• Welcome back to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for this afternoon's final session of CART FedEx Championship Series qualifying in preparation for tomorrow's CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio. The weather at 1:41 p.m. is 83° F with 41 percent humidity under clear Ohio skies.

• In this morning's practice session #6 DA MATTA of Newman/Haas Racing turned the fastest lap of the weekend at 1:06.505 (122.228 mph).

• In the first round of qualifying yesterday, #32 CARPENTIER of Player's/Forsythe Racing scored a championship point for his provisional pole time of 1:07.040 (121.253 mph). A spot on the front row and another valuable championship point is up for grabs this afternoon in the second qualifying session.

• 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 championship 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 1:45 p.m. The Champ Cars now have the option to take the 2.258-mile course for the final qualifying session.

• At 2:10 p.m., #52 NAKANO is first on course.

• At 2:12 p.m., #51 PAPIS is on course.

• At 2:15 p.m., #55 DOMINGUEZ on course.

• At 2:18 p.m., #55 DOMINGUEZ has turned in the fastest time of the session at 1:10.417 (118.835 mph).

• At 2:20 p.m., #27 FRANCHITTI on course.

• At 2:21 p.m., #9 JOURDAIN takes the course.

• At 2:23 p.m., #10 KANAAN on course. #33 TAGLIANI joins the fray as well.

• At 2:24 p.m., #12 BRACK, #4 JUNQUEIRA and #5 TAKAGI on course. Just over 20 minutes remain.

• At 2:26 p.m., #26 TRACY, #8 VASSER and #20 SERVIA on course. #10 KANAAN moves to second on the speed chart at 1:08.496 (118.767 mph).

• At 2:28 p.m., #32 CARPENTIER and #39 ANDRETTI are the only two cars remaining on pit lane. Just over 16 minutes remain.

• At 2:29 p.m., #10 KANAAN improves to 1:07.721 (120.034 mph). Now #12 BRACK is fastest in the session at 1:07.516 (120.398 mph).

• At 2:30 p.m., #10 KANAAN now fastest at 1:07.227 (120.916 mph). #32 CARPENTIER and #39 ANDRETTI on course.

• At 2:31 p.m., #6 DA MATTA on pole at 1:06.914 (121.481 mph) on his third lap.

• At 2:33 p.m., #6 DA MATTA improves to 1:06.737 (121.803 mph) on his fifth lap. #32 CARPENTIER is second with his guaranteed spot earned in provisional qualifying, followed by #10 KANAAN.

• At 2:34 p.m., #11 FITTIPALDI moves to third overall at 1:06.891 (121.523 mph) on his sixth lap.

• At 2:36 p.m., #39 ANDRETTI moves to fourth at 1:06.957 (121.403 mph) on his sixth lap.

• At 2:37 p.m., #32 CARPENTIER improves his time to 1:06.771 (121.741 mph) on his fifth lap.

• At 2:40 p.m., #12 BRACK takes the pole at 1:06.736 (121.805 mph) on his 12th lap.

• At 2:41 p.m. #11 FITTIPALDI takes the pole at 1:06t.632 (121.995 mph) on his 10th lap. Now #12 BRACK steals the pole back on his 13th lap 1:06.434 (122.359 mph).

• At 2:42, #6 DA MATTA takes the pole back at 1:06.394 (122.433 mph) on his 10th lap.

• At 2:43 p.m., Now #32 CARPENTIER takes the pole at 1:06.128 (122.925 mph) on his ninth lap.

• CHECKERED FLAG at 2:45 p.m., #39 ANDRETTI will be the last car to receive the flag. #11 FITTIPALDI knocks teammate #6 DA MATTA to the third spot with the second-fastest time in qualifying at 1:06.263 (122.675 mph) on his 14th lap. #32 CARPENTIER of Player's/Forsythe Racing wins the pole at 1:06.128 (122.925 mph) on his ninth lap and earns his second championship point this weekend for the effort. #11 FITTIPALDI of Newman/Haas Racing will start second on the grid with his 14th and final tour of the 2.258-mile course at 1:06.263 (122.675 mph). #6 DA MATTA will start third in tomorrow's CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio with a lap of 1:06.394 (122.433 mph) on his 10th lap.

• Bridgestone Tire engineers report that track temperatures ranged from 125° F to 130°, and air temperature from 90° to 92°, during the final session of Champ Car qualifying for the CART FedEx Championship Series CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio.

CHAMP CAR TOP-THREE QUALIFIER QUOTES

PATRICK CARPENTIER (Player's/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Reynard/Bridgestone): “I'm extremely happy. I think it [provisional pole] was a fluke yesterday with the red flag situation so I'm glad we were able to back it up. Ford did a great job and came up with some new stuff this weekend. I feel like I'm starting to understand how to work with our engineers a little bit more and it's starting to pay off.” (On his first pole since 1998) “It's been a long time, a little bit too long. I came from a road course background and have been successful qualifying on ovals. So winning the pole on a road course is very satisfying.”

CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI (#11 Lilly Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): “My car was actually better than yesterday. But everyone had problems with grip today because it was so much hotter today. My car was quick early on, so I knew I could get more out of it later in the session. Patrick did a great job yesterday and today. Today we didn't.”

CRISTIANO DA MATTA (#6 Havoline Toyota/Lola/Bridgestone): “I had a pretty good session. I was getting tense because nobody was going out. I went out later and tried to get a clear section on the track. I got my best lap on the third lap of my second set of tires but I couldn't get the traction. I need about two tenths so we can catch Patrick tomorrow.” (When asked if he was surprised that a Ford-Cosworth/Reynard was on pole) “This series races on so many different tracks where you need different setups, so I'm not surprised. Patrick mentioned he has qualified anywhere from first to 15th this year. The Lola chassis we run is consistent everywhere and we usually qualify somewhere in the top five. But no, I'm not surprised the Reynard is up here.”

• This concludes the CART FedEx Championship Series pit notes for Saturday, August 10, 2002 from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. We'll see you tomorrow morning for more “Real Racing. Real Sport,” on race day as the Champ Cars gear up in tomorrow's warm-up session at 9:30 a.m. followed by the 12:30 p.m. ET (CBS Live) start of the CART FedEx Championship Series CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio. Good night!