Danica tops practice as rain hits

UPDATE Danica Patrick led 26 drivers in an IndyCar Series Open Test at Iowa Speedway as preparations began for Sunday’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer.

Patrick lapped the 7/8-mile oval in 17.4612 seconds, 184.317 mph in the No. 7 Motorola entry. Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe were second and third with fast laps of 183.419 mph and 183.291 mph, respectively.

Patrick’s rookie teammate, Hideki Mutoh, was fourth, while IndyCar Series points leader Scott Dixon, last year’s polesitter at Iowa, was fifth.

The drivers combined for 1,380 laps in two hours of testing. A second two-hour session scheduled for late afternoon was cancelled due to a mid-afternoon rain storm.

Milka Duno was uninjured in the only accident of the day. Duno’s No. 23 car spun in Turn 2 and made moderate contact with the SAFER Barrier. Duno’s team was forced to pull out its backup car due to the incident.

Additional practice and PEAK Motor Oil Pole Qualifying for the Iowa Corn Indy 250 are scheduled for Saturday.

06/20/08

Heavy rain pounds Iowa Speedway

Dana Garrett/IRL

Like flooded Iowa needed more rain! Rains soaked the 0.894-mile track after two hours of testing for this weekend’s Iowa Corn Indy 250 and that reduced track time from 4 hours to two hours Friday as the IndyCars took their first laps around the short oval. Andretti Green's Danica Patrick was fastest followed by the Penske duo of Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe.

Results

Quotes

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Motorola, fastest): “I think that anybody watching could see we were running a more traditional racing line around the track instead of around the bottom. I was able to drive on the bottom for some of the track when I did a sticker (tire) run at the end, but I couldn't do it the whole way around. The racing is going to be a lot more exciting with a lot more passing and just better, in general, than last year." (What kind of passing do you think we'll see?): "I think it will be easier to pass cars that aren't very good. Last year, everyone was on the bottom, and the trick was you had to go around the top to pass. It seems like it may be more like Richmond, where you have a more traditional line. Everyone still wants to go to the bottom, but you are running more against the wall on the straight. That gives you the opportunity to go mor e underneath. It will make that part a lot better. It will still be difficult to pass, because you can't stick your nose underneath. It won't be like a mile-and-a-half, but it will be a lot easier than last year."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske, third): “Despite having only one session this afternoon, I think we were able to learn a lot. We made some solid progress with the race setup of the Team Penske car, and I think today was an encouraging start to the weekend. It's my first time running at Iowa Speedway, and so far I'm having a great time. It's a challenging track, and I'm really enjoying the layout of the circuit."

HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske, second): “We were working on the basics of setting the car up – fixing little problems here and problems there. We were fixing little by little to keep the consistency, and we seemed to have that. Obviously Ryan (Briscoe) was working on different things, some race setup, and we’re very optimistic for both cars. It’s so tight that we’re looking for thousandths of a second, and everything you change in the car, it makes a difference. It shows on the lap time." (About tires) “I think we have more grip. Firestone seemed to do a good job with the tires here. I have not tried new tires after a few laps, but it seems to be holding pretty good, and hopefully the weather will cooperate as well Sunday and we won’t have any cold tire issues or anything like that." (About six consecutive race weekends) “It&rs quo;s going to be grueling. It’s going to be tough on everyone, especially on the guys. But it’s the same for everyone. I’m prepared, and Team Penske is prepared. It’s similar to Indy. You spend a month in Indy and then on to Milwaukee and Texas. It wasn’t six weekends, but it felt like it." (About the rain) “When it rains, it always cleans a little bit of track. But it is what it is. We’ve had this situation many times before. The good news is everybody was able to spend some time on the racetrack and understand what it is we need to do."

HIDEKI MUTOH (No. 27 Formula Dream, fourth): “Today was a very productive day for the Formula Dream team. We were able to try most of the things we wanted to do before it started to rain. It would’ve been better if we had more time on the track, but we still have two practice sessions tomorrow, so I am confident that we will be able to do well in qualifying."

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing, fifth): “We didn’t run as many laps as the others before the rain came today. In the amount of time we had today on track in the Commit car, our focus was on balancing. Since the last time we were here, there is definitely less grip and a few more bumps to negotiate."