Portland, OR (My Sportsbook) - Series points leader Bruno Junqueira earned one championship point for winning Friday's provisional pole at the Portland International Raceway. The No.6 Newman/Haas driver circled the 10-turn, 1.969- mile road course in 59.266 seconds (119.603 m.p.h.). The Brazilian's provisional pole expanded his lead over second-place driver Patrick Carpentier to two points (77-75). Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais was second fastest on Friday with a time of 59.718 seconds. Defending series champion Paul Tracy (59.791), A.J. Allmendinger (59.803) and Alex Tagliani (59.900) were the only drivers to break the one-minute barrier. The times were well off the record lap of 57.738 seconds (122.768 m.p.h.) set in June 2000 by Helio Castroneves. Last week's Milwaukee Mile winner, American Ryan Hunter-Reay, was the seventh quickest of 18 cars. The second and final qualifying session is set for Saturday at 4:45 p.m. (et) with the race is scheduled to begin on Sunday at 4 p.m. (et). |
