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Practice
for Sunday's Detroit Indy Grand Prix begins Friday at 10:30 a.m.
EDT...
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I'm not sure what to expect from this event,
which was passing-challenged when last run as a CART event on Belle Isle
in 2001. From checking on The CCWS site, Helio Castroneves won the pole
with a lap time 1:13.499, and a CART listed speed of 114.908-mph.
Also in that race in 2001 and now in IndyCars is Dario Franchitti, Scott
Dixon and Tony Kanaan. I'm thinking the course distance and layout are the
same even if the racing surface isn't. It will be interesting to see how
fast the IndyCars run today.
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***
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Here's the weekend Schedule, all times
EDT:
1st practice, Friday, August 31st, from
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. p.m.
2nd practice, Friday, August 31st, from, from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
3rd practice, Saturday, September 1st, from 8:45 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.
Qualifying, Saturday, September 1st,, from 11:45 a.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Final Practice, Sunday, September 2nd, from 10:30 - 11:00
a.m.
Detroit Indy Grand PrixDetroit Indy Grand Prix, Sunday, September 2nd, 3:30 p.m. live on
ABC,
indycar.com,
IMS
Radio Network and XM Channel 144
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***
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It looks like a beautiful day on Belle Isle
as practice gets underway, here's the weather
outlook for the weekend, and it's nearly perfect. Apparently there was
some course damage from the first ALMS practice that will delay the first
IndyCar practice session.
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The 2nd and final practice session of the
day has ended with a Sam Hornish Jr. crash in turn 3. I have no further
information other than Hornish reportedly white walled two tires a couple
of corners before the crash. Helio Castroneves did "win" this
session with the fastest speed of the day and 4 drivers were above
101-mph, although it appears three of the four set their best speeds in
late laps flyers. It appears that the top 9ine on this chart will get fast
group status on the only practice session before qualifying on Saturday.
For some unexplained reason, AJ Foyr IV missed the entire session.
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Pos
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Driver
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Best Time
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Best Speed
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Best Lap
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Last Lap
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1
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Helio Castroneves
(3)
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1:13.3130
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101.646
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13
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14
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2
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Dario Franchitti
(27)
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1:13.4702
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101.429
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4
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14
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3
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Scott Dixon (9)
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1:13.7286
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101.073
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13
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14
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4
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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1:13.7434
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101.053
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13
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15
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5
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Marco Andretti
(26)
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1:14.5218
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99.998
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16
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17
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6
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Ryan Hunter-Reay
(17)
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1:14.6862
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99.777
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13
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14
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7
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Vitor Meira (4)
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1:14.6865
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99.777
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14
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15
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8
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Sam Hornish Jr (6)
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1:14.8298
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99.586
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9
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10
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9
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Tomas Scheckter
(2)
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1:15.0778
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99.257
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12
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13
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10
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Darren Manning
(14)
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1:15.3621
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98.883
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10
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14
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11
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Danica Patrick (7)
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1:15.7939
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98.319
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5
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13
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12
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Scott Sharp (8)
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1:15.8556
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98.239
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14
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18
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13
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Kosuke Matsuura
(55)
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1:16.5951
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97.291
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11
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13
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14
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Dan Wheldon (10)
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1:16.7193
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97.133
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6
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15
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15
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Ed Carpenter (20)
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1:16.8512
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96.967
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13
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15
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16
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Buddy Rice (15)
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1:17.2411
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96.477
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3
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4
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17
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Sarah Fisher (5)
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1:17.8633
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95.706
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15
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15
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(12:30) Vitor Meira stalled at
session-end between turns 12 and 13, in a spot that looks a lot like the
position where Mario Andretti once ran over the back of a stalled car that
had been sitting in that position as he past it the previous couple of
laps. In Vitor's case, he was stopped further out on the track, and
everyone was able to avoid hitting the car.
Dario Franchitti has just
"won" the first recent road race practice session I can recall
lately, for the most part it has been a case of Helio Castroneves almost
owning road race practice sessions. Four Drivers were able to eclipse the
100-mph mark, and with the exception of Sarah Fisher, all drivers are a
little over 4 seconds, 5-mph apart, not what you would expect from a
street circuit, but it is only the first session. Ryan Hunter-Reay is 7th
on the chart, top driver of the non-ICS road race experts. Dan Wheldon is
showing 15th (what has gone wrong there), and Darren Manning, supporting
my contention that he is in a Foyt car that has been crashed and repaired
more than a dozen times too often, is 11th. Hunter-Reay should have a good
weekend, he's probably had more recent street-like seat time than any
other driver, even if his last CART/CCWS run was a couple of years ago.
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Pos
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Driver
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Best Time
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Best Speed
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Best Lap
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Last Lap
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1
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Dario Franchitti
(27)
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1:13.3447
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101.602
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26
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29
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2
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Helio Castroneves
(3)
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1:13.8656
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100.886
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31
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32
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3
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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1:13.8676
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100.883
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40
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41
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4
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Scott Dixon (9)
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1:14.1384
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100.515
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19
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21
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5
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Sam Hornish Jr (6)
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1:14.5228
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99.996
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31
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33
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6
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Marco Andretti
(26)
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1:14.8814
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99.517
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35
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38
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7
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Ryan Hunter-Reay
(17)
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1:15.0943
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99.235
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35
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42
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8
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Tomas Scheckter
(2)
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1:15.2026
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99.092
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38
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39
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9
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Vitor Meira (4)
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1:15.2523
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99.027
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50
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51
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10
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Kosuke Matsuura
(55)
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1:15.3675
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98.876
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45
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46
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11
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Darren Manning
(14)
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1:15.4120
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98.817
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36
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40
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12
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Danica Patrick (7)
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1:16.0065
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98.044
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45
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46
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13
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Scott Sharp (8)
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1:16.0652
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97.969
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40
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46
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14
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Buddy Rice (15)
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1:16.6024
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97.282
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34
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41
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15
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Dan Wheldon (10)
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1:16.7346
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97.114
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41
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42
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16
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AJ Foyt IV (22)
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1:16.9731
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96.813
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37
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38
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17
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