CART TOYOTA GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING: WITH WEATHER ON WAY, TRACY MIGHT STAY HIS WINS PROVISIONAL POLE; RAIN COULD IMPACT QUALIFYING.

Byline: A.J. Perez Staff Writer

LONG BEACH - CART drivers faced a rare dilemma Friday before the first qualifying session for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

It wasn't whether to hit the track early or late to rack up the best time, but what to do about the weather. The possibility it might rain today during the final qualifying session added a sense of urgency to the normally routine first day.

It's the kind of environment in which Forsythe Racing's Paul Tracy has thrived this season. The winner of the first two CART races this season secured the provisional pole for Sunday's race, edging Bruno Junqueira and his Newman/Haas rookie teammate Sebastien Bourdais on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile street circuit.

``I think everybody knows the weather could be bad (today) and bad Sunday,'' Tracy said. ``We all hope it's not, but I think everybody (Friday) was pushing it to the limit to secure a good position on the grid.''

Tracy qualified with a lap time of 1 minute, 9.079 seconds, an average of 102.561 mph. The provisional pole ensures Tracy will start on the front row for the third time this season.

The qualifying times today will be compared to Friday's times, with the faster of the two carrying over.

As Friday progressed, the weather reports improved. Forecasts went from showers to a slight chance of drizzle today, according to AccuWeather. There remains a 30-percent chance it will rain Sunday, and if that happens, it would be the first time in race history.

Qualifying resumes at 1:45 p.m. today.

Bourdais, who took the pole in both St. Petersburg, Fla., and Monterey, Mexico, finished 0.163 seconds behind Tracy. Junqueira was 0.041 off the pace.

As usual, Junqueira had setbacks in qualifying. In St. Petersburg, he spun out during the second qualifying session, negating his best time. In Monterrey, slow traffic was the culprit. He started from the seventh position the first two races.

``It's kind of frustrating because I left a lot on the table,'' Junqueira said.

Junqueira said he was putting together his best run when the red flag came out with a minute left in qualifying. Team Herdez's Roberto Moreno spun out of control at turn 8 after rear-ending Tracy.

``I was setting up for my last lap (when) Moreno came, ... racing into the back of my car,'' Tracy said. ``He didn't damage my car, but he ended up in the tires.''

Moreno's car lost its rear wing.

The only other mishap occurred when American Spirit Team Johansson driver Ryan Hunter-Reay spun out on turn 1, but he quickly returned.

With the exception of Bourdais and Lavin, the bottom seven qualifying times were run by rookies. Jimmy Vasser, the 2002 Grand Prix of Long Beach pole-sitter, was 10th.

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Paul Tracy heads out of the pit area Friday, when he won the provisional pole for Sunday's Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

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