INDIANAPOLIS 500 DAILY REPORT : Stewart Fastest in Session Cut Because of Rain

Rain continued to plague the Indy 500 as drivers were able to get only 39 minutes, out ofa scheduled two hours, to test their cars under racing conditions on Carburetion Day.

Pole-sitter Tony Stewart had the fastest lap, 231.273 mph, in the abbreviated session Thursday.

The busiest driver was rookie Johnny O’Connell, who managed to get in 23 laps, one more than Japan’s Hideshi Matsuda.

Danny Ongais, who will drive the car of the late Scott Brayton from the rear of the field, got his first laps in the No. 32 car. He had 17 tours of the track with a top speed of 226.364 mph.

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The Team Galles crew, with driver Davy Jones and chief mechanic Mitch Davis, won $35,000 in the Coors Pit Stop Challenge when it changed four tires while making a fuel hose connection in 14.176 seconds to 16.368 seconds for the Pagan Racing crew of Roberto Guerrero.

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The only driver among the 33 starters who did not practice was Johnny Parsons, 51.

His ’93 Lola-Menard developed transmission problems and his crew spent its time fixingit.

“We’ll just spend the first few laps Sunday checking out the car,” Parsons said.

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Brayton’s death was caused by a basal skull fracture, according to an autopsy report from Robert L. Ward, chief deputy coroner of Marion County.

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Team Menard’s four cars, driven by Stewart, Eddie Cheever, Mark Dismore and Ongais, will bear the inscription, “For Scotty, we love ya!” on the left front corners.

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Ongais, 54, will not be the oldest driver to start an Indy 500. A.J. Foyt was 57 when he started for the 35th consecutive year in 1992.