SPEEDWAY, IN: Despite an optimistic weather forecast, Fast Friday became “Fluid Friday” as rain once again plagued the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after three hours of practice were completed. Unfortunately, rookie Alex Lloyd may be watching Pole Day from Methodists Hospital, after a
hard crash in turn one.
The Speedway opened for practice promptly at noon under threatening skies. The action began immediately, with 33 cars taking to the track in a frantic search for speed. Some found what they were looking
for…others did not.
Shortly after Marco Andretti turned lap of 226.710, fastest of the month so far, it all went wrong for rookie Alex Lloyd, the 2007 Firestone Lites Champion. After recording a quick lap of 223.459 MPH, Lloyd lost control of his Rahal-Letterman/Ganassi #16 in the middle on turn one and smashed backwards into the Safer barrier. Lloyd was carefully lifted
to the ambulance, and is currently undergoing medical evaluation.
When practice resumed after repairs to the wall were completed, another incident took place. Apparently, the car of veteran Danica Patrick made contact with veteran mechanic Chuck Buckman of Dale Coyne Racing in the pit area. Buckman was also transported to Methodist Hospital, where
he is undergoing evaluation for scalp and facial lacerations.
When showers finally brought a halt to the day’s activities, Scott Dixon sat on top of the speed chart with the month’s fastest lap: 226.968 MPH. This exceeds the 225.817 MPH Pole speed set last year by Helio Castroneves. Marco Andretti’s lap of 226.710 was good enough for second fastest, followed by Tony Kanaan (226.688), Ryan Briscoe (226.143) and
rookie Hideki Mutoh (225.990).
Happily, the forecast for tomorrow’s Pole Day still looks good. Final practice is scheduled for 9AM, with qualifications at noon. The top eleven starting positions will be locked in tomorrow, and bumping for those
spots will continue until 6 PM.
Speed Chart for Fast (Fluid) Friday: Pos Driver Name Best Time Best Speed Best Lap Total Laps 1 Scott Dixon (9) 39.6531 226.968 30 45 2 Marco Andretti (26) 39.6983 226.710 9 26 3 Tony Kanaan (11) 39.7022 226.688 3 32 4 Ryan Briscoe (6) 39.7978 226.143 23 24 5 Hideki Mutoh (27) 39.8247 225.990 23 26 6 Dan Wheldon (10) 39.8806 225.674 13 32 7 Vitor Meira (4T) 40.0336 224.811 19 34 8 Danica Patrick (7) 40.0456 224.744 3 34 9 Tomas Scheckter (12) 40.0512 224.712 22 27 10 Ryan Hunter-Reay (17) 40.1561 224.125 36 42 11 Helio Castroneves (3) 40.1757 224.016 11 31 12 Buddy Rice (15) 40.2517 223.593 9 16 13 Alex Lloyd (16) 40.2596 223.549 19 29 14 Townsend Bell (99) 40.2653 223.518 5 14 15 Graham Rahal (06) 40.3061 223.291 35 44 16 Oriol Servia (5) 40.3545 223.023 7 37 17 A.J. Foyt IV (2) 40.3623 222.980 29 46 18 Darren Manning (14) 40.4040 222.750 25 25 19 Ed Carpenter (20) 40.4387 222.559 40 41 20 Justin Wilson (02) 40.4569 222.459 20 45 21 Will Power (8) 40.4839 222.311 24 32 22 EJ Viso (33) 40.5232 222.095 20 22 23 Sarah Fisher (67) 40.5446 221.978 21 32 24 Davey Hamilton (22) 40.7192 221.026 31 38 25 Bruno Junqueira (18) 40.7382 220.923 22 24 26 Max Papis (44) 40.8294 220.429 41 50 27 Marty Roth (25) 41.0456 219.268 20 30 28 Milka Duno (23) 41.0902 219.030 4 33 29 Jay Howard (24) 41.1013 218.971 8 34 30 Mario Moraes (19) 41.2290 218.293 11 36 31 Mario Dominguez (96) 41.3000 217.918 6 16 32 Jaime Camara (36T) 41.6400 216.138 28 28
33 Enrique Bernoldi (36) 41.8979 214.808 8 8
Qualification Order for Pole Day 1. Jay Howard 2. Ryan Briscoe 3. Mario Moreas 4. Ryan Hunter Reay
5. E.J. Viso
Qualification Order Position of serious Pole contenders: 8. Marco Andretti 9 Scott Dixon 21. Danica Patrick 27. Tony Kanaan 28. Helio Castroneves 35. Dan Wheldon
57. Tomas Scheckter
IndyCar SeriesJohn AtlasThe Dirt Guy