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While the IndyCars
didn't quite come up to open test speeds of 132 mph yesterday,
half the practice sessions were run in wet and foggy conditions.
That won't be the case today, split session practice is about to
begin and it is dry
and clear on the course. Back
in June when the IndyCars tested, Ryan Briscoe and Tony Kanaan
shared top speed honors, here's the top five from that
session;
1. Ryan Briscoe, 132.272 (tie)
1. Tony Kanaan, 132.272 (tie)
3. Helio Castroneves, 131.896
4. Scott Dixon, 131.396
5. Vitor Meira, 130.835
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While I wasn't at Watkins Glen
today, I wish I was, because the Firestone Fast Six session must
have been something to see. In the commentary boxes I tried to
keep up with the position changes as rapidly as possible, every
speed posted indicated a change of the top six order somewhere
from top to bottom. I only hope we see some footage at SPEED
News Saturday this afternoon. As it turned out there were Toyota
powered Panoz or Dallara chassis in the top 4, while the two AGR
Honda's of Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti had to settle for
5th and 6th. The fastest car out there though may have been the
RLR Panoz Honda of Vitor Meira, who just missed the Fast Six due
to a couple of slips on his "Q" attempt.
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Watkins
Glen Indy Grand Prix
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Car
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Driver
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*****
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***************************
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*****
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***Firestone
Fast Six Drivers***
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3
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Helio Castroneves,
132.625, 133.361, 133.806
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*****
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***************************
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10
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Giorgio
Pantano, 131.429, 133.172, 133.774
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*****
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***************************
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83
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Patrick Carpentier,
131.362, 133.111, 133.384, 133.629
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*****
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***************************
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9
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Scott Dixon,
132.733, 133.497
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*****
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***************************
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11
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Tony Kanaan,132.471,
132.804, 133.381
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*****
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***************************
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27
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Dario Franchitti,
132.050, 132.995
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*****
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***************************
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*****
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***Firestone
Fast Six Drivers***
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9
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Scott Dixon
to the pole for now, 132.733, this upcoming Fast Six run
will have some good talent on the outside looking in.
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*****
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***************************
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3
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Helio Castroneves
comes up short, running 132.625, no surprise here, we'll
see much more from him in the Firestone Fast Six, Helio
couldn't secure the pole in "Q" runs anyway,
I'm sure he wanted to be assured of a Fast Six run.
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*****
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***************************
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11
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Tony Kanaan
misses the pole with a 132.471 run, but he is a lock for
the Fast Six.
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*****
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***************************
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27
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Dario Franchitti,
132.050, first driver over 132 mph as each of the final
cars makes a run at the pole and takes his turn at the
top of the chart.
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*****
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***************************
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10
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Giorgio
Pantano, 131.429, Pantano a half-mph of his practice run
but mistake free.
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*****
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***************************
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83
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Patrick Carpentier,
131.362, where did that come from? Not as fast as his
practice speed, but still the best run yet, the
contenders are being extra careful not to blow a
"Q" run.
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*****
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*****Firestone
Fast Six*****
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*****
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***************************
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17
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Vitor Meira,
131.065, Vitor blew the exit of turn 9 or he could have
had a better run. He should be safe for the Firestone
Fast Six.
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*****
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***************************
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15
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Buddy Rice,
130.643, Buddy runs a speed close to his best practice
lap.
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*****
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***************************
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26
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Dan Wheldon,
130.493, a disappointing run.
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*****
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***************************
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4
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Tomas Scheckter,
130.381, the radio crew said "Scheckter was
over-driving all over the track during his run.
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*****
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***************************
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6
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Sam Hornish Jr.
(backup car), 129.961, with no practice laps on the car
Sam did a heck of a job.
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*****
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***************************
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2
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Tomas Enge,
129.909, Tomas improved on his practice run.
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*****
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***************************
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51
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Alex Barron,
129.777, close to his practice speed.
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*****
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***************************
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7
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Bryan Herta,
129.519, Herta was off-course on his run.
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*****
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***************************
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55
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Kosuke Matsuura,
129.399
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*****
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***************************
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16
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Danica Patrick,
129.261
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*****
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***************************
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24
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Roger Yasukawa,
128.314
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*****
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***************************
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8
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Scott Sharp, 127.827,
Sharp had a rough run, lucky to finish the run with the
car in one piece.
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*****
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***************************
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14
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Jeff
Bucknum, 127.129, with "big" AJ in Houston,
the team misses his feedback and setup ability, Bucknum
was better at Infineon with AJ there.
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*****
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***************************
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20
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Ed Carpenter,
123.922, Ed had a "moment" on his run, he's
been faster.
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*****
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***************************
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The Firestone Fast Six run is over, but the
below listed IndyCar T&S chart doesn't do the excitement of the
session justice. The Firestone Fast Six was a bit of a yawner at Infineon,
but both at St. Pete and Watkins Glen it was everything it was designed to
be..
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Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented
by Argent Mortgage
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Pos
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Driver
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Diff
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B Time
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B Speed
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1
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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...
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1:30.6688
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133.806
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2
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Giorgio Pantano (10)
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0.0215
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1:30.6903
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133.774
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3
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Patrick Carpentier (83)
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0.1201
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1:30.7889
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133.629
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4
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Scott Dixon (9)
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0.2095
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1:30.8783
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133.497
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5
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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0.2888
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1:30.9576
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133.381
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6
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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0.5527
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1:31.2215
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132.995
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The first part of the qualifying procedure
is over, here is the IndyCar T&S chart.
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Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented
by Argent Mortgage
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Pos
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Driver
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B Time
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B Speed
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1
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Scott Dixon (9)
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1:31.4016
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132.733
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2
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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1:31.4757
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132.625
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3
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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1:31.5823
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132.471
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4
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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1:31.8744
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132.050
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5
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Giorgio Pantano (10)
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1:32.3081
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131.429
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6
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Patrick Carpentier (83)
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1:32.3557
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131.362
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7
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Vitor Meira (17)
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1:32.5647
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131.065
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8
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Buddy Rice (15)
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1:32.8638
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130.643
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9
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Dan Wheldon (26)
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1:32.9704
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130.493
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10
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Tomas Scheckter (4)
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1:33.0504
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130.381
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11
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Sam Hornish Jr. (6)
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1:33.3512
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129.961
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12
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Tomas Enge (2)
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1:33.3885
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129.909
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13
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Alex Barron (51)
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1:33.4835
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129.777
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14
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Bryan Herta (7)
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1:33.6694
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129.519
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15
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Kosuke Matsuura (55)
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1:33.7564
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129.399
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16
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Danica Patrick (16)
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1:33.8566
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129.261
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17
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Roger Yasukawa (24)
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1:34.5492
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128.314
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18
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Scott Sharp (8)
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1:34.9094
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127.827
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19
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Jeff Bucknum (14)
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1:35.4310
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127.129
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20
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Ed Carpenter (20)
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1:37.9000
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123.922
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(11:25 EDT) Here's Dario, the
first lap above 133 mph from the driver I consider the best road
racer in the series, Dario topped the chart momentarily with a
lap of 133.071, but he wasn't up there long, as this is the time
we usually see last minute fliers, and Helio Castroneves has
just provided one, running a lap of 133.772. The session has
ended early due to "moderate right side contact in turn 9
by Sam Hornish Jr., the car is damaged, but the driver is
OK." Helio Castroneves has posted the fastest speed in
practice and will get to chose whether he qualifies first or
last when "Q" runs begin at 1:00 PM EDT. Looking at
the top ten, there are five Toyota powered cars, four Honda's
and the Chevy of Tomas Scheckter, but there are only 3 cars in
the top ten with a Panoz chassis.
This is the 3rd road or
street race of the season, and the teams are getting a better
handle on the qualifying procedures, whereby only the fastest
six qualifiers get to be in the runoff for the pole position. At
the road race at Infineon Raceway, Giorgio Pantano and Dario
Franchitti messed up their qualifying runs and were never able
to contend for the win. When "Q" runs begin today, the
drivers will be faced with the challenge
of running fast enough to get in the top six, but also to avoid
making a mistake that will eliminate them from race contention.
Because of that, I don't expect to see speeds above 132.5 mph
until the fast six runoff. Here is the morning practice IndyCar
T&S chart.
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Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented
by Argent Mortgage
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Pos
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Driver
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B Time
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B Speed
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1
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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1:30.6915
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133.772
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2
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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1:31.1693
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133.071
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3
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Vitor Meira (17)
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1:31.3169
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132.856
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4
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Scott Dixon (9)
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1:31.3875
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132.753
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5
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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1:31.4420
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132.674
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6
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Patrick Carpentier (83)
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1:31.8153
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132.135
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7
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Giorgio Pantano (10)
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1:31.8438
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132.094
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8
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Sam Hornish Jr. (6)
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