Today's coverage will be in a latest news first format. If you are looking for commentary with your coverage, this is the place to be, no need to wait for E-mails, the only things I can't provide is the latest in pictures and scanner traffic...                                                                                        

With some time left before the IndyCar's are back on the track, I'll take some time to return to the "photo bank" and look at the short track wings in more detail, to keep this page down to 3 feet long or so, and not to encumber those of you that aren't "gear-heads," I start another page, callin' it Wingin' it at PIR!

We are moments away from "Q" runs, the radio feed is on and they are about to go green... Alex Barron first out, first lap 172.377, short of his practice speed... Darren Manning on the track now, a 174.864, also short of practice speed... Bryan Herta on the track, should be fast, 175.950, and faster still on 2nd lap, a 176.612, with the sun shining... Helio Castroneves with the fast Toyota, 176.081, a tic faster on the 2nd lap. Tomas Enge next out, first Chevy, 175.641, slower than practice. Bryan Herta on the radio said they were using the same car that looked destroyed at HMS, I felt sure they lost the tub... Dario Franchitti, who lost a gearbox in the 2nd practice session, 3rd so far, 175.801... Kanaan has to start from the back, so he isn't going to qualify... Kosuke Matsuura next, 174.211, short of practice speed as well... Tomas Scheckter out now, first lap 17.068, an big jump in speed on 2nd lap puts Scheckter in 3rd, also the 3rd car over 176... Danica Patrick up now, they aren't giving her a free car, I don't expect much, but more than her 167 first lap. Danica faster on lap 2, 169.247... Buddy Rice, could we have a surprise? Nope, 175.115, faster than in either session, but not all that good... Scott Dixon kicks it up a notch, running a 175.439, much faster than practice... Ed Carpenter will be the 2nd driver under 170 at 166.640, Carpenter will be over 10 mph off the pace, that's ugly... Yasukawa runs 174.403, almost 2-mph faster than practice... Wheldon, if he wins toe pole, we could see a 177!. Nope, a 176.475, good for the outside pole...Hornish Jr.,, 175.773, not bad, 6th so far... Wheldon on the radio seems happy for Herta, I think the entire AGR team is focused on getting Herta a win... Vitor Meira disappointing all day, can't break 175, Vitor at 174.617... Ryan Briscoe turns a poor 172 on his first lap, but comes back for a 174.344... Scott Sharp now, his 100th start, faster than he has run all day, a 175.362 , which may put him in the top ten for the day, since the only one left to run is Foyt IV... Little Foyt at 170.619... That's it folks, this is a close field where it matters. Sure the slower cars are way off the pace, but there aren't that many of them. As it turns our, Sharp is first in class in starting 9th, the fastest Panoz Honda, right behind the Panoz Toyota of Scott Dixon. With Helio running close to the Dallara Honda's and Dixon on a par or ahead of the Panoz Honda's, perhaps Toyota has made inroads. That may be the case, but at pest Toyota only has two teams that CAN win, Honda has four that HAVE won, that's depth! Here is something else about strength and balance in the field, there are 15 cars that qualified between176.612 and 174.211 mph, or 2.4 mph and less than 3/10 of a second! At those speeds, the fastest of the 15, Herta, would not be able to pass 15th place Matsuura without Kosuke slipping high and letting him under him. That is why I say that Saturday's race will be won on pit road, unfortunately, the way the CART teams always raced. Here are the final "Q" run standings from IndyCar T&S. I will take a break now and come back later to finish "Wingin' it II and offer a recap. I sure hope the oncoming rain blows through quickly, this should be a great race.

Pos

 

 Driver

 

Best Time

Best Speed

Best Lap

1

 

 Bryan Herta (7)

 

20.3837

176.612

2

2

 

 Dan Wheldon (26)

 

20.3995

176.475

2

3

 

 Helio Castroneves (3)

 

20.4451

176.081

2

4

 

 Tomas Scheckter (4)

 

20.4466

176.068

2

5

 

 Dario Franchitti (27)

 

20.4777

175.801

2

6

 

 Sam Hornish Jr. (6)

 

20.4811

175.772

2

7

 

 Tomas Enge (2)

 

20.4964

175.641

1

8

 

 Scott Dixon (9)

 

20.5199

175.439

1

9

 

 Scott Sharp (8)

 

20.5290

175.362

2

10

 

 Buddy Rice (15)

 

20.5579

175.115

2

11

 

 Darren Manning (10)

 

20.5874

174.864

1

12

 

 Vitor Meira (17)

 

20.6166

174.617

2

13

 

 Roger Yasukawa (24)

 

20.6418

174.403

2

14

 

 Ryan Briscoe (33)

 

20.6488

174.344

2

15

 

 Kosuke Matsuura (55)

 

20.6646

174.211

2

16

 

 Alex Barron (51)

 

20.8845

172.377

1

17

 

 A.J. Foyt IV (14)

 

21.0996

170.619

1

18

 

 Danica Patrick (16)

 

21.2707

169.247

2

19

 

 Ed Carpenter (20)

 

21.7156

165.779

2

MIPS cars on the track now for "Q" runs, it shouldn't take long, they keep bouncing them off the walls.

Wow, I'm impressed, I gave my card to one of the Honda PR people at the PIR test, and he just called and confirmed that they did change the engine in the Kanaan car, because it was running hot. He says the problem might not have been with the engine (you know those guys, it's never the engine), since they are still overheating. Anyway, thanks for saving the card, reading my stuff and making the call.

(4:12) Session over, WOW! Dan Wheldon posted "the final flyer" to lead both sessions with an astounding178.680, here are the final stats. There is a different look to the top ten, actually both Chevy's are in the top  five. There are 5 Toyota's and only 3 Honda's. All 3 TCGR cars are in the top ten, both Panther cars and both Penske cars, wonder what that means? There are two cars above 176, and 5 more above 175, including Dario Franchitti, who never turned a lap above 171 in the 2nd session, clearly working on setup. Who would have expected Tony Kanaan would be somewhere around 18th for the day. Roger Yasukawa finally showed some speed, and every car with all the wheels still on it has been over 170 except Ed carpenter. I expect only 20 cars to answer the bell when "Q" runs start in about an hour. Two IndyCars have crashed out of 22, both Dallara's. In addition, 4 MIPS cars have crashed as well, not a good day unless you sell Dallara parts. Don't forget that "Q" runs are available on audio here.

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Pos

 

 Driver

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Time

Best Speed

1

 

 Dan Wheldon (26)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.3758

176.680

2

 

 Helio Castroneves (3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.3923

176.537

3

 

 Tomas Scheckter (4)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.4677

175.887

4

 

 Tomas Enge (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.4749

175.825

5

 

 Sam Hornish Jr. (6)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.5125

175.503

6

 

 Darren Manning (10)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.5620

175.080

7

 

 Scott Dixon (9)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.5793

174.933

8

 

 Bryan Herta (7)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.6180

174.605

9

 

 Ryan Briscoe (33)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.6415

174.406

10

 

 Kosuke Matsuura (55)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.6567

174.278

11

 

 Buddy Rice (15)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.6728

174.142

12

 

 Scott Sharp (8)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.6864

174.027

13

 

 Alex Barron (51)

 

 

 

 

 

 

20.7260

173.695

14

 

 Vitor Meira (17)