Houston: Thursday practice notes

Ryan Justice leads first practice session at Houston

May 11 , 2006. Houston, Texas. Northwest Autosport driver Ryan Justice, of Portland, Oregon, topped the time sheets this afternoon in the first practice session for the Lone Star Grand Prix on the temporary street circuit around Reliant Stadium in Round Two of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Justice, a student at Loyola Marymount University, lapped the 1.69-mile circuit in a time of 1:10.653 (86.111 MPH).

Ron White, from Santa Clara, California, posted the second fast time in the only practice session of the day, with a time of 1:11.245 (85.395 MPH) in his Fulton Valley Farms Mazda. Matt Varsha, from Atlanta, Georgia, son of Speed Channel broadcaster Bob Varsha, set the third fastest time of 1:11.486 (85.108 MPH) in his Racers Edge Motorsports Mazda.

Thirty-eight drivers participated in the 45-minute session which was interrupted by two red flag periods, the first to remove the car of Charles Anti, which had backed into a wall on the circuit and the second at the end of the session for an incident between Michael Potekhen and Ron White.

The second practice session is scheduled for 11:30 AM to 12:15 PM Central Time on Friday, May 12th.

-smaz-