Benefits of off-season work realized in final test before opener source: indycar.com / Dave Lewandowski The two-night test on the Homestead-Miami Speedway oval allowed IndyCar Series teams an opportunity to find (speed) and lose (drag) in preparation for the season opener under the lights March 24. Nineteen drivers were in the ballpark (seven-tenths of a second separated the field) as they recorded 4,675 laps or 7,012.5 miles. Target Chip Ganassi Racing continued to find the variably-banked 1.5-mile oval to its liking as Dan Wheldon set the pace in both sessions (214.350 mph Feb. 22). Wheldon, the 2005 IndyCar Series champion, will be seeking to win the opener for the third consecutive year. "It's been a long off-season, and I'm ready to start the '07 season right now," he said. "I wish we were racing this weekend." Andretti Green Racing, which won 19 of 33 races in 2004 and '05, didn't have similar success on the large ovals last year. Tony Kanaan, the 2004 series champion, gave the team its first victory over the season in June at The Milwaukee Mile. Rookie Marco Andretti became the youngest race winner in open-wheel history in August on the Infineon Raceway road course. Kanaan was consistently quick in the No. 11 Team 7-Eleven car (214.119 mph Feb. 22 for third on the chart) and Andretti checked in fourth-quick during the same session (213.944). Andretti was ebullient after both days of testing at HMS, seeing gains that will consistently put the four-car team (Danica Patrick and Dario Franchitti the other drivers) in positions to challenge for victory on the 1.5-mile and longer racetracks. "I have to hand it to the NYSE team," Andretti said. "They did an awesome job getting the car ready and finding exactly what we need. There's still work to do but now we're in it. I didn't always look forward to coming to one-and-a-half mile ovals last year, but if this test is any indication, I think we'll be in good shape this year." Patrick, making her first oval test with the team in the No. 7 Team Motorola car, was 13th-quick (212.195) on the second night. "It's just going to take some time to understand each other completely so we can get everything out of the Motorola car," she said. "It's so close out there. We're all within two-tenths (of a second) of each other and that's the first 15 cars, so there is no room for error. Unfortunately, we have to go through a little bit of a growing period, but I have no doubt we'll get it together. I'm just impatient."
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