Tony Kanaan was quickest in final practice ahead of qualifying for the IZOD IndyCar Series title decider at Las Vegas. The Brazilian KV Racing Technology driver edged out Oriol Servia (Newman/Haas) by 0.0246sec.
Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay was third, ahead of Ganassi driver Scott Dixon, Kanaan's teammate EJ Viso.
Several unexpected names popped up in the top 10, led by HVM's Simona de Silvestro in sixth. Vitor Meira was another star underdog in seventh for A.J. Foyt, while series returnee Tomas Scheckter put Sarah Fisher Racing's additional entry into eighth place.
The majority of the top 10 came from the second group of the split session. Hunter-Reay had led group one, ahead of his team-mate Mike Conway and Sam Schmidt driver Alex Tagliani, who ended up ninth and 10th on combined times. Title contenders Will Power (Penske) and Dario Franchitti (Ganassi) had low-key sessions and were 12th and 15th.
The only incident of the session happened within minutes of the start of group one, as Dale Coyne Racing's James Jakes had a violent, fiery impact with the Turn 2 wall after a breakage in his car's left rear suspension. Jakes jumped out of the car immediately and escaped with minor burns. He will not be able to participate in qualifying, which starts only 45 minutes after the end of practice.