Dixon leads opening IndyCar practice in Texas

Scott Dixon fastest on Thursday night

Shawn Payne/IRL

Reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Scott Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, topped the speed chart in the first practice session – 90 minutes under the lights on the high-banked 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway oval – with a quick lap of 213.837 mph (24.4953 seconds) in preparation for the Bombardier Learjet 550k.

The session was run in wind that gusted to 35 mph. A record-tying 28 drivers for the IndyCar Series at the racetrack totaled 1,436 laps, with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Buddy Rice putting in a field-high 72.

Marco Andretti in the No. 26 Blockbuster car for Andretti Green Racing (213.465 mph; 24.5380 seconds) was second and John Andretti (212.956; 24.5966) in the No. 24 Roth Racing car was third. Dan Wheldon (212.932) in the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car was fourth and A.J. Foyt IV (212.164) fifth in the No. 2 Lilly Diabetes/Vision Racing car.

Ryan Briscoe, who recorded his first IndyCar Series victory at Milwaukee, followed Vision Racing’s Ed Carpenter (sixth at 212.164 mph). Andretti Green Racing’s Danica Patrick (212.109) was eighth and KV Racing Technology’s Will Power ninth (211.959). Power and Hideki Mutoh (211.952) are the only drivers in the top 10 to have not competed on the oval.

Quotes

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, fastest of the day): "Toward the end, when we were running over 50 laps on the tires, it started to get pretty sketchy and just the fact you're starting to run with more cars at that point. It was hard to predict how far away you needed to be from the other guys." (About what can be learned for the race practicing in windy conditions): "You're still trying to get grip on front-wheel balance and stuff like that. You have a much bigger window, so it's very hard to narrow things down. I think with most of our races these days, you need to roll off (the truck) pretty decent. You don't have too much time. You have a lack of tires almost. That why we sat (out of practice) for 40 minutes because you can't really run. You have to save enough tires – five sets of stickers – for the race. That leaves you with four sets and quite long sessions." (About racing with 28 cars at TMS): "It's going to be tough, especially if you make a mistake and a few people go by you. It's just a little easier when you're running up front, no worse than fourth or fifth back. If you get back in that pack, it might be a little more difficult, but the great thing about this place is that you can pass. If you have a good car and have a bad pit stop and you drop back to 10th or 15th, you should be able to make your way through. It's going to be, especially if the wind is like this and guys that haven't really raced here before, you just hope they give a little bit more room then normal."

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Blockbuster Dallara/Honda/Firestone, second-fastest of the day): "The wind was interesting. Even when we were running on our own, we were treating it like we were in traffic because of the wind. If you can get the car good in the wind, then it won't be bad in traffic. We ended up working on our racecar the whole time. We had ideal conditions with the car so that's why we were able to put it near the top. I think we're a couple of changes away from our race car yet."

JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 24 Roth Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, third-fastest of the day): "(Time sheets) don't always tell a story, but for us it's a good day. I've been around here in a stock car a lot of times, of course it's a little bit quicker in an IndyCar (Series car). It's a lot of fun and a new challenge. This wind is challenging too. We worked a lot on it and we learned a lot. I learned a lot, for sure." (About the windy conditions): "It was terrible. For me, I could feel it. Ironically, you could feel it more the slower you went."

DAN WHELDON (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, fourth-fastest of the day): "I think we're starting a bit like we did at Milwaukee to be honest. My line was good tonight in the Polaroid car, and I think the Target team will be bringing another competitive package here to race with this weekend. It was very windy here tonight as well so we'll keep an eye on weather conditions heading into race day."

A.J. FOYT IV (No. 2 Lilly Diabetes/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, fifth-fastest of the day): "The wind is tricky. The car is handling totally different in each corner of the racetrack. I’m pretty happy with how we unloaded the car; it seems to be pretty quick. I think we have a good baseline and we’ll look at it overnight and see what we have to do."

RYAN BRISCOE (No. 6 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone): ''Today was a good start to the weekend for the No. 6 Team Penske crew. It was really windy out there, which made things a bit challenging at the beginning when we didn't quite know how it would affect the car. Thankfully, it really didn't seem to make things too difficult for us. We were working on our race set-up and were really happy with how the car was working in traffic. I'm looking forward to coming back out tomorrow to continue working on making it two in a row for the No. 6 car.'' HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone): "It was really windy out there tonight, so we couldn't get as much done as we would've liked. We were able to make some progress with the Team Penske car, though, and I think we're headed in the right direction. Hopefully, it won't be as windy tomorrow, so we can get some solid practice in before qualifying."

ORIOL SERVIA (No. 5 KV Racing Technology Dallara/Honda/Firestone): "These were very special conditions on a very different track. Although it looks the same as Homestead and Kansas it is bumpier. The wind today made it difficult for everyone to deal with, but I think KV Racing Technology is getting a little closer. We keep catching up and we are a little closer than last time we were at a mile and half track. We still have a way to go to get to the front, but we have a better base point to start from tomorrow."

WILL POWER (No. 8 Aussie Vineyards-Team Australia Dallara/Honda/Firestone): "That was a good session for KVRT Aussie Vineyards – Team Australia. We did a lot of race setups, which will help. I love the track, it’s good fun and I think the race is going to be real interesting. We just need to keep making good progress over the next couple of sessions and see if we can get a good race car."

ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Menards/Vision Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone): "Typical Texas. It's really hard to get more speed out of the car than you come here with. It seems like everyone's car is changing quite a bit from new tires to old tires, so the pace may slow down quite a bit. I'm not sure if the racing going to be quite like it has been in the past because the tires seem to be falling off (wearing) more than normally. We'll try to make it better tomorrow but I'm not sure how much more we'll be able to improve from today."

DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone): "The Motorola car was fast tonight when we were not in traffic, but the minute we were in traffic, we got slow. Unfortunately, we did not have an opportunity to spend a great deal of time in traffic, so hopefully we will get a better feel tomorrow afternoon during the practice sessions."

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