Danica Patrick fastest lap time at Indy Qualifying

[Velcro]

<div style="font-size:10px;">&nbsp;</div><div class="source">By John Oreovicz</div><div class="source">Special to ESPN.com</div><div style="font-size:10px;">&nbsp;</div><!-- template inline --><p>INDIANAPOLIS &#150; Three days into practice for the 89th Indianapolis  

500, teams had begun developing their qualifying setups, giving a  

glimpse of what the magic number might be for Pole Day Saturday.</p><p></p><p>On Thursday, speeds again climbed into the 227-mph bracket at Indianapolis  

Motor Speedway, led by rapid rookie Danica Patrick in her Rahal  

Letterman Racing Panoz-Honda.</p><p></p><p>Danica's 227.633-mph lap edged the best by defending IndyCar Series champion  

Tony Kanaan, who wrangled 227.525 mph out of his Andretti Green  

Racing Dallara-Honda.</p><p></p><p><table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 align=right><tr><td width=5 rowspan=2><spacer type=block width=5 height=1></td><td width=195><img src="http://espn-att.starwave.com/media/rpm/2005/0513/photo/a_patrick_i.jpg" height=262 width=195 alt="Danica Patrick" border=0 vspace=4></td></tr><tr><td width=195 style="padding-bottom: 3px; line-height: 13px;"><font face="verdana, arial, geneva" size=1 color=#666666><b>Danica Patrick topped the speed charts through the first three days of Indy practice.</b></font></td></tr></table></p><p></p><p>Kosuke Matsuura, Dan Wheldon and Vitor Meira also broke the 227-mph barrier, while Dario Franchitti led four drivers in the 226-mph bracket. The common denominator among the top seven drivers was Honda power.</p><p></p><p>"We went in the right direction the whole time, which doesn't always  

happen, and I'm happy with the car," Patrick said. "I told them to  

take notes on how the car came back to the garage."</p><p></p><p>Special qualifying engines from Honda, Toyota and Chevrolet could  

produce 228-mph laps on "Fast Friday," the final day of practice  

before Pole Day. But most observers reckon that when the cars run  

alone for Indy's traditional four-lap qualifying runs, the pole speed  

likely will be in the 226-mph range.</p><p></p><p>If so, that number would be up 4 mph from last year, when Buddy Rice  

averaged 222.024 mph to win the Indy pole in the first race for IRL  

cars using a downsized 3-liter engine. The question is, how much of  

that increase is attributable to the rapid pace of engine and chassis  

development in the IndyCar Series and how much is due to the fresh  

new pavement on the IMS oval?</p><p></p><p>When the track was repaved in 1996, speeds jumped about 4.5 mph from  

the year before even though the field was using '95 vintage  

equipment. But because a tire war then existed between Goodyear and  

Firestone, it was impossible to determine how much the new pavement  

contributed to the track records Arie Luyendyk set that year.</p><p></p><p>Scott Sharp is the only driver entered in this year's race who  

competed at Indy in the mid-90s. He said pinpointing why the  

field is so much faster this year is difficult.</p><p></p><p>"It's hard to tell &#150; probably 50-50 between the track and faster  

cars," offered Sharp, the 2001 Indy pole winner who ran 226.505 mph Thursday in the Fernandez Racing Panoz-Honda. "It's the first track we've  

returned to in 2005 using the 3-liter engines, but the track is  

definitely a big factor."</p><p></p><p>One thing is certain: The gains aren't coming from the tires because Firestone brought the same tire it successfully used at Indy in 2004.</p><p></p><p>"My engineers could probably pinpoint it exactly, but I'd say it's  

about one-third engine, one-third chassis and one-third track," said Scott Roembke, Rahal Letterman Racing chief operating officer. "The track has more  

grip, so we're able to take off downforce. The engines are definitely  

making more horsepower, and we've had another year working with the  

cars and finding ways to take off downforce and drag. It all adds up."</p><p></p><p>Last year, the IndyCar Series staged two races at Texas Motor Speedway, and when  

compared, it demonstrates just how fast series engine  

manufacturers are finding power. The pole speed was 209.609 mph for  

the June race at Texas, but by October, that number jumped to  

215.996 mph, a gain mostly attributable to horsepower increases.

However, it's unrealistic to compare that 6-mph jump to Indianapolis  

because Texas is almost all about sheer power whereas Indy requires  

more handling finesse.</p><p></p><p>Kanaan's 223.224-mph lap run in the cool conditions of the Pole  

Day morning practice was the fastest run at Indy in 2004 and 1.2  

mph faster than Rice averaged during his pole-winning run several hours  

later. With cooler conditions expected in Indianapolis for the  

weekend, will the same thing happen?</p><p></p><p>"You lose grip here when it gets hotter, but Saturday it's going to  

be fairly cold, very similar to what we've got here today," said

Scott Dixon, who reached 226.183 mph Thursday in the Ganassi Racing  

Panoz-Toyota. "I think everyone will put in a better engine and just  

work on qualifying more tomorrow. I'll do some more new-tire runs,  

trim it out a bit more and get a better balance."</p><p></p><p>Of course, the fact that a car can make as many as three qualifying runs  

per day means all competitors have the opportunity to fine-tune the  

cars more than in years past. The new qualifying procedures  

being introduced for 2005 certainly have added to the strategic quandaries that come with Pole Day.</p><p></p><p>"The whole thing has four or five variables, some of which weren't  

here before," Penske Racing President Tim Cindric said. "Egos  

always get involved in this game, and it's all about risk and reward."</p><p></p><p><i>John Oreovicz covers open-wheel racing for National Speed Sport News and ESPN.com.</i></p><br><br><!--contentMatchDMM= auto--><!--keywordDMM= null--><!--typeDMM= Article--><!--partnerTagDMM= espn_auto_ctxt-->

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[bigbull]

Came in a dissapointing 4th in qualifying today....Almost spun out on her first lap which reduced her 10 lap average....She still has a fast car and might make a run in two weeks

[Markeymark]

Indy racing is a dinosaur. The big money is in NASCAR now.

[Velcro]

Nascar doesn't have Danica Patrick... as long as she is in indy racing, i'm watching.