Balancing act for Brack and Papis.

Amidst the controversy and potential courtroom arguments surrounding the Tenneco Grand Prix of Detroit, Team Rahal drivers Kenny Brack and Max Papis did as best they could in attempting to find the correct balance for Sunday's race, if it takes place.

A hot and humid day with temps in the 90s greeted the competitors at Belle Isle. The morning session was delayed for Team Rahal when Ford asked its team's to delay going on track as the Cosworth engineers sorted out a late rule change by CART which added a 3/4 inch spacing under the pop-off valve. When the Team Rahal cars took the track Kenny Brack posted the eighth fastest lap at 108.666 mph while Max Papis was 17th at 103.169 mph.

The afternoon session saw both Team Rahal cars working on the balance. Brack posted a fast lap of 111.074 mph which was 15th fastest on the day while Papis posted the 23rd fastest lap at 109.320 mph on a day dominated by petty bickering and sniping over the rushed introduction of the 3/4 inch spacer designed to prevent airflow having an influence on the amount of boost used by the CART teams.

Currebnt CART points leader Brack finished the day with a best lap of 1 minute 16.036-seconds compared to Dario Franchitti's chart topping mark of 1 minute 14.838-seconds. The Swede was well aware of the need for more pace after completeing what he thought to be a good lap. "We spent the day working on the balance of the car. I thought that last lap we did was pretty good but since we are only 15th it obviously wasn't that a good lap. So will we will go back and see where we have the balance and where we can make some improvements for tomorrow and just figure out what corners we need to be faster through. I am confident that we will get things sorted out and be stronger tomorrow."

"It was kind of a strange day since we lost some of the first session which gave some of the other teams a bit of a head start on us," said Papis whose best speed translated into a time of 1 minute 17.256-seconds, more than two seconds behind Friday pace-setter Franchitti. "I felt we have improved the car over the course of the day. The Miller Lite car it is very consistent even on used tires. Unfortunately the one set of new tyres I put on I brushed the wall and I couldn't finish the lap. So we will sit down and talk about the car and make some changes and check it out tomorrow."