Dixon tops opening IndyCar practice in Texas

Scott Dixon, the 2008 race winner at Texas Motor Speedway, topped the speed chart in the afternoon practice session preceding PEAK Performance Pole Award qualifications for the Firestone 550K.

Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, had a quick lap of 216.387 mph (24.2066 seconds) on the 1.5-mile oval. Ryan Briscoe in the No. 6 Team Penske car was second (216.098 mph).

The 26 cars were separated by 0.4222 of a second. Will Power (215.887) was third and KV Racing Technology's E.J. Viso was fourth (215.107). Dan Wheldon, the Indy 500 runner-up, was fifth quick (215.033).

A surprise of sorts was Milka Duno in sixth (214.727 mph) in the No. 18 CITGO car for Dale Coyne Racing.

In three races at Texas, Duno has advanced her starting position twice (eight places in 2008 and 10 in '09).

Results

Rank No Name Laps Gap Diff Best Lap Time Best Lap Speed
1 9 Scott Dixon 45 –.—- –.—- 0:24.2066 216.387 mph
2 6 Ryan Briscoe 52 0.0324 0.0324 0:24.2390 216.098 mph
3 12 Will Power 48 0.0237 0.0561 0:24.2627 215.887 mph
4 8 EJ Viso 44 0.0880 0.1441 0:24.3507 215.107 mph
5 4 Dan Wheldon 45 0.0084 0.1525 0:24.3591 215.033 mph
6 18 Milka Duno 34 0.0347 0.1872 0:24.3938 214.727 mph
7 26 Marco Andretti 41 0.0044 0.1916 0:24.3982 214.688 mph
8 11 Tony Kanaan 29 0.0102 0.2018 0:24.4084 214.598 mph
9 10 Dario Franchitti 35 0.0098 0.2116 0:24.4182 214.512 mph
10 3 Helio Castroneves 47 0.0192 0.2308 0:24.4374 214.344 mph
11 19 Alex Lloyd 40 0.0013 0.2321 0:24.4387 214.332 mph
12 77 Alex Tagliani 34 0.0050 0.2371 0:24.4437 214.288 mph
13 22 Justin Wilson 38 0.0245 0.2616 0:24.4682 214.074 mph
14 36 Bertrand Baguette 44 0.0090 0.2706 0:24.4772 213.995 mph
15 7 Danica Patrick 56 0.0031 0.2737 0:24.4803 213.968 mph
16 67 Sarah Fisher 45 0.0110 0.2847 0:24.4913 213.872 mph
17 14 Vitor Meira 44 0.0110 0.2957 0:24.5023 213.776 mph
18 32 Mario Moraes 36 0.0304 0.3261 0:24.5327 213.511 mph
19 06 Hideki Mutoh 48 0.0168 0.3429 0:24.5495 213.365 mph
20 24 Tomas Scheckter 46 0.0018 0.3447 0:24.5513 213.349 mph
21 37 Ryan Hunter-Reay 42 0.0068 0.3515 0:24.5581 213.29 mph
22 2 Raphael Matos 35 0.0378 0.3893 0:24.5959 212.962 mph
23 66 Jay Howard 35 0.0037 0.3930 0:24.5996 212.93 mph
24 5 Takuma Sato 58 0.0013 0.3943 0:24.6009 212.919 mph
25 78 Simona de Silvestro 44 0.0231 0.4174 0:24.6240 212.719 mph
26 34 Mario Romancini 37 0.0048 0.4222 0:24.6288 212.678 mph