Sebastian Saavedra topped the charts as Firestone Indy Lights teams began preparations for theseason-ending Homestead-Miami 100 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.Saavedra, driver of the No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers Inc. car for AFSRacing/Andretti Green Racing, posted a top lap of 28.5564 seconds, 187.208mph.In all, 18 cars turned 1,037 laps in the practice session without incident.Wade Cunningham (28.7510, 185.941) was second fastest in the No. 11 LucasOil/Sam Schmidt Motorsports car.Pippa Mann (28.7543, 185.920) was third in the No. 16 Panther Racing car.J.R. Hildebrand, who has already clinched the Firestone Firehawk Cup as theseries' champion, was fourth on the chart with a best lap of 28.7831,185.743. James Davison (28.8073; 185.578) was fifth.

DAY 1 NOTES

The IndyCar Series will compete in the Firestone Indy 300, a 200-lap race at5 p.m. (ET) Saturday. The Firestone Indy Lights series will compete in theHomestead-Miami 100, a 67-lap race at 6 p.m. Friday.***James Hinchcliffe may not be ready to give up his racing career. But if hedoes, he may have a future as a chef at a Benihana restaurant.Hinchcliffe, driver of the No. 7 Hinchtown.com car in Firestone Indy Lights,joined IndyCar Series driver Will Power and several members of theIndianapolis Colts and other Indianapolis-area celebrities Oct. 6 as theydisplayed their culinary skills for the 12th Annual Dave Thomas CelebrityCookoff.The event, which is held in major cities across the United States inconjunction with Wendy's International, The Dave Thomas Foundation forAdoption, and Benihana Restaurants, is the annual fundraiser for theChildren's Bureau of Indianapolis, which supports children awaiting adoptionin Central Indiana.Hinchcliffe was paired with former New York Yankee Ryan Thompson aspreparing the three-course hibachi steak and shrimp tableside dinner. JAMES HINCHCLIFFE: "I'm not usually the one that does the cooking at home,so it was a good experience to get behind a grill. It was for a good cause,and I was happy to get the opportunity to do it. I met some really coolpeople, and we had a great group at our table. We had a lot of fun, and weraised money for a great charity. At the end of the day, everybodybenefitted, and I also learned how to make a volcano out of an onion."***Logan Gomez will return to the Firestone Indy Lights this weekend for theHomestead-Miami 100 - his first race since the season-opening double-headerin April at St. Petersburg.Gomez will drive the No. 20 IZOD/Healthy Choice/SSM car for Sam SchmidtMotorsports, his first race for the team since winning in 2007 at theChicagoland Speedway.In his Chicagoland victory, Gomez and the Schmidt team set a Guinness WorldRecord by winning with the closest margin of finish ever in a car race at.0005 of a second over teammate and 2007 Firestone Indy Lights Champion AlexLloyd.LOGAN GOMEZ: "I'm very excited. It's great to be with a team that I've wonwith in the past. It's short notice, but I'm prepared to do my best for theteam and IZOD. I have to thank both Sam Schmidt Motorsports and IZOD forproviding me with this opportunity to get back into the car."SAM SCHMIDT: "We're really pleased to be reuniting with Logan for thisweekend's race in Miami. Logan has done well for us in the past, and weexpect a good result out of him this weekend driving the IZOD car."***Sam Schmidt Motorsports driver Gustavo Yacaman has been cleared to return tothe Firestone Indy Lights grid for the season finale at Homestead-MiamiSpeedway.Dr. Michael Olinger, Indy Racing League director of medical services, gaveYacaman clearance to resume racing activities. Yacaman, 18, suffered a backinjury in a first-lap accident on Aug. 29 at Infineon Raceway.GUSTAVO YACAMAN: "I'm very much looking forward to getting back into the carthis weekend. Besides the long time in between races in Chicago and here,it's been much longer for me since I haven't run since the race in Infineon.We've been quick all year, and I have a lot to prove. I'm definitely lookingto put up a solid result this weekend."***Racing For Kids wrapped up its 20th anniversary year with an inspiring visitThursday, Oct. 8 to Miami Children's Hospital by IndyCar Series driver TonyKanaan and Firestone Indy Lights driver Daniel Herrington.Kanaan and Herrington met with young patients from the Child Care Center inthe hospital courtyard, where the children had a chance to sit in the RacingFor Kids show car. Kanaan and Herrington also met hospitalized youngsters inthe playroom and signed autographs, posed for photos and distributed RacingFor Kids hats and coloring books.The trip to Miami Children's Hospital capped an exciting anniversary yearfor Racing For Kids and the Indy Racing League with 20 hospital visitsacross the U.S., Canada and Japan, as well as several special fundraisers.IndyCar Series drivers who made Racing For Kids hospital visits during the2009 season included: Kanaan, Mike Conway, Milka Duno, Roger Yasukawa,Robert Doornbos, Raphael Matos and Justin Wilson. Indy Lights drivers makingvisits included Herrington, Ana Beatriz, James Hinchcliffe, James Davison,Logan Gomez and Ali Jackson.***FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS PRACTICE: At 6 p.m., the ambient temperature was 88 degrees with a relativehumidity of 76 percent and east winds at 4 mph. Skies were sunny. The tracktemperature was 105 degrees, according to Firestone engineers. 6 p.m. - GREEN. 6:20 p.m. -- #27 Saavedra fastest at 187.208. 6:50 p.m. - YELLOW. Track inspection. 6:55 p.m. - GREEN. 6:58 p.m. -- #16 Mann climbs from fifth to third at 185.920. 7 p.m. - CHECKERED. End of session. #27 Sebastian Saavedra fastestat 187.208 mph.

FASTEST TIMES/SPEEDS OF SESSION:Pos. Car  Name Time Speed1. 27 Sebastian Saavedra 28.5564 187.2082. 11 Wade Cunningham 28.7510 185.9413. 16 Pippa Mann 28.7543 185.9204. 26 J.R. Hildebrand 28.7831 185.7345. 21 James Davison 28.8073 185.578*** Pippa Mann led the Firestone Indy Lights Open Test on Feb. 23-24 atHomestead-Miami Speedway with a top lap of 187.726 mph. Mann and PantherRacing teammate Martin Plowman completed their rookie test in November 2008.***FIRESTONE INDY LIGHTS POST-PRACTICE QUOTES:

SEBASTIAN SAAVEDRA (No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, fastest of the day):"I think after a month away it's great to be back at the top of the charts.But it's just the beginning of the weekend. We need to focus on things tomove forward. There is still some speed in the car. We just need to find it.The team has done an incredible job in the last month putting everything inthe perfect way. I'm very happy and hope we can be on top tomorrow with ourthird victory."

PIPPA MANN (No. 16 Panther Racing, third fastest of the day): "Consideringthat we were fastest when we were here last, I expected to be better thanthis. We're going to look at the setup sheets from (the winter test) andcompare it to what we have now and try to figure out a plan for tomorrow.The speed looks nice on the charts. Unfortunately, it does not tell thewhole story. As a driver, when you've been really fast (at a track) and youturn back up and the car is OK, you start to wonder why you aren't reallyfast anymore."

SEAN GUTHRIE (No. 9 Car Crafters/Andersen Racing/Allied): "Being back in acar is welcome change to the work I've been doing (at his family's body shopin Albuquerque.) The Andersen guys put a great car together, and I wascomfortable right away. I think I was flat out my fourth lap. That ended upbeing out fastest lap because we had some issues with the balance the restof the way. Still, it feels really good being back behind the wheel."***FRIDAY'S SCHEDULE (all times local):6 a.m. Garages open8-9 a.m. Firestone Indy Lights practice (two groups)9:15-9:45 a.m. IndyCar Series practice (designated rookies, entrantsoutside top 10 in points)9:45-10:45 a.m. IndyCar Series practice (all cars)12:15-1:15 p.m. Firestone Indy Lights qualifying1:30-2 p.m. IndyCar Series practice (first group)2-2:30 p.m. IndyCar Series practice (second group)4:15-5:45 p.m. PEAK Performance Pole Qualifying for IndyCar Series5:45 p.m. Firestone Indy Lights pre-race ceremonies6 p.m. Homestead-Miami 100 (67 laps)***The 2009 IndyCar Series season concludes Oct. 10 with the Firestone Indy 300at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The race will be telecast live in HighDefinition at 4 p.m. (ET) by VERSUS. The race will air live on the IMS RadioNetwork, XM channel 145 and Sirius channel 211. The radio broadcast alsowill be carried on www.indycar.com. A 90-minute qualifying show will air onVERSUS at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 9. The 2009 Firestone Indy Lights season concludeswith the Homestead-Miami 100 on Oct. 9 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The racewill be telecast live by VERSUS at 6 p.m. (ET).