Brack

MONTEREY, Calif. -- Kenny Brack on Friday earned the provisional pole position for the CART series Grand Prix of Monterey Shell 300 at the Laguna Seca Raceway.

Driving a Target Toyota/Lola, Brack posted an average speed of 114.989 miles-per-hour, circling the track in 1 minute, 10.066 seconds.

He earned a bonus point for the fastest time in the session and is guaranteed a spot in the front row for Sunday's race.

The final qualifying session on Saturday afternoon will determine the pole winner and the starting grid.

Cristiano da Matta posted the second-fastest time, finishing just .04 seconds behind Brack in a Chevron Toyota/Lola.

Canadian Patrick Carpentier finished third, despite an accident near the end of the sesssion. He posted a top lap of 114.740 mph, but crashed trying to improve that time. He was not injured in the mishap.

Completing the top 10 were Tony Kanaan, Christian Fittipaldi, Bruno Junqueira, Alex Tagliani, rookie Townsend Bell, Jimmy Vasser and Adrián Fernández.

Max Papis is the defending champion. He finished third last week at the Miller Lite 250.

Sunday's race begins at 4:30 p.m. EDT.