Qualifying: Tagliani takes pole

Tagliani was 3.5 mph slower than Kenny Brack in the morning practice session. But in single-file qualifying, without the benefit of a draft, Brack only managed third fastest on 227.835 mph. Cristiano da Matta split the two with a 228.198 mph lap in his Newman-Haas Lola-Toyota.

Tagliani was the 11th man to qualify, with the order basd on championship standings. His target was the 227.551 mph lap turned in by Bryan Herta, which ultimately put the American fourth on the grid.

After Tagliani's run in his Forsythe Reynard-Ford, no one approached his time until da Matta and Brack came close late in the session.

"I was keeping an eye on the weather, and I thought Kenny was going to do it," said Tagliani after taking his third career Champ Car pole. "Qualifying doesn't have much to do with the race here, but it's nice to know we have the speed.

Da Matta qualified poorly for the other superspeedway race this year at Michigan International Speedway, but he drove a strong race to finish fourth. Second on the grid matched his best qualifying performance of the 2001 season.

"At Michigan, the car was set up the way Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi liked it, and that didn't work for me," he said. "But we made the car better on Saturday and it was even better in the race.

"We were able to take what we learned at Michigan and at this point, I think we have a better car for the race than we had there. Our speed today was more or less what I expected. There's not much you can do after you start a qualifying lap here. You just put your foot to the floor and wait for the number on the dash."

Brack qualified in the top three for seven of the eight oval races this year.

"The car was good in qualifying," he reported. "We didn't have the ultimate speed, but we came close. The important thing is that the car feels good and solid for the race."

For full Fontana qualifying results, click here.