Indy Fast Friday Practice 5:00 Report

Bell fastest without tow

The no-chance-of-rain rain has come and gone, stopping practice here at IMS. Practice has restarted for what will be (weather permitting) a full "happy hour" of practice. However, many of the teams have already gone back to the garage.

Before the rain came, Marco jumped to the top of the leader board by less than 2/100 of a second over team mate Townsend Bell. Turning to the real numbers — the no-tow-assisted numbers — Townsend Bell still tops the charts. Will Power, Carlos Munoz, Simon Pagenaud, Gabby Chavez, Marco Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya were all over 230 mph. The top 30 cars are all within a second of Townsend Bell, with only Alex Tagliani, Buddy Lazier and Spencer Pigot having times more than 1 second slower.

Tomorrow, the teams have early practice sessions starting at 8:00 am. Qualification starts at 11:00.

As far as qualification, IMS has tried to figure out how to stretch qualifying for 33 spots, when you have 33 cars, into a 2-day event. What they've come up with is this — tomorrow everyone runs. Based on your time on Saturday, you either get a ticket for the Fast 9 qualification contest on Sunday, or the "Group 1" contest for positions 10-33. The fun for Group 1 starts at 2:45 on Sunday, concluding at 4:45. Fast Nine starts at 5:00 pm, and goes until 5:45.

— Tim Wohlford and Lucille Dust, reporting from Indy