By Gary Graves, USA TODAY  Franchitti, whose No. 10 Dallara/Honda will start on the outside of the front row in Sunday's 94th running, topped the one-hour session at 225.574 mph with Scott Dixon, who starts sixth, next at 225.159 mph. Pole-sitter and defending race winner Helio Castroneves was fifth-fastest (224.573), two spots below Team Penske teammate Will Power (224.993) but five higher than Ryan Briscoe (223.493).  Temperatures reached the 90s during the morning practice, with no incidents reported. With similar conditions are forecast for Sunday, drivers came away feeling good having a solid weather baseline for setting up the car.  "I don't know if the speeds (on Sunday) will be quite that high, but we might have to run that pace," Franchitti said. "A lot depends on the car keeping its balance and grip with the (changing) weather."  The practice also gave drivers a chance to try out the push-to-pass button, which will make its Brickyard debut. The feature, which provides 18 seconds of extra horsepower, can be used 15 times during the race.  Franchitti seemed to like it, though he probably won't need it as much as one of the race favorites. But he expects it to figure in down the stretch because that's when most drivers will save their allotment for.  "You've got to know how to use it at the start and on restarts, but you want to save some for the end," he said.  Most drivers remained consistent with their practice times, though some of the higher qualifiers were slower than expected in the heat. Graham Rahal, who will start seventh in Rahal Letterman Racing's No. 30 car, bottomed out the speed charts at 219.998 mph.  In contrast, Tony Kanaan ended preparations on a high note after a wreck-filled weekend of qualifying that will see him start at the rear of the 33-car grid. He was 20th fastest in Andretti Autosport's No. 11 entry.  E.J. Viso posted his best speed this month (224.419 mph), good enough for sixth.  "The last few weeks have been really tough," said Viso, who starts 19th. "Now we have a fast and comfortable race setup. This is basically because of all the hard work of my mechanics and engineers.?After having a big crash last week, this is a great way to recover and hopefully we will have a great race on Sunday."  Power ended the month with the top practice speed (227.646 mph) set on Sunday. Alex Tagliani was second a 227.513 mph with Castroneves third at 227.136 mph.  Tracy to race for home team: Canadian Paul Tracy missed out on racing at Indy but will return to the Izod IndyCar Series on July 25 for the Honda Indy Edmonton street course race. Team Oh Canada announced Friday that he and fellow Canadian Alex Tagliani will be teammates for the event to be run at the City Centre Airport.  Pit notes: Helio Castroneves' team won the Pit Stop Competition after Hideki Mutoh's car stalled in the final. …Wade Cunningham won the Firestone Freedom 100 Indy Lights Series race, leading a race-high 38 laps and passing Charlie Kimball with six laps left for the victory. James Hinchcliffe was third.  You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference.
Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon had the final word in the final practice for Sunday's Indianapolis 500, as the Target Chip Ganassi Racing tandem each surpassed 225 mph to lead Friday's Carb Day session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.