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(9-11-04) None
of us will ever forget the events that took place three years
ago today in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, please take
a moment to remember those that lost their lives in the tragic
and cowardly attacks on America on this date three years ago;
and their families as well. Also keep those now serving our
country, many of them in harms-way to assure a tragedy like that
can never happen again, in your thoughts and prayers also. I was
once in that position, and I know the loneliness and fears both
they and their loved ones live with.
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(6:00 EDT) The final practice session has
ended, here are the results as posted by IndyCar T&S. Dan Wheldon
drafted his way to an amazing speed of 217.418, the fastest speed of all
P&Q sessions. Sunday Chicagoland Speedway could become Talladega North
in one on the most draft-intensive races since some of the TMS events
prior to this season. Three other drivers, Franchitti, Dixon and Kosuke
Matsuura were above 216 mph. Dixon and "Anthony" Foyt had the
only two Chevy's in the top ten, and the best Chevy result was that of
Jaques Lazier in 11. Lazier won his only race in the inaugural
Chicagoland race, and knows something about drafting as well. Lazier and
Patrick Racing need a good result. With Chevy showing so poorly and being
surpassed this weekend in my "Rolling Dynamometer" results, shown
here, one has to
suspect/wonder if is indicative of GM throwing in the towel at the end of
the year. They certainly are tardy in renewing with IndyCar through 2006;
as both Toyota and Honda have.
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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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1
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Dan Wheldon (26)
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25.1681
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217.418
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2
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Dario Franchitti (27)
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25.2278
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216.904
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3
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Scott Dixon (1)
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25.2726
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216.519
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4
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Kosuke Matsuura (55)
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25.3138
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216.167
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5
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Buddy Rice (15)
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25.3504
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215.855
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6
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Sam Hornish Jr. (6)
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25.4127
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215.325
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7
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Vitor Meira (17)
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25.4507
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215.004
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8
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Tony Kanaan (11)
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25.4758
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214.792
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9
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A.J. Foyt IV (14)
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25.5176
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214.440
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10
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Adrian Fernandez (5)
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25.5342
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214.301
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11
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Jaques Lazier (20)
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25.5579
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214.102
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12
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Darren Manning (10)
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25.5641
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214.050
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13
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Alex Barron (51)
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25.5707
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213.995
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14
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Felipe Giaffone (24)
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25.5723
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213.982
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15
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Tomas Scheckter (4)
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25.5782
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213.932
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16
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Ed Carpenter (52)
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25.5857
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213.869
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17
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Helio Castroneves (3)
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25.5925
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213.813
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18
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Bryan Herta (7)
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25.6107
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213.661
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19
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Scott Sharp (8)
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25.6181
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213.599
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20
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Townsend Bell (2)
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25.6241
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213.549
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21
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Mark Taylor (13)
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25.6753
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213.123
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22
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Tora Takagi (12)
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25.7465
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212.534
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(5:45 EDT) Franchitti still
holds onto the top speed, followed by the cars of Dixon,
Matsuura, Rice and Kanaan. The fact that there is the G Force
Toyota of Dixon 2nd fastest confirms his position as IndyCars'
draft-master. I have no doubt that the Dallara Toyota
combination would be faster, but with other cars punching a hole
in the air for Scott to drive through, he can be as fast as
anyone, he probably won't be able to pass though. AJ Foyt IV
still remains in the top ten, now able to run 214-mph laps.
Scheckter, now only the 3rd fastest
Chevy is down to 14th on the chart, unable to improve on his 213.9 speed
so far
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(5:30 PM EDT) The IndyCars are
back on the track for the final practice session. Dario
Franchitti is currently at the top of the chart with a speed of
215.855. That is more than 1-mph above the fastest "Q"
run of Helio Castroneves, and indicates how draft-sensitive
these cars are. Tomas Scheckter, who missed on a "Q"
run as the crew changed a Chevy engine, is in 5th position on
the charts and close to 214 mph, faster than he has run all
weekend.
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(10:30 EDT) The IndyCar
"Q" runs are scheduled to begin at noon today, I
usually listen to the Mike King IMS Radio feed that can be found
on the O/IRR links page as I "write" the session.
Mike's show is slated to begin at 11:45 AM EDT. The last
time I posted the IndyCar Series furnished "Q"
run order, it didn't even come close to what we finally saw, but
it is all I have to go on, so here is the expected
qualifying order for the Delphi Indy 300. I will insert comments
after each drivers name as he finishes his attempt. See you at
noon (EDT)!
Jaques
Lazier… Alex Barron… Darren Manning… Bryan Herta…
Fernandez…
Marl
Taylor
… Sam Hornish JR… Tora Takagi… Buddy Rice… Townsend Bell… Tony
Kanaan… Felipe Giaffone… Dario Franchitti… Ed Carpenter…
Tomas Scheckter… Dan Wheldon… Helio Castroneves… Kosuke
Matsuura… AJ Foyt IV,
again continuing to surprise, "Little" Foyt is
currently in 6th position at 213.023… Vitor Meira,
212.989… Scott Dixon,
a very disappointing 211.816, not only can't Dixon beat teammate
manning, but also the Toyota powered cars of Foyt IV and Scott
Sharp. In fact, the only Toyota powered car Dixon did manage to
better is Tora Takagi, and he is in his customary last starting
position… Scott Sharp
winds up "Q" runs with a 14th best 211 mph run…
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"Q" Runs joined
progress! For whatever reason I have been on a different
timeframe of mind this weekend, and I am late for qualifying as
Helio has just taken the pole position away from Tony Kanaan
with no one left in the qualifying order that you could expect
to unseat him. Helio's best lap was a 214.489, and he and Kanaan
are the only two drivers to better 214 mph so far. AJ Foyt IV
has just amazed me with a so-far 6th position "Q" run,
some of the drivers he has surpassed include Hornish, Meira,
Fernandez, Herta and Dixon, where did this come from? The
session ended with two drivers, Jaques Lazier and Tora Takagi
unable to post a speed above 210 mph!
Here are the final
qualifying results from IndyCar T&S.
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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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1
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Helio
Castroneves (3)
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25.4797
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214.759
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2
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Tony
Kanaan (11)
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25.5665
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214.030
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3
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Buddy
Rice (15)
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25.5889
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213.843
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4
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Dario
Franchitti (27)
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25.6127
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213.644
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5
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Dan
Wheldon (26)
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25.6745
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213.130
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6
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A.J.
Foyt IV (14)
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25.6874
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213.023
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7
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Sam
Hornish Jr. (6)
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25.6912
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212.991
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8
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Vitor
Meira (17)
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25.6915
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212.989
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9
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Bryan
Herta (7)
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25.6922
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212.983
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10
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Adrian
Fernandez (5)
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25.7057
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212.871
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11
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Darren
Manning (10)
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25.7972
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212.116
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12
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Townsend
Bell (2)
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25.8012
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212.083
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13
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Scott
Sharp (8)
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25.8265
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211.875
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14
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Scott
Dixon (1)
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