IRL: Watkins Glen: Scott Sharp Friday report

Practice at The Glen Leaves Sharp Pleased

Scott Sharp ended today's opening practice activities for the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix pleased with the progress made on the #8 Delphi machine. Sharp was shown 13th on the speed charts after electing to conserve tires today, and felt the team made steady progress in his return to the Panoz chassis this weekend.

Sharp, who holds two Trans-Am victories and numerous SCCA amateur wins at The Glen, finished ninth in the inaugural race last year. Marlboro Pole Qualifying featuring the Firestone Fast Six will be held tomorrow.

Scott Sharp - #8 Delphi Panoz/Honda/Firestone:
"It was a pretty good day for the Delphi team. We started with an all-new setup this morning and had to work through that a bit. We chose not to run as many new sets of stickers as probably everyone else in the field. We saved them to try to keep them for the race and for tomorrow morning. We made some good improvements with the car in the second session on really old tires and carrying a bit of fuel. Any time you go faster with old tires, I think you are making some good progress. We'll see where we are at tomorrow. I think we will continue to make progress and, hopefully, tighten up on the front guys. If we get the car working a little better, we stand a chance to do pretty well."

-www.delphifernandezracing.net