Fisher was 17th quickest for a rebuilding Dreyer and Reinbold Racing; and Milka Duno was last in her SAMAX Racing entry, 1.2 seconds behind Wheldon.

IRL officials altered the practice schedule again this weekend due to the potential for rain. Scattered showers are in the area, necessitating a change from one hour split groups to 30 minute split groups followed by an hour of “all car” practice.

With the track being so short, and lap times so quick, teams were able to turn a high number of laps in the session. Scott Sharp, sixth quick, turned the most laps at 108, while Marco Andretti had 104, and Tomas Scheckter turned 100laps. The remainder of the field averaged around 75 laps in the session, with Wheldon turning just 67laps.

Meira's crash looked similar to last week's accident at Iowa Speedway.

The left front suspension folded up as he hit the brakes and prepared to head for pit lane. The car then shot across the track and hard into the turn three wall.

Provided the weather holds, the IndyCar Series will have another practice session at 3:15pm, though they may again adjust the car groupings to try and get equal time to all competitors.

Pos Driver Diff Best Time Best Speed
1 Dan Wheldon (10) ... 15.6902 172.082
2 Marco Andretti (26) 0.0146 15.7048 171.922
3 Sam Hornish Jr (6) 0.0153 15.7055 171.914
4 Tony Kanaan (11) 0.0156 15.7058 171.911
5 Dario Franchitti (27) 0.0641 15.7543 171.382
6 Scott Sharp (8) 0.1111 15.8013 170.872
7 Danica Patrick (7) 0.1723 15.8625 170.213
8 Ed Carpenter (20) 0.2308 15.9210 169.587
9 Scott Dixon (9) 0.2326 15.9228 169.568
10 Vitor Meira (4) 0.2505 15.9407 169.378
11 Tomas Scheckter (2) 0.2513 15.9415 169.369
12 Helio Castroneves (3) 0.2538 15.9440 169.343
13 Buddy Rice (15) 0.2639 15.9541 169.235
14 AJ Foyt IV (22) 0.3903 16.0805 167.905
15 Jeff Simmons (17) 0.4076 16.0978 167.725
16 Kosuke Matsuura (55) 0.4602 16.1504 167.179
17 Sarah Fisher (5) 0.5006 16.1908 166.761
18 Darren Manning (14) 0.5649 16.2551 166.102
19 Milka Duno (23) 1.2102 16.9004 159.760

ORS / CAPSIS International