CHAMP CAR QUALIFYING SESSION ONE

• The CART FedEx Championship will once again follow the new qualifying format introduced in 2002 for the Series' Round 2 race. This is this first of two qualifying sessions slated for the weekend that will culminate in Sunday's 28th Annual Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, which consists of 90 laps around the 1.968 miles (3.168 km) street circuit in downtown Long Beach, Calif.

• Gone are the days of divided qualifying groups, as the 2002 season brings all Champ Cars on course in a single session that will require drivers to race for their starting position for Sunday's race. This new format is designed to provide more excitement for drivers and spectators alike.

• 2002 QUALIFYING FORMAT: The return of Friday qualifying at street circuits and road courses and a revised qualifying procedure will see the fastest driver from each day of qualifying awarded a bonus point. Each race's pole winner will again be determined by the fastest lap of both Friday and Saturday qualifying sessions, but the provisional pole winner will be guaranteed a front row starting spot regardless of the outcome of final qualifying.

Additional qualifying enhancements include the establishment of a maximum of 15 timed laps per session with a guaranteed 45 minutes (of a 60 minute session) of green flag time at road course events. Additionally, all cars will qualify in one group. The penalty for creating a red flag situation in road course qualifying has also been changed. Drivers causing such conditions will now lose their fastest lap in that session rather than be parked for eight minutes in the pits as has been the case the last few seasons. The practice of carry-over penalties to the next race has also been abolished.

• CART FedEx Championship Series Starter Jim Swintal displays the GREEN FLAG at 1:40 p.m. The Champ Cars now have the option to take the downtown streets of Long Beach for the first qualifying session.

• At 1:45 p.m., Cars have not yet elected to tour the course for qualifying. Under the new qualifying procedures, each driver will be allowed a maximum of 15 laps during the session.

• At 1:59 p.m., #16 DOMINGUEZ is the first car on course.

• At 2:02 p.m., #26 TRACY and a number of other cars begin to turn qualifying laps.

• At 2:05.p.m., #26 TRACY is fastest will a 1:10.371 (100.678 mph).

• At 2:09 p.m., The action starts to pick up as pit lane begins to empty. #51 FERNANDEZ misses Turn 8 and continues into the runoff area. #51 FERNANDEZ is away with no apparent damage.

• At 2:12 p.m., #26 TRACY still tops the speed charts in qualifying with a 1:09.825 (101.465 mph). #20 BELL misses Turn 8 and continues into the runoff.

• At 2:14 p.m., The top three are #26 TRACY, with a best time of 1:09.825 (101.465 mph), #5 TAKAGI with a 1:09.866 (101.406 mph) and #4 JUNQUEIRA with a 1:09.990 (101.226 mph).

• RED FLAG at 2:15 p.m. for #22 PAPIS who has spun and come to a halt in the tire wall on the outside of Turn 8. #22 PAPIS will lose his best lap time (stood in eighth position at the time of the incident) for causing the stoppage.

• At 2:20 p.m., GREEN FLAG restart. Less than 20 minutes remain in the first qualifying session.

• At 2:22 p.m., #10 KANAAN moves into the second spot with a lap of 1:09.850 (101.429 mph).

• At 2:26 p.m., #11 FITTIPALDI tops the charts with a 1:09.522 (101.907 mph), followed by #6 DA MATTA with a 1:09.812 (101.484 mph) – moving #26 TRACY back to third.

• At 2:27 p.m., #12 BRACK reported as brushing the wall at the exit of Turn 8.

• At 2:32 p.m., Less than eight minutes remaining. #20 BELL brushes the wall in Turn 8 and continues.

• At 2:34 p.m., #6 DA MATTA tops the charts with a lap of 1:09.396 (102.092 mph). #39 ANDRETTI brushes the wall and continues upon exiting Turn 8. #6 DA MATTA is followed by #11 FITTIPALDI and #8 VASSER.

• At 2:36 p.m., #8 VASSER tops the speed charts with a 1:09.373 (102.126 mph). #4 JUNQUEIRA misses Turn 8 and is forced into the runoff area.

• At 2:38 p.m., #6 DA MATTA takes the provisional pole back with a late session flyer of 1:09.092 (102.542 mph). #9 JOURDAIN is off in the runoff area in Turn 8 with no power.

• At 2:40 p.m., CHECKERED FLAG flies. #4 JUNQUEIRA overruns Turn 6 and is in the runoff area. #33 Tagliani makes contact with the wall in Turn 10 and does heavy damage to the right front.

• With a fast lap time of 1:09.092 (102.542 mph), #6 DA MATTA wins the provisional pole for Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and with that, guarantees himself a spot on the front row. #11 FITTIPALDI followed with a lap of 1:09.220 (102.352 mph), then #8 VASSER with a 1:09.373 (102.126 mph), #9 JOURDAIN with a 1:09.548 (101.869 mph) and #4 JUNQUEIRA at 1:09.549 (101.868 mph).

• Bridgestone Tire engineers report that track temperatures ranged from 80 to 84 degrees Fahrenheit, and air temperature from 71 to 75, during the first Champ Car qualifying session.

CHAMP CAR TOP THREE QUOTES FROM QUALIFYING SESSION ONE

CRISTIANO DA MATTA (#6 Chevron/Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): (On potentially tying CART's all-time win streak at four with a win this weekend) "I'm not looking to tie the win streak record this weekend. If it happens, then it happens. I've never been on pole before in my career, but I'm confident that if I start on the front row I will be able to battle all day.” (On the car's improvement) “Our car is much better than Mexico. Traction control is beginning to come along and make a slight difference. I think it will help our lap times a little, but we are all good drivers and it can't make a tremendous difference in times.”

CHRISTIAN FITTAPALDI (#11 Eli Lilly/Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): “Actually we had a pretty trouble free day today. We left Mexico and tested in Sebring which seemed to help. The car wasn't exactly to my liking in the afternoon session, but we didn't have any major problems. I had a lot of push this afternoon. Overall, I'm really happy with our performance this afternoon.” (On the new qualifying procedure) “This format is much better than last year's format. There are still some problems that we need to work out, but I think they will work themselves out as the drivers familiarize themselves with the new procedure.”

JIMMY VASSER (#8 Shell/Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone): (On the teams' decision to wait until qualifying was well underway before taking the course) “It's a little bit crazy with this new system in place and the rule changes. It creates drama, yes. But I think the first 20 minutes we needed some fire eaters or jugglers to entertain the fans behind me because they were yelling at me to get into my car. The car, however, was working quite well. The secret to our success is a matter of putting everything together and overcoming those small glitches in the race. But it's only Friday and my teammate Michel (Jourdain, who qualified fourth on the provisional chart) and I have been running well. Testing has gone well this season and I think Jourdain has to be the surprise of the season thus far. Team Rahal has high expectations and I know we can go far.”

• Bevan Edwards of Costa Mesa, Calif., won the right to spend a day with the Simple Green CART Safety Team in a promotion at an Ace Hardware store in Huntington Beach, Calif. on Thursday. FOX Sports Radio AM 1150 was broadcasting live from the location and Patrick Racing rookie driver Townsend Bell (#20 Visteon/Patrick Racing/Toyota/Reynard/Bridgestone) was on hand to sign autographs as well as members of the Simple Green CART Safety Team and the Simple Green girls.

“Thanks to Simple Green for the promotion,” said Edwards. “I am very excited to be a part of the Simple Green CART Safety Team for my first race.”

• This afternoon's SPEED Channel telecast of the opening round of qualifying for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach featured the debut of a unique and breathtaking new camera. The “Eye-View” Driver Cam mounted inside the helmet of driver Paul Tracy (#26 KOOL Honda/Reynard/Bridgestone) provided viewers with the same view Tracy saw through the visor of his helmet. It was the first opportunity for many viewers to really see the buffeting the driver's head takes on the circuit, and brings an entirely new dimension to the concept of the on-board camera.

“When I saw Tracy close the visor and the camera was shooting through the visor, I just said, ‘wow!'” said FOX Sports Coordinating Producer Doug Sellars. “This will bring our viewers as close as they possibly can get to being in the car.”

• The deadline media room in the Dan Gurney Media Center was dedicated today to Howard Handy who passed away earlier this year. Handy, a former sportswriter and newspaper editor, was a fixture at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for the last several years running the deadline room in the media center. Los Angeles Times motorsports reporter Shav Glick, former Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach publicist Hank Ives and freelance motorsports journalist Lewis Franck each remembered Handy before the room was christened “The Howard Handy Deadline Press Room.” Members of Handy's family were also on-hand for the ceremony.

• This concludes the CART FedEx Championship Series pit notes for Friday, April 12, 2002, from Long Beach, Calif. We'll see you tomorrow for the first Champ Car practice session at 10 a.m., followed by round two qualifying at 1:45 p.m. Good night!