Dixon on top in shortened practice day

SPEEDWAY, Ind. (AP) - Scott Dixon turned turning the fastest Thursday lap in practice for the Indianapolis 500. The day started late to give the last rookie time to get in orientation .

The 2008 Indy 500 winner and two-time series champ went 223.088 mph - the second- fastest speed of the week.

American rookie Josef Newgarden was second at 222.709. Graham Rahal, another American, was third at 222.080.

Those speeds are expected to jump by 4-5 mph when practice resumes Friday and IndyCar officials give the engines more power over the three-day qualifying weekend.

Again, the two Lotus cars struggled. France's Jean Alesi - who has said he feels "unsafe" in the slower car - turned a fast lap of 207.489, while Switzerland's Simona de Silvestro's best lap was 205.690.

English rookie Katherine Legge and France's Sebastien Bourdais took their first laps of the week after team owner Jay Penske worked out a deal to put Chevy engines in the cars .