Junqueira wins provisional pole

Toronto — Bruno Junqueira cut one point off Paul Tracy’s lead in the CART series standings by winning the provisional pole for the Molson Indy Friday.

Junqueira ran a lap at 59.486 seconds, going 106.210 mph around the 1.755-mile temporary street course at Exhibition Place. He earned one point for his qualifying effort, pulling within seven points of Tracy, and is guaranteed to start on the front row for Sunday’s race.

Tracy, a Toronto native, qualified second and was the only other driver to break the one-minute mark with a lap at 59.803. Michel Jourdain was third at 1:00.002 and Oriol Servia was fourth.

Mears wins first pole in Busch Series

Joliet, Ill. — Casey Mears won his first Busch Series pole Friday, taking the top spot for today’s Tropicana Twister 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

The last of 41 drivers to make a qualifying attempt on the 11/2-mile oval, Mears turned a lap of 181.757 mph, knocking defending race winner Johnny Sauter’s 181.616 off the pole. The difference between the leaders’ laps was 0.23 seconds.

Mears, a veteran of open-wheel racing, is running for Rookie of the Year in NASCAR’s elite Winston Cup series and is getting additional seat time in Busch and ARCA races this season.

He has won two poles and a race in ARCA.

Wood leads qualifying for Craftsman Truck race

Sparta, Ky. — Jon Wood, coming off his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win last week, earned his second career pole Friday for the Built Ford Tough 225.

The 21-year-old from Stuart, Va., set a Kentucky Speedway qualifying record for the series, navigating the 11/2-mile track in 31.832 seconds, or 169.641 mph.

Wood, the son of Winston Cup team owner Eddie Wood, won last week at Kansas Speedway despite starting last in the 36-truck field.

Veteran Bobby Hamilton will start on the front row after a lap of 169.513 mph. Chad Chaffin qualified third with a lap of 168.734 mph.