Defending race winner and IZOD IndyCar Series championship points leader Will Power led shortened opening day of practice for the Grand Prix of Baltimore.Power turned a lap of 1 minute, 21.4572 seconds in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car during a 30-minute practice after course issues shortened morning practice and forced series officials to install a chicane on the main straightaway.Erecting a temporary tire barrier chicane on the Pratt Street main straightaway was the most prudent and effective solution to alleviate the effects of a bump in a section of the pavement near the light rail tracks on the Pratt Street straightway.Simon Pagenaud, who clinched the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award at Sonoma, was second qucik (1:21.4883) in the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports car.Scott Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, was third (1:21.7211) and Ruberna Barrichello (1:21.9194) in the No. 8 BMC/Embrase KV Racing Technology car. James Hinchcliffe was fifth in the No. 27 Team GoDaddy.com car for Andretti Autosport.Groups for the first round of qualifying will be determined from the morning (9-10 ET) practice session.Removal of the chicane, widening of the right-hand Turn 1 and reshaping Turns 5-6 (also the pit entrance) were alterations to the circuit based on driver feedback from the inaugural race in 2011. Construction started July 30 under the direction of NZR Consulting, and the company and its local workforce didn't take control of the full 2.04-mile, 13-turn course until late Aug. 30.Also on Aug. 31, Tristan Vautier, who is in a heated duel with Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate Esteban Guerrieri for the Firestone Indy Lights championship, paced the initial practice session on the 2.04-mile, 12-turn course with a lap of 1 minute, 28.2387 seconds in the No. 77 Mazda Road to Indy/Sam Schmidt Motorsports with Curb Agajanian car.Gustavo Yacaman was second quick (1:28.3794) in the No. 2 TMR-Tuvacol-Xtreme Coil Drilling car, and Victor Carbone was third (1:29.1865) in the No. 3 MACT TV/Nevoni/Sam Schmidt Motorsports with Curb Agajanian car.Guerrieri was eighth of the 12 cars with a best lap of 1:30.8122 in the No. 11 Pistas Argentinas/Sam Schmidt Motorsports with Curb Agajanian car.DAY 1 NOTEBOOK:The IZOD IndyCar Series will compete in the Grand Prix of Baltimore, a 75-lap race at 2 p.m. (ET) on Sunday. The Firestone Indy Lights series will compete in the Grand Prix of Baltimore, a 45-lap race at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear and Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda - part of the Mazda Road the Indy ladder system - are also racing twice this weekend. Star Mazda will race at 2:35 p.m. Saturday and 11:35 a.m. Sunday. USF2000 will compete at 1:45 p.m. Saturday and 10:35 a.m. Sunday.***Live timing and scoring reports from the Grand Prix of Baltimore are available on the Internet at www.indycar.com. The live timing and scoring module provides statistical information, including track segment speeds, lap information and much more.Feature stories, reports, driver quotes and notes, and photos will be posted on the site each day. More detailed information, including media advisories and VNF coordinates, is available at media.indycar.com.***The Grand Prix of Baltimore will be the second Indy car race on the streets of Baltimore. Will Power is the defending race and pole winner. This will be the first race on the newly modified 2-mile layout.Three drivers entered in the event - Rubens Barrichello, Simon Pagenaud and Bruno Junqueira will make their first attempt to start an IZOD IndyCar Series race at Baltimore.***IZOD IndyCar Series Championship Facts:          Will Power leads the IZOD IndyCar Series championship with two races remaining for the third straight season. He has failed to win the championship in each of the last two seasons.          Power leads Ryan Hunter-Reay by 36 points.          There are eight drivers still mathematically eligible for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series championship: Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Simon Pagenaud, Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Briscoe.          Seven drivers, including three-time defending IZOD IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti, were eliminated from championship contention at Sonoma.          This is the second event at Streets of Baltimore. The winning driver at Baltimore has not won the championship in the same season.*** IndyCar Series officials announced penalties for the following cars for this weekend's event at Baltimore. All cars will be penalized 10 grid places for unapproved engine changes.: #14 Conway (fitting sixth engine at Baltimore); #15 Sato (fitting seventh engine at Baltimore); #67 Junqueira (fitting sixth engine at Baltimore) #78 De Silvestro (carry-over for fitting seventh engine at Sonoma).

INDYCAR President of Competition Beaux Barfield spoke to the media today to address the early conclusion to today's opening practice.BEAUX BARFIELD: "Last year, I know there were some unofficial tests performed (on the front straight). When drivers had some clear laps, they sent them straight through the (Pratt Street) chicane. The feedback from the few drivers who tried that was we should come back without the chicane. That's what happened, and immediately after letting cars on track (today), we saw that it wasn't doable. I know from events we've had in the past with railroad tracks in play that railroad tracks can change overnight. I know the (light) rail hasn't been active, but my point is from last year to this year, it could have changed a lot with the way those tracks settle. So based on driver input and looking at the video, I thought it was appropriate to end the session early, talk to some drivers directly, get some input and come up with a plan. My original plan did include not running for the rest of the day, but I think we have come up with a plan that we can put out cars this afternoon. Bottom line is, with that happening, this evening there will be a big project out there to either lay some pavement down or rebuild the chicane. It's a shame because based on the feedback we got last year, and the effort the promoter has made, it was the right direction to go. Obviously, we proved pretty quickly that it wasn't going to work." (About the grading done to the run up to the railroad tracks): "The reality is the grading that I saw down there was only to get the paint up from the centerlines and a crosswalk. It doesn't look like it was grinding done to change the profile of the pavement. From what I see out there, the profile of the pavement, the front edge before you get to the tracks is just enough of a lip that it bottoms out and launches the car, so I believe, for example the things we've been discussing, there would be some pavement required to go in there. But it would very risky because it's still completely unproven. We could go put pavement in there tonight, but if it doesn't fix the problem we're having this same conversation tomorrow. I think as much as I'd rather have pavement than a chicane, I think our best option, since we proved it worked last year, is put a chicane in." (Would that lead to more track time?): "We're stuck in the schedule that we have with everything else going on. I don't see us getting any more track time." (Is there a smoother line drivers could take in lieu of adding a chicane?): "I know there's a smoother line on the left side, but it's a very narrow window. With that being what it is, and from the driver feedback, it's appropriate to take these very drastic measures."***Medical update from Dr. Michael Olinger, INDYCAR Medical Director: Adderly Fong was treated for first degree burns on his buttocks and second degree burns on his heels. His will be re-evaluted SaturdayADDERLY FONG (No. 8 Brooks Associates Racing): "As I crossed the railroad, maybe something broke, obviously something failed on the car, a hot fluid got into the seat. I'm guessing it came from the front because it burned my ankles and then my bum. I stopped the car, luckily we didn't hit anything while stopping, and jumped out as quick as I could."***At a press conference earlier today, Rahal Letterman Lanigan co-owner Bobby Rahal was appointed chairman of the USA Bobled and Skeleton Foundation, the national governing body for the sports of bobsled and skeleton.Rahal, the 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, will be charged with actively identifying additional foundation prospects to assist with fundraising and development of the sport on a national level. The USA Bobsled and Skeleton Foundation logo will appear on the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan car driven by Takuma Sato in the Grand Prix of Baltimore and Auto Club Speedway.DARRIN STEELE (CEO, USA USA Bobsled and Skeleton Foundation): "As Bobby (Rahal) knows, it is one thing to reach the top, it's another thing to stay there. And that's what we are working towards now."            BOBBY RAHAL (Co-owner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing): "For me as a kid, and even today, I loved the Olympic Experience. I loved the idea of American's racing against the fastest that the world has to offer"CURT TOMASEVIC (Two-time world champion/Olympic champion in bobled): "We can't just rest on what we've done on the past, but we have to continue to look forward and part of that is, as Bobby mentioned: funding technology. Funding great coaches. Great recruiting. Bring in new, strong athletes to improve our futures. So that's what we are trying to do."***IZOD IndyCar Series officials will place a traditional right-left tire chicane on the Pratt Street straightaway for the next practice session. Qualifying groups will be based on Saturday's first practice session.***Mazda Motorsports and drivers from the Mazda Road to Indy have partnered with Project Yellow Light, the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Skip Barber Racing School, the Ad Council, the National Organization for Youth Safety to bring a broader awareness to the dangers of texting while driving.DAVID STRICKLAND (Administrator of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration): "It is a distinct honor to kick off this event and this conversation about one of our most serious and frankly expanding and emerging risks, and that's distracted driving. In 2010 we lost over 3000 people to distracted related driving. We want to encourage people to have both hands on the wheel and both eyes on the road every single second that you're operating that car. It really is an opportunity to be looking in this room at some of the best driving talent in America and likely the future of racing, not only here in the United States but around the world."JULIE GARNER (Co-founder, Project Yellow Light): "Five years ago my son was killed in a car crash. Sixteen-years-old, at the prime of his life. If you want to know what a mothers definition of hell is. That's it right here. Sixteen. We wanted to do everything we could to keep Hunter's name alive. And we wanted to do everything in our power to keep other people from going through this same hell."            JOHN DOONAN (Motorsports Director, Mazda North American Operations): "Many people don't know that Mazda has the youngest average age buyer in the auto industry and as the people in this room, certainly that the drivers in these seats, know that we have made a commitment not only to road car safety but to growing young driver careers. As I said earlier, when those two things come together, you have something awfully special, we expect the top bubble of safety and performance out of each of you driers out there on the race track, and when you take that drivers suit off and you get in your road car and drive out of the circuit we expect even more out of you.            ZACH VEACH (Star Mazda driver and Anti-texting While Driving Advocate): "There was a young girl close to my home who had her license for a very short period and sadly pulled out in front of a tractor trailer semi and that was fatal accident. When you come from a town like I do, I only have 200 people there. When something happens it really hurts all of us and hits is right at home. I am so excited for having Mazda and everyone tied into this program because being able to work together is what's going to cause change. It has to be an effort from a lot of people. Working together with same goals, and the same ideas. There are a lot of drivers in this room and we don't necessary get along on the track but we need to work together on this cause, And if we stand beside each other and try to bring up awareness and get kids, and even adults, to put down the cell phones we can save a lot of lives."IZOD INDYCAR SERIES POST-PRACTICE QUOTES:BEAUX BARFIELD (President of Competition, INDYCAR): "(The grinding) was a good effort. They wanted to try it and I don't blame them. From feedback I was getting from the teams with the grinding, I was very sure I was going to stick with my chicane program. The two together certainly look likes what we needed to get this race going." (How does this affect tomorrow's schedule?): "We lost some time today, but I think that was some good quality time at the end there. With the proper chicane that we will install tonight, that will make the track different enough that they'll be able to go out and adapt to it pretty quickly and we'll have a good productive session in the morning. So, no schedule changes. Tomorrow's schedule will remain unchanged as far as I'm concerned. We will be out there late constructing the chicane tonight, but we have a good plan in place, much like we did when we brought the tires out. We will have to move some walls around to get some room to lay the asphalt in. The asphalt is on its way. It will be a slightly different chicane from last year because last year we had a three-curb chicane and this year it will be two and a layout identical to what the tires laid out just now. So we can go out and use the rubber laid down as a good guide for how we're going to lay the curbs out. On a different note, but certainly related, the qualifying groups for (IZOD IndyCar Series) will be set based on tomorrow morning's practice times. None of the times today counted to the separation of the groups." (The curbs have gone from three to two?): "Correct. When I saw it last year and thought it was too confining. I came up with that idea and when I came back this year with these drivers, I ran it by several of them and when it mentioned it in the drivers' meeting this morning, everyone immediately nodded. So good support from the drivers. And I think they just proved that that had a little better flow and there's less likelihood for issues there. (It's Right to Left?): "It actually goes from right to left. They come out of Turn 12 on the the left. They'll naturally fade back to the right and then (the chicane) takes them from right to left and they just get straight and settled before they get to the tracks, which is how we intended." (Too early to say what the start will look like?): "I'm going to have to look at it. Honestly from issues I had with ALMS last year, the start looked good when I had the drivers straddle the curbs. I think there's a possibility to do that this year, but we had an issue with some of the cars in the back of the field that were on the right that were going too fast when they got to the tracks. So as much as it did look good, I don't see be able to do that this year based on the speed that the cars will be going and the right-hand side is bumpier than the left." (Problem with the track was the pavement leading up to the tracks or the tracks?): "I believe the problem with the track is the pavement before you get to the railroad tracks. A lot of the problem is the tracks are the high ground in that area, whereas the pavement in the Turn 7 area or at pit in the tracks are the low ground, so it's easy to pave across them and achieve what we're able to there. As quick and as easy as that is and it appears to be, it's really impossible to do the same thing to do on the backstraight. It's really an unfortunate challenge there for us." (Is there any discussion for paving over the tracks in the future?): "There's really no chance for paving over the tracks on the backstraight, so we're really going to have to look at our options for the future." (What are those options?): "It would require what I think would be a pretty significant commitment from the City, and beyond what they already showed us, it would be a pretty tall order. They've been great with a lot of the paving they've done in other areas. It would probably include a significant repave job and what my expectations are for an event like this and it would an above and beyond what we've asked for. For what we created today with a little simpler chicane, I'd live with us being able to do this event like that in the future."WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): "It is what it is. It's the same for everyone, and it's another street course that we have to learn to be quick at." (About the traditional right-left chicane): "At the end of the day, we left last year thinking taking the chicane out would be a great idea to create a better passing zone, that was the logic behind it. If we could over the train tracks we'd be doing it, but we just can't. That's the way we fixed it, and I don't know if it's going to improve racing, but obviously can't run a good race on it, so it'll be what it'll be. I think it will still be a good race."TONY KANAAN (No. 11 GEICO/Mouser Electronics KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): "Obviously after this morning we all agreed that we couldn't go over like that, the railroad tracks. We got together and I think those are the things we face sometimes. We all thought last year, it was unanimous throughout us drivers that we could take the chicane out. For some reason, and I think Tony Cotman had the perfect explanation, those railroad tracks, they sit on a rubber underneath the construction, so they are not the same from a year ago. And we all thought we could avoid the chicane and have better passing zone, and obviously we found out it was not. And I think it was a great response between us drivers, INDYCAR, Cotman and the city itself to be able to change it. I think that we work extremely hard, especially the drivers, with Tony Cotman the past few months to try to make changes to the track to make it better, and we actually asked to change Turn 6 as well, and we made the change and we still don't think it's right, so we're going to try to work on that corner, and as far as the chicane, I think it was unanimous throughout us that we didn't want it, but right now it's the challenges that we face on a normal temporary street course, so we did the best solution for what we got. Hopefully we'll put a good show for the fans."RYAN BRISCOE (No. 2 PPG Automotive Refinishes Team Penske Chevrolet): "This track is brutal, really a physical bumpy course, but we knew that coming in after last year's race. Overall the No.2 PPG machine performed well this afternoon and my guys did a great job making late notice changes to the car as decisions with the track were being made. Whatever the final track decisions are heading into qualifying, I know I'm going to have good car under me and we'll be ready to compete."SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 7 TrueCar Dragon Racing Chevrolet): "It was a very short day. The shortest Friday ever. The car is pretty good. We gave it our best shot based upon what we knew from last year. It seems to be pretty close. We'll see what we can do for tomorrow. With half-an-hour, we hardly got anything done. We tried a damper adjustment and that seemed to help. So now we're going to take a look at what we did today, try to make it better and go for it tomorrow."SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): "We tried two very different setups on the Target car today. It didn't seem like we had much track time. The organizers and INDYCAR are doing everything they can with the chicane to put on a good race. They will get the chicane sorted out tonight and it will be the same for everyone tomorrow."TAKUMA SATO (No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): "It was a short day in terms of practice time. We had to try quite a few things like ride height - particularly over the bumps which you have to fight. We need to look into the data but there are a number of things we have to improve quite a lot to get the balance right and get a little bit more grip overall. Let's see how the chicane will change for tomorrow too. We will evaluate a few things and hopefully we are closer to having the right balance tomorrow."GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 38 Service Central Honda): "Not a bad day, overall. I think we're probably in the hunt. We didn't get a clear lap over there so it's hard to tell where we are speed-wise. Certainly, I think we could have made a run up there in the top-five or six but we have a little bit of speed to find to catch up to Will. He's pretty far out there. I feel pretty good about it. This is a place we were pretty strong at last year and I think we'll be able to do that again."BRUNO JUNQUEIRA (No. 67 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda): "I love this new car. It's very fast and brakes very well. It's a real rocket ship. I haven't gotten to drive a single seater race car for a while so this was a real treat. The track is very bumpy and I need to get used to it. It was a shame to get only half an hour practice because I was counting on more to get acclimated with the car. I have a lot of work to do but I'm going to get there."CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 83 NovoLog FlexPenHonda): "It was a good start to the weekend. It was nice to see the track and the series come up with a solution that works for a little bit of practice today. The car is pretty good. I think the weekend is looking up. We'll see how tomorrow goes. I think that qualifying is going to be pretty important here, even though there are some passing opportunities."JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 27 Team GoDaddy.com Chevrolet): "Obviously, 95 percent of the track is going to be the same tomorrow as it was today. It's just the chicane might have a little different profile, but at least we had a chicane to work with. Our car was reasonable, but it's tough with so little track time. The gap to the guy in first is still pretty big, so we'll take what we can from today and credit to the series for getting us out there and getting us a solid half hour of practice. It's unfortunate what transpired, but I think everybody did a good job and kept their heads cool and we put on at least a bit of a show for the fans here today. We'll hit the track running tomorrow and everything will be good and forgotten."RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 Team DHL/Sun Drop Citrus Soda Chevrolet): "We can't take much away from today. We had some braking issues that we had to sort out for tomorrow. We're seventh and we can definitely improve from there. It's good. The track is going to change a lot tomorrow and we can't react too much."MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 26 Team Dr Pepper Ten Chevrolet): "I never had a lot of consecutive laps and here you need laps to develop a rhythm, so I never was in a rhythm for Practice 2. Lap time will come from a rhythm. Once we get the track to where we're going to keep it, we can start working on getting faster."ED CARPENTER (No. 20 Fuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): "At least we all got a bit of the session this afternoon. It turned out OK in the second session despite the bit of cluster that was this morning. As the drivers mentioned to INDYCAR, we didn't want the chicane from last year. We thought we could go straight over the railroad tracks and we tried it this morning. But it didn't work. We all sat down and discussed it. We came up with a temporary solution for today and we'll get a better setup for tomorrow with the chicane. It was good to get a normal session after everything was so abnormal this morning. We still have a lot of work to do, but I feel like we are in position to move up the grip a bit in qualifying." JR HILDEBRAND (No. 4 National Guard Panther Racing Chevrolet): "It was a little bit of a hectic first day, but you know we got a little bit of time out on the track and there was a lot of traffic. I think we could probably find four or five tenths just by putting a lap together. But in general the car feels really good. The track is definitely rough; to me it seems rougher than last year. Half the track has been repaved so that part is really smooth, but the other half is super rough. That will definitely be something that we have to continue to keep an eye on as we move forward because with the engines being under a little higher stress that could raise some issues with performance. They've got some fixes to make over night with the race track but we'll come back with guns blazing tomorrow."SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda): "I don't know what those guys said. I thought it was a lot of fun. It was really throwing the car into the corner and dealing with it. I thought it was a lot of fun. Railroad tracks were actually something to deal with on the exit of the corner. It was a really good change."SIMONA DE SILVESTRO (No. 78 Nuclear Clean Air Energy Lotus HMV Racing Lotus): It was a bit of a weird day with the track changes during the day, but it's OK. We made some improvements in the car. We'll see what we've got tomorrow. The chicane is going to be different, so we'll just keep working on the rest of the track and try to find some speed through the corners.MIKE CONWAY (No. 14 ABC Supply Co./A.J. Foyt Racing Honda): "We only got 30 minutes and it will probably be different tomorrow but it's the same for everybody. The car got better and better with each run so I'm just getting a good feel for what we've got and learn the circuit some more. There's still some time left in me but it's a good start and we just have to keep it going from there."HELIO CASTRONEVES (No. 3 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet): "What an interesting day for the track and the Penske Truck Rental car. We had a slight problem with the brakes that we discovered towards the end of the session so we decided to stop so that we don't have long term issues. We are looking forward to seeing how things are for tomorrow."E.J. VISO (No. 5 CITGO/PDVSA KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): "It was a colorful day due to the different tracks we had for each practice session. And the one we had in the last session is still not the one we will have for qualifying. However, even with the limited track time we had today we believe the changes we made from the first practice to the second improved the car. We still have some issues to address and that is what we will work on for tomorrow."RUBENS BARRICHELLO (No. 8 BMC/Embrase KV Racing Technology Chevrolet): "It was a pretty short day for someone trying to learn the track. However, from the word go I was okay with the setup of the car, so I was able to do fast lap times. We still have a lot of work to do to, but I am much happier now with the chicane that they added to stop the car launching."SATURDAY'S SCHEDULE:7 a.m. - Garages open8 - 8:40 a.m. - Firestone Indy Lights practice

9 - 10 a.m. - IZOD IndyCar Series practice11:05 - 11:40 a.m. - Firestone Indy Lights Sunoco Pole Qualifying (European-style qualifying)12:05 p.m. - 1:20 p.m. - IZOD IndyCar Series pole qualifying (knockout qualifying/Firestone Fast Six)