Qualifying 2: Fernandez again

With elevated track temperatures thanks to a blazing afternoon sun, Fernandez nearly lost control of his Lola-Honda in Turn 2. The lap was only good for sixth place, but he adjusted to run the second tour in 22.176 seconds, just 0.029s quicker than Tracy had managed.

"That was the first time the car stepped out on me all weekend," said owner/driver Fernandez after claiming his third career pole. "The car felt good in the warm-up laps, but when I put on the power in Turn 2, it went into a slow slide.

"I went faster on the second lap through pride, more than anything," he added. "After being fastest all weekend, it would have been a disappointment to not get the pole."

Tracy was one of the few drivers who ran his best lap of the weekend in qualifying. The Canadian won at Milwaukee in 1995 and '99.

"I guess I just got beat on the last lap again, but I thought the time would only hold up for fifth or sixth," Tracy said. "We made a shock change front and rear to try to stabilize the car. The car was better than it has been all weekend and if we can improve it again for the race, we should be looking strong."

Patrick Carpentier said he was the most surprised man in Milwaukee after his lap of 22.324 second held up for third place. He was running his first laps of the weekend in his spare Reynard-Ford after damaging his race car in the morning practice.

"It's been a terrible weekend," he remarked. "We crashed a car this morning and it felt like I was on cold tires all the time. But the spare car had a lot more grip and felt more predictable."

Scott Dixon qualified fourth for his Ganassi Racing debut, just ahead of his team-mate Bruno Junqueira. Shinji Nakano demonstrated the competitiveness of Fernandez Racing by qualifying sixth, while the top 10 was filled by Cristiano da Matta, Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Tora Takagi. The 19-car field was separated by 0.751 second.

Sunday's race has been extended from 225 to 250 laps.

"It adds a new dimension," Tracy commented. "It should be more exciting, with more passing and more green flag pit stops."

For the full grid positions, click here.