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Bell Leads Final Indy Hopefuls
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Indianapolis, IN
05/15/2009
Last Year's Winner:
Scott Dixon (Target Chip Ganassi Racing) 143.567 mph average
Weather:
Partly cloudy, humid, 74 degrees F
Townsend Bell posted the fastest speed in practice Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as 13 teams and drivers completed their preparations for the second week of qualifying for the 2009 Indianapolis 500. Eleven positions remain open in the 33-car starting field, and today's six-hour session was the last full day of practice prior to this weekend's final qualifying runs.
Driving a third entry for KV Racing Technology -- teammates Mario Moraes and Paul Tracy qualified seventh and 13th, respectively, last weekend -- Bell maintained a speed margin over the other dozen Indy hopefuls throughout much of the final practice day.
Veteran Oriol Servia was second-fastest for Rahal Letterman Racing, with rookies Robert Doornbos and Alex Tagliani tied for third on the charts, the pair turning identical best laps of 40.7601 seconds around the 2.5-mile "Brickyard" for an 220.804 mph average.
Qualifying for the final 11 starting positions in the 33-car field resumes Saturday, May 16, with live flag-to-flag television coverage on The Versus Network from 12 -6:30 p.m. EDT.
Townsend Bell (#8 KV Racing Technology Honda Dallara) fastest driver yet to qualify for the Indianapolis 500: "I'm pretty happy where we are. The car's obviously quick and I'm really excited about getting it in the field tomorrow. It's really cool to be part of a team that's running well here. It's a great team, full of good people and great equipment. We have two other cars that already have run quick and qualified well. That makes it a lot of fun."
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