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INDY 500: Briscoe Leads Thursday Practice
Written by: Jeff Olson
Senior writer, RACER Magazine   http://www.racer.com/speedtv
05/15/2008 - 06:44 PM
Indianapolis, Ind.
 
Briscoe and the Penske team led the way on a busy Thursday at the Speedway. (LAT photo) ยป More Photos

A break in the weather Thursday led to a busy day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Ryan Briscoe led the way as drivers and teams took advantage of the first full practice session in more than a week, recording in one day nearly two-thirds of the laps they had previously recorded this month.

Briscoe was clocked at 223.708 mph in the No. 6 Team Penske Dallara-Honda, a shade faster than his teammate, Helio Castroneves. It was the first time in a week that someone other than the Target Chip Ganassi drivers had been atop the speed charts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It also marked the first time that the 11 drivers already in the field were able to run for extended periods alongside the drivers who haven’t qualified.

“A lot of guys are running full race preparation now, as we are,” Briscoe said. “We try to be a little careful around the guys who aren’t qualified, because you never know. They might be doing a low-fuel run and could run out of fuel or something like that. When you start running close, you’re looking more for the guys who are already qualified, but we’re able to run pretty confidently around the guys who aren’t.”

Thirty-five cars were on the track Thursday, recording 2,628 laps during the six-hour session. That’s 61 percent of the total laps turned between May 4 and Wednesday.

“I’m not sure we got everything we needed, but we certainly went through a lot of tests,” said Tomas Scheckter, who was among the top five Thursday. “We got some laps in and will look at it tonight and see. Maybe we’ll come out with a better car tomorrow.”

Among others showing speed Thursday was pole winner Scott Dixon, who has been strong
throughout the month and had the third-best lap of the day at 223.192 mph in the No. 9 Ganassi Dallara-Honda. Fourth-fastest was Andretti Green’s Tony Kanaan, followed by Luczo Dragon’s Scheckter.

Will Power showed some of the best speed of the month by a transitioning Champ Car team, posting the sixth-quickest lap of the day in the No. 8 KV Racing Technology Dallara-Honda. “It’s been interesting so far,” Power said of his first Indy 500. “It was good for us to get so much running time. We need it on the ovals. To finish the race would mean a lot to me. I’ve enjoyed every moment of it so far.”

Most everyone eschewed qualifying simulations Thursday for long, full-tank stints. Dan Wheldon was the busiest of the bunch, circling the 2.5-mile track 109 times. Others who put in more than 250 miles included John Andretti, who has showed speed in the No. 24 Roth Racing Dallara-Honda, and AGR teammates Hideki Mutoh and Marco Andretti.

“We had a tough day today, but you have those days at the Speedway,” Marco Andretti said. “We had the same balance problem all day today, no matter what we seemed to throw at it. We have to hit the books tonight and work as a team to see what we can do to make the car handle a bit better.”

The session was surprisingly clean, considering the amount of traffic and the cold temperature. Nobody spun, and only six cautions were needed in six hours – three of them for debris, two for track inspections and one for light rain.

Practice resumes Friday at noon ET, the final day before Saturday’s busy qualifying session, in which the remaining 22 positions on the starting grid will be filled. Only the first 11 positions have been filled so far.
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