DANICA PATRICK (No. 7 Motorola Dallara/Honda/Firestone, seventh fastest of the day): “We haven’t been ultra fast. We’ve been fast, but we haven’t been the fastest car. I think the Target (Chip Ganassi Racing) cars are really fast. It’s been a little bit hit and miss for us. Every now and again we go out and have a run that’s not that great, so I’m hoping that doesn’t happen for qualifying. But I think if we get everything right we’ll be maybe in the first row probably the first two rows if we get it all right. “
HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda/Firestone, 10th fastest of the day): “We ran consistently strong again today, which is what we were looking for. Unfortunately, a yellow came out just after we put on fresh tires for our final run, so we weren’t able to be as high on the speed chart as we might have liked, but tomorrow is what counts. We’ll have time in the morning to make our final adjustments before qualifying, and I’m optimistic about our chances. “
DAN WHELDON (No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, second fastest of the day): (About today’s practice): “There were a few little problems that we couldn’t quite get out, but the car is very fast. It’s about getting the most out of it tomorrow. I think if we can do that, we’ll have a good shot at the pole. At the end of the day, you really can’t get too excited. You have to focus on the race. Last year, I saw the real disappointing side of Indianapolis and in 2005 I saw the great side. I can’t let anything distract me and understand that the big picture is to win the race. It would be great to be on the front row. It would be great to get the pole because Indianapolis is a special race to me and that’s something I haven’t achieved yet. We’ll just have to wait and see. ” (On tomorrow’s qualifying format): “It’s no different to us. If we were thinking about not being in the top 11, Chip (Ganassi) would kick my butt from here to Milwaukee, and that’s the next race. I’ve been very fortunate at Indianapolis to always be in cars that can contend for the pole and contend for the race wins. It’s about maximizing those opportunities. I haven’t quite maximized the opportunity to get the pole. That’s something I feel I have a genuine shot of so we’ll try and do that. But like I’ve said, it won’t distract us from our main effort on the race. “
TONY KANAAN (No. 11 Team 7-Eleven Dallara/Honda/Firestone, third fastest of the day): “It was a much better day for Team 7-Eleven as we worked toward our qualifying car. We had a reasonable speed alone. We’ve been good all week, and I think we’re there. We’re competitive, for sure. Tomorrow (Pole Day) is the most stressful day of the month other than the race. The new qualifying format looks exciting and dramatic so I think the fans will have a blast. I do well under pressure. I like the pressure, the atmosphere and hopefully we’ll have a good day. “
DARIO FRANCHITTI (No. 27 Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone, fifth fastest of the day): “Today was a busy day. We were mostly prepping for Pole Day tomorrow. We really made some good progress on the Canadian Club car. It looks very close for qualifying tomorrow between the top seven or eight. I think it is going to be important to get the weather conditions in your favor to have everything right, and right now, I’m excited about it. “
SARAH FISHER (No. 5 AAMCO Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, 16th fastest of the day): “We did well today. We have to keep focused on the fact that we have a really great race car and our race package is good. Right now we are trying to find some more speed, and we’ll keep digging at it. “
BUDDY LAZIER (No. 99 Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara/Honda/Firestone, 22nd-fastest of the day): “It was a frustrating day. We’re still learning right now. If this were Legos right now, we’re just trying every piece in every position. Soon though, we’re going to have to start putting the right pieces together. That’s the nature of starting from scratch. In a sense, it’s both a positive and negative. We’re definitely learning a lot right now, but there’s still a lot to be learned. ” (About qualifying): “I’d like to qualify somewhere between 224 and 225, it just depends on how things go. We’ll see how our times go, but right now, we’re getting tight on the amount of time available. “
BUDDY RICE (No. 15 A1TeamUSA/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, 13th fastest of the day): “Today went pretty well. We’d like to be a little closer to the top of the charts. But we have a good shot for the top-11 on Saturday. We had some issues out of our control on Thursday and we had to stop early. Then we had another issue early today that wasn’t our doing. So we lost some valuable track time the last two days. It was a little slick on the track later in the day and we learned some more about our car. We haven’t been able to test very much this year so we are using this time to catch up. It has been rather unique that the weather has been so good for us. Only the one day with rain. So many years lately we have had to sit around and watch the rain. But this week has been great. It is scheduled to be a little cooler on the weekend and that will help our cars run faster. You don’t always see Indy as nice as it has been so far. This time of the year it can be unpredictable here. “
AL UNSER JR. (No. 50 A. J. Foyt Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, 23rd fastest of the day): “The team is really coming together. It’s great to be out on Fast Friday and working to find more speed. (About making a qualifying run tomorrow): “A. J. and I really haven’t had a chance to talk about when we’ll make a run. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. “
MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 NYSE Group Dallara/Honda/Firestone, fourth fastest of the day): “It’s been an up-and-down week for us for sure. The NYSE car got better today after we made a few changes. We’ve been among the quickest cars all week so I’m hopeful we’ll be right where we need to be tomorrow. ”
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