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Castroneves Fastest In Opening Round Of Practice At Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen, NY ? Helio Castroneves topped the speed charts in the opening round of IndyCar Series practice Friday on the historic 3.4-mile road course at Watkins Glen International. The Brazlian?s fastest lap was done at a speed of 134.622 miles per hour.

?The track changes made a big improvement and we now have more grip, which contributes to the faster times,? Castroneves said after completion of two rounds of practice. ?This morning we tried all kinds of crazy set-ups that didn?t seem to work. This afternoon we did much better.?

Castroneves?s practice speed topped the track qualifying record of 133.806 mph he set two years ago.

Scott Dixon, two-time winner at The Glen, took second fast time with a speed of 134.563 mph. He, too, credited the improved track surface for the increased speed. ?Our first session today was pretty miserable,? the New Zealander stated. ?And then we made way too many changes between sessions, but we seemed to have improved the car toward the end, allowing us to get that one fast lap. We hope to pick up more speed tomorrow (during qualifications).? In the two previous IndyCar races, Dixon qualified fourth.

As the winner of the 2005 and 2006 races, Dixon said he and his (Chip Ganassi) team have more confidence coming into the race. ?When you have a favorite track, everyone is more focused and happy to be here. It is such a competitive series and every little bit can make a big difference.?

Indianapolis 5 winners Buddy Rice, Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr. were the third through fifth fastest drivers.
Former champion Tony Kanaan had an up and down performance. At one point, he was the second fastest driver but he ended up sixth fastest.

Dan Wheldon, Kosuke Matsuura, Vitor Meira and Marco Andretti rounded out the top-ten fastest drivers.
Darren Manning and Danica Patrick were 11th and 12th fastest.

Sarah Fisher was 18th and the slowest driver on the track. The Ohio resident led all drivers with 47 laps completed while Franchitti had the fewest with 25 laps.

Qualifying for Sunday?s Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix will begin at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

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