INDYCAR: Dixon tops short Texas practice

Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan were the fastest two cars in a truncated two-part practice session Saturday afternoon, just a few hours before the Verizon IndyCar Series finishes the Firestone 600.

Dixon's 24.369s lap (214.937mph) was run in the second of split 10-minute sessions that started with an install lap. Takuma Sato brought out the yellow almost at the outset – just over a minute into the first session – when it looked like something broke in the right rear and he hit the wall going into Turn 4. He brought his No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Honda to a stop on the paint on the frontstretch and got out under his own power.

With each driver running between 15-18 laps, Marco Andretti ran the fastest first-session lap at 24.5806s (213.095mph), good for third overall and the only driver from the first session to stay in the top five. He was followed in session one by current race leader James Hinchcliffe at 24.827s (210.977s), Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay (24.841s, 210.859mph), Ed Carpenter (24.855s, 210.741mph) and Gabby Chaves (24.991s, 209.595mph), who returns to the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. Chaves' teammate Conor Daly joins Josef Newgarden on the sideline after their massive crash during the June running.

Dixon was followed by Kanaan (24.423s, 214.476mph), Andretti, Graham Rahal (24.618s, 212.765 – fourth-fastest overall), and Sebastien Bourdais, who rounded out the combined top five.

When tonight's race resumes at 9:15 p.m. ET, this is how the field will look: