Junqueira wants a turnaround

The Brazilian has lately been losing ground to leader Paul Tracy in this year's championship race. He is now 28 points behind leader Tracy and struggled in the last race in Montreal. With only five races left, a turnaround is needed.

Last year, Junqueira was in a class of his own in Denver as he lead the entire race. Tracy struggled with the new street track and trailed home 8th after qualifying in 15th.

Junqueira will also be hoping to reward his Newman/Haas Racing team in their 350th series race. "I think it will be really important for me to win in Denver," he said. "I want to earn my first back-to-back win. It's a big race for my sponsors and for the team in their 350th start."

But the track will be different this year, thanks to the criticism of the surface last time around. Most of the surface has been relaid and the manhole covers reset to improve overtaking possibilities.

"They have done a lot of work on the circuit to make it more conducive to passing," says Team Rahal's Michel Jourdain Jr, who is currently third in the Champ Car points race just seven points behind Junqueira. "I drove around the track in a passenger car and could see they have put a lot of time and effort into smoothing out the racing line."

Denver will also see a return of the single-car qualifying that is so popular with both drivers and spectators. Former F1 star Mika Salo also makes his debut with PK Racing. The Finn is replacing Max Papis for the rest of the year.

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Junqueira wants a turnaround

Bruno Junqueira badly needs a repeat of last year's Denver victory when the Champ Cars return to the high-altitude 1.6 mile street track this weekend.