Dare leads the way as practice resumes at Indy.

AJ Foyt might be breathing a bit easier after practice resumed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday [Wednesday] as his primary drivers took the top two spots on the speed chart.

Airton Dare led the field with a top lap of 39.3652secs [228.628mph] in the #14 Harrah's Dallara-Chevrolet, while Greg Ray took second at 39.4895secs [227.909mph] in the #11 car. The session was the first since Pole Day on 11 May, as the second day of qualifying was rained out on Sunday, and no track activity was scheduled on either of the previous two days. Neither Dare nor Ray proved fast enough to qualify on Pole Day and will join the group trying to earn a spot in the 33-car field on Bump Day this Sunday.

Billy Boat currently holds the slowest speed among the 24 qualified drivers, at 226.589mph in the #98 CURB Records Dallara-Chevrolet. Dare's best speed in one aborted qualifying attempt was 225.357mph, Ray's best a 225.916mph effort. Based on Wednesday's speeds, Ray and Dare appear to be in good shape to continue Foyt's streak of putting at least one car in the field every year at Indy since his debut as a driver in 1958.

"After Pole Day, we were a little bit disappointed because we've got a great team with great mechanics, and I have confidence in myself so we couldn't be that slow the way we were on Pole Day," Dare, IRL Rookie of the Year in 2000, said, "AJ went over the car and found some stuff that was not the way that he liked, and we fixed it and went out there, and everything was good again."

"Today, we went back to a practice motor, really nothing special," Ray added, "We've gone all over the gamut as far as set-ups, and the car was very comfortable. When we did our 227.7mph, I kind of pinpointed that we could to a 228.5 and, at the end of the day, that's what Airton did. I think we can have a good solid qualifying run in the high 27s or low-to-mid 28s."

Rookie Tony Kanaan was third fastest on the day at 39.5327secs [227.660mph] in the #21T Hollywood Mo Nunn Racing G-Force-Chevrolet. The Brazilian qualified fifth on Pole Day.

Kanaan's team-mate, 2001 IRL Rookie of the Year Felipe Giaffone, was fourth fastest at 39.5860secs [227.353mph] in the #21 Mo Nunn car, with defending IRL champion Sam Hornish Jr rounding out the top five at 39.6191secs [227.163mph] in the #4T Pennzoil Panther Dallara-Chevrolet. Both Giaffone and Hornish qualified for the field on Pole Day.

Shigeaki Hattori was third fastest among drivers not qualified for the field, at 39.6266secs [227.120mph] in the #12T EPSON Dallara-Infiniti, good for sixth overall.

Practice ended six minutes early when rookie George Mack tapped the outside wall exiting Turn Two. Mack climbed from the car without assistance, but was evaluated at the Clarian Emergency Medical Centre at the track before being released and cleared to drive by the IRL's Dr Henry Bock. Mack's accident was the only incident of the busiest day of practice so far, in which 38 drivers in 40 cars turned 2647 laps - nearly 1000 laps more than the next-busiest day last Friday.