Here comes the rain again

Looks like rain has started to fall on Day two of practice at Indy, which is fine so long as it doesn’t keep pouring up through the opening round of qualifications this weekend. According to The Weather Channel the uninvited storm will be gone by then, although for today they suggest those in Indianapolis “watch for lightening”. I would be inclined to proactively seek shelter instead of standing around watching for it, but that’s just me.

As for racing, yesterday was a different story as the sun was out and most teams were able to get out and run some laps. Dan Wheldon set the pace as the only driver to record a lap under 40 seconds with a top speed of 225.074 MPH. In other news, the sun rose in the east.

Behind “Thunda” Dan were Castroneves, Scheckter, Kanaan, Dixon and Patrick, who were all able to top 224 MPH. While at first glance this looks encouraging for those hoping for a competitive race, it should be noted that not all 224 MPH runs are created equal. TrackSide Online noted that Scheckter’s time came courtesy of a tow from Tony Kanaan, while My Name Is IRL reader David shared similar observations while watching the action from turn three (set jealousy to ON).

All of the AGR fast times today were with a tow so I don't know what to think of them. That tow appeared to be worth about 2.5 MPH. Ganassi drivers did their times without a tow.

So other than Castroneves, no other team was really close to the TCGR drivers in the open road. Oh, goody. You gotta hand it to Wheldon though, because not only did he top the leaderboard but he also started dishing out the smack. From TSO today:

Dan Wheldon upped the Pole Speed ante a little yesterday as he suggested 232 is a possibility. He also hinted as to why we haven't heard a whole lot about speeds when he noted that Brian (Barnhart) will not be happy with him for talking about running over 230. Apparently that is a line in the sand they would prefer not to see crossed. Wheldon also said they were nowhere close to being trimmed out and that Chip would kill him if he was running trimmed out on the first day.

Show off.