Despite wearing casts, drivers still going fast

Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon are still hobbling from last month's crash.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Tony Kanaan has no problem getting around the track. He's comfortable driving 231 mph between concrete walls.
The struggle now is walking to and from the garage on an injured right leg.
"It's painful," he said Saturday. "I think the muscle must have gotten tight or something. I'm limping a lot."
The injury, a deep cut near the top of the thigh that took 20 stitches to close, came in a crash with Scott Dixon during an IRL race April 13 in Japan.
It appeared the worst injuries from the accident were Kanaan's broken left forearm and Dixon's broken right wrist. Kanaan's leg injury seemed little more than afterthought.
No problems
Nearly a month later, both drivers are back are preparing for the Indy 500 wearing protective braces on their arms, and their speeds have not been affected.
Both have been consistently among the fastest drivers all week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, placing them among the favorites to win the pole when qualifying begins Sunday. Lightning and heavy rain forced postponement of Saturday's scheduled opening round of time trials for the race May 25.
Dixon was the fastest in the rain-shortened practice on Saturday, going 233.326 mph, the fastest lap since 1996 when two-time Indy champ Arie Luyendyk topped 239 under the old competition package.
Kanaan was not far behind.
His lap of 231.961 was the third-fastest of the day, fifth-fastest since practice began last Sunday and Kanaan's best since he got back in the car for the first time Tuesday.
Kanaan, who made it back to the cockpit earlier than expected, said that since the cast has come off his arm is actually stronger.
"It never hurt," he said. "They put in a screw and a metal plate and there's no pain."
Leg pain
But pain from the leg injury, caused by a six-inch suspension piece that sliced through the floorboard, has inexplicably lingered.
When the Brazilian sits in the car, he feels no pain.
When he gets out of the car, he can't avoid it.
"They can't find any broken bones," he said. "I don't know how many X-rays I had, but they can't find anything. It's very painful."
Kanaan has come back from injuries before. After breaking his left forearm in 2000 in a crash during qualifying for a CART event in Detroit, he missed four races and had to undergo some difficult rehabilitation.
After injuring the same arm in Japan, Kanaan moved in with Dr. Terry Trammell, chief orthopedic consultant for CART, who often works on injured drivers from other series.
Trammell's instructions were for Kanaan to be patient with his recovery.
Instead, Kanaan ran 100 laps and was running above 229 on his first day back on the track. Trammell responded with a phone call from Germany where this week's CART race is being held.
"He wasn't too happy I had done so much," Kanaan said. "I told him I was just shaking down the car."