Kanaan, Castroneves Fastest as IndyCar Series Wraps Up Two-Day Test at Daytona

Overall, Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan had the fastest speed of the entire two-day session with a speed of 135.549

Photo courtsey: daytona500.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The IndyCar Series wrapped up a two-day preseason test session at historic Daytona International Speedway on Thursday.

Seventeen IndyCar Series teams have been navigating the twists and turns of the 2.72-mile road course at the "The World Center of Racing" for the last two days as they prepare for the five road/street course events on the 2007 IndyCar Series schedule.

Even though the IndyCar Series doesn't hold a race at Daytona International Speedway, drivers say they can pull information from the course and utilize it in their future setups.

"Can we learn anything? Yeah, we can," said Andretti Green Racing's Dario Franchitti. "In a perfect world, we would go run down the streets of St. Pete or up at Mid-Ohio just now. I think that's under snow so that could be a problem.

"But we sort of look at a corner and say yeah, this is similar to this type of corner. We try to get a general amount of information first of all and then try to get a specific corner to corner."

On Wednesday, Penske Racing's Helio Castroneves was fastest in both sessions.

In the two-hour morning session, he posted a speed 134.852 mph. In the afternoon session, which was shortened by rain shortly before 3:00 PM, Castroneves turned the fast lap of 135.335.

Overall, Andretti Green Racing's Tony Kanaan had the fastest speed of the entire two-day session with a speed of 135.549.

"At the end of the day we were able to test quite well," Castroneves said. “We tried a lot of things that usually take a long time. Both Sam (Hornish Jr.) and I were trying to discuss everything so it was a great and productive test for teammates."

Next up:

Stock cars are up next on the docket at Daytona International Speedway.

The stock portion of Speedweeks 2007 will kick off with the Budweiser Shootout and ARCA 200 on Saturday, Feb. 10th.

Morning Speeds:

1. Helio Castroneves, 134.852 mph

2. Sam Hornish Jr., 134.566

3. Dan Wheldon, 134.438

4. Tony Kanaan, 134.299

5. Scott Sharp, 133.456

6. Marco Andretti, 132.859

7. Dario Franchitti, 132.810

8. Vitor Meira, 132.726

9. Jeff Simmons, 132.669

10. Scott Dixon, 132.570

11. Darren Manning, 132.124

12. Kosuke Matsuura, 131.706

13. Tomas Scheckter, 131.706

14. Buddy Rice, 131.199

15. Ed Carpenter, 130.843

16. Danica Patrick, 130.221

17. AJ Foyt IV, 130.143

Afternoon speeds

1. Helio Castroneves, 135.335 mph

2. Tony Kanaan, 134.145

3. Scott Dixon, 134.120

4. Dan Wheldon, 134.086

5. Marco Andretti, 133.887

6. Sam Hornish Jr., 133.575

7. Dario Franchitti, 133.495

8. Jeff Simmons, 133.260

9. AJ Foyt IV, 132.821

10. Tomas Scheckter, 132.663

11. Kosuke Matsuura, 132.404

12. Vitor Meira, 132.284

13. Buddy Rice, 131.766

14. Danica Patrick, 131.645

15. Darren Manning, 130.624

16. Ed Carpenter, 130.593

Overall Speeds (counting all sessions, all days)

1. Tony Kanaan, 135.549

2. Helio Castroneves, 135.335

3. Dan Wheldon, 135.226

4. Dario Franchitti, 135.134

5. Sam Hornish Jr., 135.056

6. Scott Dixon, 134.438

7. Vitor Meira, 134.149

8. Marco Andretti, 133.887

9. Scott Sharp, 133.456

10. Jeff Simmons, 133.260

11. Kosuke Matsuura, 133.006

12. AJ Foyt IV, 132.821

13. Tomas Scheckter, 132.663

14. Darren Manning, 132.124

15. Buddy Rice, 131.766

16. Danica Patrick, 131.645

17. Ed Carpenter, 130.843

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