Long Beach, CA (My Sportsbook) - Veteran Bruno Junqueira grabbed the provisional pole for Sunday's Grand Prix of Long Beach. The No.6 Newman Haas Racing driver posted a best lap of one minute, 08.913 seconds (102.808 m.p.h.).

The Brazilian earned one championship point for the provisional pole and a guaranteed front row starting position for the race.

"I feel really good, said Junqueira. I think the PacifiCare Newman/Haas team did a great job during the winter. We had such a long winter, but you're still working hard and it's pretty good to come up in the first day of competition and show up, very competitive and end up the day in the front. That was a great result. I think that the race is very close between everybody."

Paul Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car Series champion, was second fastest with a lap of 1:09.156 around the 1.968-mile temporary street course.

"Well, I think it shows everybody is out here, there's no joking around, commented Tracy. It's gotten real serious real quick. We've all had a lot of time off and a lot of time to think about what we need to do this year."

Alex Tagliani (1:09.450), Mario Dominguez (1:09.458) and Ryan Hunter Reay (1:09.613) completed the top-five.

Final qualifying is set of Saturday at 4:45 p.m. (et) with the race scheduled to begin on Sunday at 4 p.m. (et).