Dario Franchitti was fastest during final practice for Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Photo by Jim Haines
Dario Franchitti hopes Miller Lite Carb Day is again a good indication of Indianapolis 500 Race Day.
Franchitti, who will start the 96th Indianapolis 500 from the inside of the sixth row, topped the speed chart for the final practice session, the final opportunity for teams to fine-tune their cars before Race Day.
Franchitti, driving the No. 50 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, topped the speed chart with a quick lap of 222.360 mph with his teammate Scott Dixon (222.274 mph) and Andretti Autosport’s Marco Andretti (221.702 mph) right behind. Franchitti led the final practice in 2010 before winning the race.
“The car is real good,” said Franchitti. “We’ve got a good set-up for Race Day. It would have been nice to have had that motor for qualifying.
“The forecast has been running in the high 90s. We’ve known that for weeks, so we know what we’re going to be setting up for. It’s definitely going to be slippery. We’ll deal with that (heat) on Sunday, but it’s going to be hard work behind the wheel in those conditions; hard for the pit crews to keep their focus in that heat. It’ll be a hot day.”
Similarly, Scott Dixon hopes that winning the IZOD Indy 500 Pit Stop Competition could be a good omen for him.
Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, defeated Oriol Servia of Panther/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in the championship round. His pit crew received the $50,000 first prize for its speed and accuracy.
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“There’s still a lot of unknowns,” said Dixon. “Previously we knew what to expect because we knew everybody had the same stuff. I think we are expecting a lot of unknowns. I think our car seems good. I think we can expect to see a very tight race with a lot of passing.
“For us, (practice) was just concentrating on the car and making sure it feels decent in traffic and making sure the systems work. It’s nice to come out of the warm-up (Carb Day) with confidence and know that it’s a car you feel happy with. The speeds are one thing, and there are big holes. I was hanging in the back of the pack quite a bit just to get in dirty air and see how the car is. I was pretty happy – a lot happier than we were in that first week.”
Also on Miller Lite Carb Day, Esteban Guerrieri overtook race leader Tristan Vautier and Gustavo Yacaman in Turn 1 on Lap 38 and went on to win the Firestone Freedom 100.
A close final two laps were expected, but the No. 4 Belardi Auto Racing car driven by Jorge Goncalvez made moderate contact with the Turn 2 wall on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Lap 39, bringing out the yellow flag. He was checked at the infield care center and cleared.
Guerrieri, winning for the second time this season, pumped his fist as the No. 11 Pistas Argentinas/Sam Schmidt Motorsports with Curb-Agajanian car crossed under the checkered flag. It was the fourth consecutive year that a Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver won the race.
Carlos Munoz, who got around Vautier and Yacaman before the caution finished second with Vautier settling for third place.
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