Junqueira nets provisional pole

Bruno Junqueira added another point to his very slim series lead over Patrick Carpentier by winning the provisional pole Friday for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland.

Junqueira earned one point for his fast lap of 59.266 seconds, at an average speed of 119.603 mph, on the road course at Portland International Raceway.

With the provisional pole, Junqueira upped his series total to 77, two points ahead of Carpentier.

The Brazilian driver is also guaranteed a front-row spot for Sunday’s race on the 1.969-mile permanent road course just north of downtown Portland.

Junqueira ‘s Newman-Haas Racing teammate Sebastien Bourdais was second-best Friday in 59.718 seconds, 118.698 mph. Paul Tracy overcame engine trouble in practice with a lap in 59.791 seconds, 118.553 mph.

The drivers have a second qualifying session today in preparation for the 94-lap, 186.06-mile race.

Gordon grabs DHL 400 pole

In his 13 years in NASCAR’s top series, Jeff Gordon has learned when to use finesse and when to charge.

So, making that call Friday was no sweat for the four-time champion. He charged – and the pole was his for the DHL 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.

“You know when to push it and when to hold it back,” Gordon said. “Today was a day to push it because the car was just about perfect. When the car’s getting through the corners and down the straightaways like that, it certainly makes my job easy.”

Gordon’s fast lap of 190.865 mph broke the race qualifying mark of 190.365 set last year by Bobby Labonte. But it fell short of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s track qualifying record of 191.149 at the August race in 2000.

It was Gordon’s second pole of the season and the 48th of his career.

He led a sweep of the top three spots by Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets, with rookie Brian Vickers second at 190.169 and Jimmie Johnson at 190.164.

Truex Jr. on Busch pole

Martin Truex Jr. won the pole for the NASCAR Busch Series Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, topping a record-setting qualifying session.

Truex, the series points leader, reached a top speed of 180.102 mph in his Chevrolet around the 1 1/2 -mile track. He broke the track and event record held for barely 15 minutes by Kyle Busch, who turned in a lap of 179.832 mph in his Chevrolet.

Kenny Wallace, the first driver to qualify his car, initially broke the mark with an opening lap of 178.089 mph, also in a Chevrolet. But he eventually qualified only sixth, as defending race champion Bobby Hamilton Jr. (179.605 mph), Jason Leffler (178.992) and Robby Gordon (178.093) passed him after Truex and Busch qualified for today’s race.

Harvick, Kenseth still upset

Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick just won’t let their feud go.

Each insists the other started the on-track confrontation last Sunday during the race at Pocono Raceway in which they took turns bumping each other off the track.

Both were called into the NASCAR hauler following the race and they met again Friday with NASCAR garage boss John Darby.

The meetings haven’t smoothed out their differences.

“When you get spun out under caution, it’s certainly not a mistake,” Kenseth said.

Sprague top trucks qualifier

Jack Sprague earned his 22nd career pole in the NASCAR Truck series with a lap of 118.917 mph at Memphis Motorsports Park in Millington, Tenn.

Sprague’s Chevrolet was 0.02 seconds better than Ted Musgrave’s Dodge at the .75-mile oval.