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During
the final practice session I went out and took some pictures
that show what I think will be the story of the race.
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This IndyCar
official is a long-time friend of mine, he is straddle a line
that represents the front of Helio Castroneves' "pit
box." The car shown in the background is the AGR Dallara of
Tony Kanaan, but actually behind Helio's pit is the Sam Hornish
pit, then there is a wall opening where the other official is
standing. After that is the Wheldon pit, Kanaan, Dario
Franchitti and Bryan Herta, the pole sitter. Fortunately Steve
moved a little to the left, but still held his line, because a
minute later Helio came in for a stop after a morning practice
run, shown below.
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While it is
possible that today's winner could come from some other team
than MTP or AGR, these lead pit positions make it highly
unlikely, because from where Helio's car is to the barrel shown
below is no more than 80 feet, and neither Helio or Sam will
have to worry about busting the pit road speed limit before
reaching it. The AGR drivers will have to be a little more
careful
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I looked it up,
these shots were taken from turn 10, earlier I called it
"turn whatever," but it is one of three passing
opportunities on this temporary street circuit, and the only one
available for me to shoot from. This straightaway is the one
alongside the ballpark, Progress Energy Park, the one with the
kink in it. This one is the second longest passing zone on the
track, and the "kink" doesn't slow the cars much.
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Here The Team
Cheever car of what appears to be Alex Barron because of the
helmet, attempts an inside pass after clearing the
"kink" in the straightaway.
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Here we have
Briscoe, pole position winner Bryan Herta, Tony Kanaan and Dario
Franchitti heading for turn ten.
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(4-03-05,
9:50 AM EDT) The Final Practice session is over, but not before
AJ Foyt IV made a 2nd and final adjustment on his right front
wing and suspension.
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(9:30) AJ Foyt IV
has just made another "adjustment" to the front of his
Panoz Toyota, now I think I know the real reason his grandfather
didn't bring one of his Dallara's. If you'll recall, young
Anthony got his first "nose job" Friday morning, the
supporting photo can be found among others here...
Anyway, I was standing at the end of the 3rd
"straight" in turn whatever (once they get past four I
stop counting, usually it's time to restart the count)
shootin' digital when I heard the "voice of
Firestone." I looked up and saw Foyt sideways, but at first
I thought it was just another spin close to the runoff area.
Then they called for "the hook," so I changed
positions as they parked the car behind the tire barrier to get
this shot.
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It looks like the
Foyt team has made another trip to the Panoz store. I wonder if
they have a spray can of El Bombo in "Coyote Orange,"
which is actually '65 Mustang "Poppy Red."
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Here
are the results of the final practice session as posted
by IndyCar T&S.
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1
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Dan Wheldon (26)
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1:4.0702
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101.139
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2
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Tomas Scheckter (4)
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1:4.0746
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101.132
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3
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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1:4.2753
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100.816
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4
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Tomas Enge (2)
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1:4.2932
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100.788
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5
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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1:4.3156
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100.753
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6
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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1:4.4465
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100.549
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7
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Patrick Carpentier (83)
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1:4.4748
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100.504
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8
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Vitor Meira (17)
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1:4.4884
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100.483
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9
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Darren Manning (10)
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1:4.4894
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100.482
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10
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Scott Dixon (9)
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1:4.5030
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100.460
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11
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Ryan Briscoe (33)
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1:5.0033
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99.687
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12
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Alex Barron (51)
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1:5.0110
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99.675
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13
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Kosuke Matsuura (55)
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1:5.0706
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99.584
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14
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Sam Hornish Jr. (6)
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1:5.1024
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99.536
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15
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Scott Sharp (8)
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1:5.1059
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99.530
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16
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Bryan Herta (7)
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1:5.3204
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99.203
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17
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Buddy Rice (15)
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1:5.7384
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98.573
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18
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Danica Patrick (16)
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1:6.2798
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97.767
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19
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Roger Yasukawa (24)
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1:6.9850
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96.738
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20
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A.J. Foyt IV (14)
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1:8.7836
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94.209
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21
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Ed Carpenter (20)
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1:10.6825
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91.678
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Dan Wheldon and
Tomas Scheckter missed the "fast-six" run yesterday,
but this morning they led the practice session. No one was above
101 mph, but 13 entries were within one second of Wheldon's
pace. I don't know what to expect from the race, but one thing I
am fairly confident of is that not every car will drive
away from turn one after the green flag
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