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| Simon Pagenaud was fastest on Friday. Can he turn his speed into victory today? |
Simon Pagenaud was the fastest on Friday as he looks for his second victory of 2014. He also looks to close the 91-point gap between him and championship leader Will Power. Power was fastest in the first Friday practice session and second fastest in the combined session, just over three-tenths back of his former Team Australia teammate. Ryan Briscoe was third quickest in the combined session. It is Briscoe's first appearance on the NRG Park circuit. Luca Filippi was fourth fastest Friday, his first day driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Filippi scored his first career IndyCar top ten at Houston last year. Rounding out the top five from Friday was second in the championship standings Hélio Castroneves.
The top rookie of the year candidate on Friday was Mikhail Aleshin, sixth overall. The Russian has led a lap in three of the last four races and has finished seventh in consecutive races. James Hinchcliffe was seventh fastest. The Canadian finished third in race two last year at Houston. He retired from race one after making contact with the stalled car of Ed Carpenter. Takuma Sato looks to get car owner AJ Foyt a home town victory. Sato started on pole position for race one last year at Houston but finished seventeenth in race one and fourteenth in race two.
Sébastien Bourdais is a two-time Houston winner and was ninth fastest on Friday. The Frenchman finished eighth and fifth last year at Houston. Tony Kanaan was tenth quickest Friday with his Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon following him on the time sheet. Justin Wilson was twelfth ahead of Americans Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal. Carlos Muñoz was the final driver within one second of the fastest time set by Pagenaud Friday. Muñoz's Andretti Autosport teammate Marco Andretti was sixteenth fastest Friday.
Charlie Kimball was seventeenth fastest Friday. Kimball averages the worst starting position of all full-time driver with an average starting position of 20th. Colombians Juan Pablo Montoya and Carlos Huertas were eighteenth and nineteenth Friday. Josef Newgarden was twentieth with Jack Hawksworth twenty-first. Hawksworth suffered an accident after clipping a curve in second practice. Sebastián Saavedra was twenty-second. Ed Carpenter Racing looks for their third win of the season but will have some work to do. Mike Conway was twenty-second and twenty-third fastest in the two Friday practice session. The Brit finished sixteenth and ninth last year at Houston.
Qualifying for race one will take place at 11:00 a.m. ET and will use the Firestone Fast Six format. The session will air at 2:00 p.m. ET Saturday afternoon on NBCSN.
Group one will feature Pagenaud, Briscoe, Castroneves, Hinchcliffe, Bourdais, Dixon, Hunter-Reay, Muñoz, Kimball, Huertas, Hawksworth and Conway.
Power leads group two followed by Filippi, Aleshin, Sato, Kanaan, Wilson, Rahal, Andretti, Montoya, Newgarden and Saavedra.
Race one will feature a standing start.
NBCSN's coverage of race begins at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag at 3:45 p.m. ET.
