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Dixon's TGR teammate, Dan Wheldon, coming up to speed; Wheldon has 13 career IndyCar Series wins to date(9 w/Andretti-Green and 4 w/Target-Ganassi)

1st lap, 22.991 sec
2nd lap slower, so his 1st lap places him provisionally P4

Scott Sharp now preparing for his qualifying run; he is considered to be the "Iron Man" of the IRL, having competed in every season of the IRL's existence

1st lap, 23.034, provisionally top-10
2nd lap slower; slots into P7 provisionally

provisional top-5 at the moment.............
Dixon, Franchitti, Kanaan, Wheldon, Andretti

Ed Carpenter out on-track...........
1st lap, 23.257 sec
2nd lap slower, provisionally P9

Danica Patrick next on the qualifying list; Patrick has been very fast so far in the weekend(top-5's in each session; 2nd-fastest on the combined charts)

1st lap, 23.009 sec, provisionally P5
2nd lap, 23.018 sec, sits provisionally P5

Next up, Kosuke Matsuura; word in the IndyCar paddock is that Matsuura potentially is driving for his career, so he needs to pedal very, very fast this weekend.........

1st lap, 23.251 sec
2nd lap, 23.243 sec, provisionally P10

the ABC Supply Co., car of Darren Manning next to qualify; Manning is a rarity in the series, as his team, A.J. Foyt Racing is a one-car team fighting agst. all the multi-car teams

1st lap, 23.482 sec, provisionally shotgun on the field
1nd lap, 23.434 sec, currently shotgun on the field

Vitor Meira next to qualify...............

1st lap, 23.349 sec, ran very low on the track
2nd lap, 23.303 sec, provisionally P12

Dixon and Franchitti still provisionally in row 1.............

Three drivers left to qualify; Scheckter, Hornish and Castroneves

Scheckter's qual. run..................
1st lap, 23.129 sec, prov. P10
2nd lap, 23.155 sec, remains prov. P10

Hornish's qual. run.....................
1st lap, 23.007 sec; knocks Patrick from P5
2nd lap, 22.982 sec; moves up to P4 provisionally

Castroneves' qual. run................
has not made a run; series rules give a 20-minute period to make a run.....

Provisional top-5 at the moment..............
Dixon, Franchitti, Kanaan, Hornish and Wheldon

the #3 car is going through tech inspection at the moment..........

Team Penske crew members are pushing the #3 onto pitlane; they have started the engine and preparing for qualifying..................

It would appear that, unless Castroneves can find 3/10th's of a second from his fastest practice time, Dixon has won the pole for Saturday's race.......

Clouds now covering the track; track temps. are still where they were when qualifying began.................

Castroneves now in line for qualifying...............
qual. lap, 23.007 sec, qualifies 6th(outside of row 3)

Qualifying has now ended; Scott Dixon will start Saturday's Firestone Indy 200 from the pole!

Firestone Indy 200 Starting Grid.......................

1st} Scott Dixon, #9 Energizer Lithium.................................204.414 mph
2nd} Dario Franchitti, #27 Canadian Club.............................203.873 mph

3rd} Tony Kanaan, #11 Team 7-11......................................203.772 mph
4th} Sam Hornish, Jr., #6 Team Penske...............................203.642 mph

5th} Dan Wheldon, #9 Target..............................................203.557 mph
6th} Helio Castroneves, #3 Team Penske.............................203.418 mph

7th} Danica Patrick, #7 Motorola.........................................203.399 mph
8th} Marco Andretti, #26 NYSE Group..................................203.392 mph

9th} Jeff Simmons, #17 Ethanol..........................................203.309 mph
10th} Scott Sharp, #8 Patron Tequila...................................203.182 mph

11th} A.J. Foyt, IV, #22 Indy Vision on Joost........................202.377 mph
12th} Tomas Scheckter, #2 Indy Vision on Joost...................202.340 mph

13th} Kosuke Matsuura, #55 Panasonic/Autobacs.................201.348 mph
14th} Ed Carpenter, #20 Hitachi Power Tools.......................201.268 mph

15th} Vitor Meira, #4 Delphi...............................................200.868 mph
16th} Buddy Rice, #15 RollCoater/Racing for Kids................200.739 mph

17th} Sarah Fisher, #5 AAMCO Transmissions.....................200.636 mph
18th} Darren Manning, #14 ABC Supply Co.........................199.703 mph

Showers are passing through the area, so the race start is on hold until they get the track dry; fans are scurring under the grandstands and spotters are scrambling from their topside perches to find some cover..........expect at least a 45-minute delay for track drying.

Race control reporting that the showers have virtually stopped; expecting that it will take about an hour to dry the concrete track surface, so expect the start to be after 9:15 pm...................

Quote of the day so far..................
"I'm as dry as the AFLAC duck right now!!"--ESPN pit reporter Jack Arute, a/k/a "the Root"

Bad news, folks..........it's raining again, according to the IMS Radio Network..........