IRL: Indy 500: Day four summary

Kanaan's Lap Tops Speed Charts On Day 4 At Indy

INDIANAPOLIS, Wednesday, May 12, 2004 -- Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon race hard. On May 12, the Andretti Green Racing teammates practiced hard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Kanaan set the standard in practice for the 88th Indianapolis 500 with a fast lap of 222.668 mph (40.4189 seconds) just before 1 p.m. (EDT) in the No.11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone on a humid and breezy day.

Wheldon, who started from the pole in the past two IRL IndyCar® Series races, was second quick with a lap of 221.953 mph (40.5491 seconds) near the end of "Happy Hour" at the historic 2.5-mile oval. They combined for 84 laps Nine of the 29 car-driver combinations topped 220 mph in the session, and Kanaan was the fourth speed king in as many practice days. There were no incidents as drivers totaled 1,567 laps. Rookie Marty Roth, looking for speed in his No. 25 Roth Racing Dallara/Toyota/Firestone, recorded the most laps with 128 -- the high for the month .

Kanaan's fast lap, however, was compliments of a tow from Bruno Junqueira, but overall he's content with his package.

"I wish I could have done that by myself, but it's not the reality," said Kanaan, who has one victory and a two other top-10 finishes in the three IndyCar Series races. "I'm just happy because I'm starting to like the way the Team 7-Eleven car feels. But today is not the important day. I can love my car today and hate it tomorrow. That is what this place can do to you. We'll get back to it (May 13), be patient and just think about what changes we want to make as we get closer to (Pole Qualifying Day) Saturday."

<pre> FASTEST SPEEDS OF DAY Pos. Car Name C/E/T Speed 1 11 Tony Kanaan D/H/F 222.668 mph 2 26 Dan Wheldon D/H/F 221.953 mph 3 16 Roger Yasukawa G/H/F 221.248 mph 4 5 Adrian Fernandez G/T/F 221.195 mph 5 1 Scott Dixon G/T/F 220.941 mph

</pre> There were 29 cars on the track today. A total of 56 cars are now at the Speedway, and 48 have passed technical inspection. There were 27 drivers on the track. Drivers completed 1,567 laps. There were 10 caution periods for a total of 1 hour, 7 minutes.

THURSDAY'S SCHEDULE (all times local):
9 a.m. Public Gates Open
11 a.m.-6 p.m. IndyCar Series Practice
6 p.m. Track Closes

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