INDY 500 Scott Sharp favored to win pole

Starting positions will be determined on Saturday.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Scott Sharp has been among the fastest drivers in practice this week, and he's a favorite again to win the pole for the Indianapolis 500.
If he accomplishes that Saturday, Sharp would have two poles to go with two top-10 finishes in the race.
Nothing he does, though, can ever make up for his monumental first-lap blunder of two years ago -- except winning the race.
"It was awesome, at the time my greatest accomplishment, running four perfect laps," he recalled of his 2001 pole effort. "But we're all here for a great race day.
"Certainly I had one of the worst days you could have. The qualifying doesn't begin to make up for it."
Sharp was second-fastest in practice Wednesday, going 230.110 mph. Kenny Brack, the 1999 Indy winner, was the fastest in practice Wednesday at 231.039.
"The car ran really well," Brack said. "We keep working away on our program and getting better and better. But we're going to try to have to get even faster."
After Sharp came Gil de Ferran at 229.884, Greg Ray at 229.539, Tony Kanaan at 229.455 and rookie Tora Takagi at 229.347.
Unser in backup car
Sharp's Kelley Racing teammate, two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser Jr., had a top lap of 226.264 in his backup car.
Brack was working in race trim for the first time.
"It's a process that takes several changes, several days sometimes if the weather changes," Brack said. "I don't think the speed was surprising. We expect to be good, but there are other teams out there that are good as well."
Two years ago, Sharp was by far the fastest qualifier and won his first Indy pole with a four-lap average of 226.037.
But starting from the inside of the front row, he let the left-side wheels of his car get below the white line separating the track from the apron on the first turn of the first lap. His cold tires lost traction, and the car veered into the outside wall between the first and second turns.
From his car, Sharp radioed an apology to his crew, then went to the infield hospital for a mandatory checkup and finally retreated behind closed doors in his garage to think about what might have been.
2002
Last year, he started eighth and led three laps before a mechanical problem ended his race after 137 laps for a 27th-place finish. This year, after a victory in Japan last month, he leads Tony Kanaan by four points in the IRL standings.
"We've stayed with our plan, and things are going very smoothly," the 1996 IRL co-champion said of practice this week.
He has consistently been among the leaders with his Toyota-powered Dallara.
He was the fastest on the opening day of practice Sunday -- in his backup car -- and was the second-fastest Monday. Wednesday's quick laps were his best of the week.
"We've been doing quite a bit of running on our own, trying to stay out of the draft, so we can get a realistic idea on where we are in our plan," Sharp said. "I think we're a pretty strong car on our own, and we're just going to keep working on our development.
"It's nice to come into Indy in the points lead, but it is still way too early for that to be a concern."
In addition to pole qualifying Saturday, time trials to fill the 33-car lineup will be on Sunday and on May 18.