Morning Warm-Up: Houston 2013

Qualifying for today's race one has been postponed to later this afternoon with qualifying for race two postponed to Sunday morning due delays Friday because of an unexpected bump in the track that needed to be ground down Friday night. A temporary chicane was put in place to allow drivers to get on track for two practice sessions on Friday. The chicane will be removed for the remainder of the race weekend and times should drop from the 1:04.4237 second lap set by Justin Wilson in practice two. However it is unclear if times will drop low enough to challenge the track record of 57.405 seconds set by Will Power in 2007.

Wilson was fastest on Friday and finished fifth and tenth in his previous two starts at Houston with his best start being third in 2007. Will Power was second Friday as he looks for his second win in 2013. Tristan Vautier was third quickest as the Frenchman and 2013 IndyCar Rookie of the Year looks for his first top ten finish since Barber in April. Champions Ryan Hunter-Reay and Sébastien Bourdais rounded out the top five. Bourdais will have to take a ten grid spot penalty on Saturday due to an unapproved engine change.

Scott Dixon led a string of five consecutive Hondas as he looks to make-up ground on points leader Helio Castroneves. Directly behind the Kiwi were Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's James Jakes and Graham Rahal with Luca Filippi in ninth and Dixon's Ganassi teammate in tenth. Helio Castroneves was eleventh as he looks to clinch the championship this weekend.

Other notable drivers positions from Friday: Tony Kanaan 12th, Mike Conway 15th, Simon Pagenaud 17th, Dario Franchitti 18th, James Hinchcliffe 19th, Marco Andretti 20th.

Along with Bourdais, Graham Rahal and Dario Franchitti will have to serve a ten grid spot penalty for unapproved engine changes as well.

Qualifying groups for race one were set by draw and the session will not follow Firestone Fast Six format. The session will be just like qualifying for race two. Each group will get 12 minutes on track with the fastest driver winning pole and the remaining drivers in the pole sitter's group making up the odd-numbered positions of the grid with the other group making up the even-numbered positions. Remember race one will feature a standing start.

Here are the groups for qualifying. Qualifying will take place at 11:45 a.m. ET:
Group 1- Hunter-Reay, Andretti, Wilson, Bourdais, Newgarden, Franchitti, Filippi, de Silvestro, Servià, Castroneves, Power, Vautier.
Group 2- Viso, Hinchcliffe, Carpenter, Conway, Saavedra, Sato, Dixon, Kimball, Kanaan, Rahal, Jakes, Pagenaud.

NBCSN's coverage of race one from Houston will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag around 3:40 p.m. ET.