MONTEREY, CALIF. ? Cristiano da Matta finally won a spot on the pole, but left a trail of oily smoke and perturbed drivers in his wake.

Da Matta, a 29-year-old Brazilian and the dominant road course driver on the CART circuit this year, edged Kenny Brack for the pole for today’s Bridgestone Grand Prix of Monterey.

It was da Matta’s first CART pole after qualifying second five times, and the first for Newman-Haas Racing since 1999 a drought of 56 races.

Brack’s Chip Ganassi teammate Bruno Junqueira was third. All three, and seven of the top eight drive Toyota-Lolas.

About five minutes before Saturday’s qualifying session ended, da Matta blew an engine and sped around the track, trailing a thick cloud of smoke. Race officials did not wave a red flag to stop the competition, deciding there was no oil on the track.

But there turned out to be plenty of oil, and that ruined anyone’s chance for a big late run.

“When something like that happens, I think that first of all he should be courteous to try to get off line as soon as possible,” Brack said. “I know it’s difficult but at least make an effort to do it.”

Instead of pulling off the racing line, da Matta drove around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn track at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca as fast as he could.

If da Matta pulled his car to a stop, he would have triggered a red flag. That would have cost him his fastest lap, and his spot on the pole.

“I know some guys are pretty mad at me right now because I threw some oil on the track,” da Matta said, “but it was just a situation where there was not much I could have done. I knew my engine was just about to stop any time. If I stop on the race track I might cause a wreck, I might lose my lap time, so I was just trying to get back to the pits as quick as I can.”