EDMONTON, Alberta -- Helio Castroneves has been the Edmonton Indy runner-up three of the past four years. Then there's that 10th place in 2010, when he was penalized for blocking while in the lead late in the race. That remains a sore subject.

So almost nothing would give the exuberant Brazilian more satisfaction than winning the 75-lap race July 22 (2 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network) on the 2.224-mile, 13-turn City Centre Airport circuit. He started strongly by topping the 25-driver field with a lap of 1 minute, 16.4920 seconds in the second practice session, which also was quickest for the day.

Click it: Edmonton Indy combined practice results | Qualifying groups | Practice 2 highlights

It also was quicker than the 2011 pole-winning time recorded by Takuma Sato (1:18.5165; 101.971 mph) in the Firestone Fast Six. Simon Pagenaud, driving the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports car, was quickest in the morning session -- also besting Sato's pole time (the first year of the course layout) -- and was fourth overall through the sessions.

Part of the reason is the street course tires supplied by Firestone Racing instead of road course Firehawks utilized last year. The new car-engine package also is a factor.  

"Basically, the Penske Truck Rental team did a good job," said Castroneves, who's third in the IZOD IndyCar Series championship standings. "We came with a really good package, and between my teammates (Will Power and Ryan Briscoe) and I, we tried some random things in the first session to get where we were this afternoon. 

"We like the direction that we are going and we are very encouraged for (qualifying). We know tomorrow and Sunday are the days that matter so we want to stay up front then so we’ll continue working. The track improved a lot for this afternoon, that’s where we were faster along with changes from this morning.  We got into a good rhythm this afternoon and the car felt fast and good."

Scott Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing car, slid into second with a lap of 1:16.4947 -- only .0027 of a second back. Mike Conway, who recorded his first podium finish of the season two weeks ago at Toronto, was third (1:16.5122) in the No. 14 ABC Supply car for A.J. Foyt Racing. He was in the top three in both sessions.

"There’s lots of great passing points on this track, and it’s going to be a hell of a race," said Dixon, who won the race in 2008 and 2010.

A one-hour session (11 a.m. ET) July 21 precedes the three rounds of qualifications (3 p.m. ET). Afternoon rain is forecast.

Canadians James Hinchcliffe (1:16.5740) and Alex Tagliani (1:16.6505) also were in the top six. Series points leader Ryan Hunter-Reay was ninth overall. The top 18 cars were separated by less than a half-second.