High banks, high stakes source: indycar.com / Dave Lewandowski FORT WORTH, Texas - Flash back to Sept. 15, 2002, and the Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Sam Hornish Jr. is slicing and dicing with Helio Castroneves as the season-ending race reaches its climax. Hornish, driving for Panther Racing, beats Penske Racing's Castroneves to the line by 0.0096 of a second - the third-closest finish in IndyCar Series history - for the race victory and series championship. Close behind was Vitor Meira, the pole sitter in the Menards/Johns Manville/Pittsburgh Paints car. What a view. "You've gotta love Texas," said Meira, now driving the No. 4 Honda-powered Delphi Panther Racing car. "When I first signed with Panther Racing, I was excited to get to this track because of the great history we have here. I remember chasing Sam Hornish and Helio here in 2002 when Hornish won the championship for Panther. Now it's great to be here in that Delphi No. 4 car." Another edition of the artificially lighted excitement is expected to play June 9 out on the 24 degrees of banking in the Bombardier Learjet 550k. The track has seen six of the 25 closest finishes in IndyCar Series history, including two of the top five. The race length has been extended by 28 laps on the 1.455-mile track. "I guess it's probably too much for people to watch sometimes, but it's the ultimate high-speed chess match," said Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's Buddy Rice, who had a quick lap of 211.746 mph (24.7372 seconds) on the first day of practice. "Everyone sticks together and it's extremely tight racing. You really have to be at the right place at the right time at the end of the race." That was the case last year, when Castroneves held off Target Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon by 0.2402 of a second for the victory. Dixon's teammate, Dan Wheldon, led 171 laps, but a pit stop bobble probably was the difference between victory and his third place. Dixon topped the overall speed chart (214.164 mph; 24.4579 seconds) in the two practice sessions (one each during the late afternoon and early evening). Andretti Green Racing's Dario Franchitti was second (214.138; 24.4609 in the first session) and teammate Tony Kanaan (214.072) was third. Two- and three-wide racing under the lights was commonplace as drivers attempted to simulate race mode. There's a lone session preceding AAMCO Transmissions pole qualifying at 7 p.m. (ET) June 8. "We had a chance to work on a few things today and the Team 7-Eleven car responded very well to the changes we made," said Kanaan, the winner June 3 at The Milwaukee Mile. "The evening session was helpful because it was similar to how we expect the conditions to be on race day." Twenty drivers totaled 1,498 laps with one incident. Milka Duno, driving the No. 23 CITGO car for SAMAX Motorsport, made contact with the inside retaining wall exiting Turn 2. Duno was checked and cleared to drive, and she participated in the evening session. "We race so close to one another, it always provides exciting action for the fans," said Franchitti, the IndyCar Series points leader. "With 28 more laps added to this year's race, it's just going to increase the intensity level and provide for another dramatic finish." Franchitti, Meira, Rice, Hornish, et al, hope to be involved.
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