Scott Dixon remained the man to beat in final practice for the IndyCar Series title decider at Homestead. Ryan Briscoe was second again, ahead of the third championship contender Dario Franchitti.

The session was halted two minutes early after a big crash for Briscoe's Penske teammate Helio Castroneves. The left-rear suspension of the Brazilian's Dallara-Honda appeared to suffer a failure, pitching Castroneves into a violent spin. He was able to walk away unaided.

Franchitti had been quickest in the first half hour of the split session, with his Ganassi teammate Dixon beating Briscoe to the top spot in the second segment.

Newman/Haas/Lanigan and KV Racing continued to be the title combatants' closest challengers. Graham Rahal and Alex Lloyd were fourth and fifth overall – Lloyd having been an excellent second to Franchitti in the first part of the session – with Moraes sixth for KV.

Raphael Matos made further progress up the top 10 and ended up seventh for Luczo Dragon, while his rookie title rival Robert Doornbos (HVM) was slowest of all.

Danica Patrick (Andretti Green), Ed Carpenter (Vision) and Tomas Scheckter (Dreyer & Reinbold) completed the top ten. After her morning performance, Sarah Fisher was back in 21st having had to make an unscheduled engine change between sessions.

Qualifying is set for later this evening at 9 p.m. Eastern, airing live on Versus with the season finale set for Saturday night at 4 p.m., also live on Versus.

Pos  Driver             Team                 Time      Gap 1.  Scott Dixon        Ganassi              25.1097s 2.  Ryan Briscoe       Penske               25.1433s  + 0.0336s 3.  Dario Franchitti   Ganassi              25.2833s  + 0.1736s 4.  Graham Rahal       Newman/Haas/Lanigan  25.3648s  + 0.2551s 5.  Alex Lloyd         Newman/Haas/Lanigan  25.4022s  + 0.2925s 6.  Mario Moraes       KV                   25.4338s  + 0.3241s 7.  Raphael Matos      Luczo Dragon         25.4449s  + 0.3352s 8.  Danica Patrick     Andretti Green       25.4452s  + 0.3355s 9.  Ed Carpenter       Vision               25.4457s  + 0.3360s10.  Tomas Scheckter    Dreyer & Reinbold    25.4512s  + 0.3415s11.  Tony Kanaan        Andretti Green       25.4609s  + 0.3512s12.  Hideki Mutoh       Andretti Green       25.5089s  + 0.3992s13.  Helio Castroneves  Penske               25.5443s  + 0.4346s14.  Milka Duno         Dreyer & Reinbold    25.5813s  + 0.4716s15.  Marco Andretti     Andretti Green       25.5855s  + 0.4758s16.  Ryan Hunter-Reay   Foyt                 25.6693s  + 0.5596s17.  EJ Viso            HVM                  25.7086s  + 0.5989s18.  Dan Wheldon        Panther              25.7691s  + 0.6594s19.  Mike Conway        Dreyer & Reinbold    25.8162s  + 0.7065s20.  Justin Wilson      Coyne                25.8336s  + 0.7239s21.  Sarah Fisher       Fisher               26.0460s  + 0.9363s22.  Jaques Lazier      3G                   26.0576s  + 0.9479s23.  Robert Doornbos    HVM                  26.0613s  + 0.9516s