De Ferran

NAZARETH, Pa. -- Although he was the fastest driver in practice Friday at Nazareth Speedway, Gil de Ferran didn't figure that meant much.

Neither did Jaques Lazier, whose speed was nearly as good when the IRL competitors navigated the tight, mile oval for the first time in preparation for Sunday's Firestone Indy 225.

"We weren't trying to go fast," said de Ferran, a winner in Nazareth two years ago in a CART race. "We were just working on the general balance of the car."

De Ferran knows that's the way to go, particularly with the changes in the weather forecast this weekend. It was close to 90 degrees Friday, but the temperature is expected to fall to about 60 by Sunday.

"A car that runs well in the heat usually will run well in the cold," he explained. "We were able to confirm a lot of the things we learned when we tested here."

His fast lap in the morning session was run at 169.512 mph, but he fell off to 165.068 after lunch. De Ferran, who gave car owner Roger Penske his 100th career victory by winning here in 2000, was not concerned about slowing down.

Like Lazier, he practiced with more fuel on board in the afternoon, making his Dallara Chevrolet heavier and slower.

"It's important to get the car mechanically consistent during a fuel run," Lazier said. "That's why we were working on a setup to get the car as well-balanced as possible."

Lazier, in the same package as de Ferran, turned the fastest afternoon lap at 168.747. He also was not fooled by the numbers.

"We lost 1 mile per hour because we went more for a race setup," he said.

His speed in the morning was 169.398. Third overall was Alex Barron at 168.436, followed by de Ferran teammate Helio Castroneves, who got around at 168.361. Rookie Tomas Scheckter was the fastest of the Infiniti drivers at 168.291.

De Ferran and Lazier have top rides, so their prowess was not unexpected. But Barron is part of a developing team, making his run even more impressive.

"Today was a great opportunity to show Rayovac what the team could do," he said of his newly acquired sponsor. "It couldn't be better timing for us to make a charge to the front."

But de Ferran, who provided the most recent of six Penske victories in CART races on the track the boss built and operated for more than a decade, refuses to worry about much that happens on a Friday.

Instead, he looks ahead to Saturday, hoping for a decent qualifying spot that would land him near the front of a 23-car field on a track where passing has always been difficult.

"While I'm happy to be at the top of the time charts, it's the next two days that really count," he said "We're going to keep working hard to make sure the Marlboro car is where it needs to be for Sunday."

Points leader Sam Hornish Jr., the defending IRL champion, was seventh on the speed chart. Sarah Fisher, the only female in the field, was 19th as a sub for the injured Robbie Buhl.