IRL Scheckter sets fast pace on opening day session

The first race of the season is the Toyota Indy 300 on Sunday.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- Tomas Scheckter is making a smooth transition to his new team, turning in the fastest lap on the first day of practice for the IRL's season-opening Toyota Indy 300.
After posting a lap of 216.894 mph on Friday on Homestead-Miami Speedway's 1 1/2-mile oval -- its corners reconfigured since the opener a year ago -- Scheckter found himself sitting between champion Scott Dixon and Alex Barron.
The middle spot at the end-of-the-day press conference is reserved for the fastest driver.
"I'm feeling pretty comfortable right now," the young South African driver said, grinning as he looked on either side at drivers racing for his two former IRL teams. "Especially sitting in the middle."
Barron has second best
Barron, starting his first full season with Red Bull Cheever Racing, where Scheckter drove in 2002, was second on Friday at 216.596. Dixon, Scheckter's teammate last year at Chip Ganassi Racing, followed at 216.460.
Scheckter was released by Ganassi at the end of 2003 and hooked on with Pennzoil Panther Racing after two-time series champion Sam Hornish Jr. left that team to join Marlboro Team Penske.
Scheckter, the son of former Formula One champion Jody Scheckter, was expected to be an instant star when he arrived in the IRL with Cheever in 2002. But the 23-year-old driver has won only once in 28 starts and crashed in 11 of those races.
Now, with two years of IRL experience and with a team known for finishing races and being a perennial contender with Hornish, Scheckter said his comfort level has never been better.
"Obviously, things have gone pretty smoothly so far," Scheckter said. "The team has taught me a little different way to approach a race weekend. The main thing is, we worked on our race stuff a lot and it seems to be pretty good.
"We were quick at a lot of tracks last year and, for some reason, we just didn't come together. We're just trying to make sure that this year it does come together."
Speeds are improving
The speeds are considerably faster than last year, when Tony Kanaan won the pole for this race with a lap of 203.560.
Most of the increase is due to the rebuilding of the track, which went from 7 degrees of banking to variable banking ranging from 18 to 20 degrees.
The big jump in speed Friday came despite most of the teams working on their racing setups rather than preparing for today's qualifying. Nor could the IRL's efforts to slow the cars with an engine modification intended to cut 100 horsepower and 10 mph keep Chevrolet, Honda and Toyota -- the IRL's three engine manufacturers -- from going fast.
"It's a completely different track," said Scheckter, who drives a car with Chevy power. "Banking doesn't seem to be a problem. We're already using the second lane pretty easily.
"And it looks like all three engine manufacturers are close. They worked hard over the winter and they've gotten back most of what was taken away."
Dan Wheldon, last year's top rookie, was fourth Friday -- the fastest of four Andretti Green Racing entries at 216.336. He was followed by rookies Ed Carpenter and Mark Taylor at 216.131 and 216.127, respectively.
Rounding out the top 10 were AGR driver Bryan Herta at 216.082, Buddy Rice, who replaced injured Kenny Brack as Barron's teammate at Cheever Racing, at 215.968; Penske driver Helio Castroneves at 215.512 and AGR's Kanaan at 215.472.
Hornish, who replaced retired Gil de Ferran on the Penske team, was 12th on the day at 215.198. Dario Franchitti, back in the cockpit for Andretti Green after missing most of the 2003 season with a back injury, was 16th at 214.709.