Highlights

Edmonton track still tough on Allmendinger

(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-23 10:14

EDMONTON, Alberta - If A.J. Allmendinger is going to win his fourth straight race Sunday, he's got a lot of work to do on an unfriendly track.

He will start fourth in the 18-car field in the Edmonton Grand Prix after crashing out of the opening round of time trials Friday and spinning out during a late-session effort in Saturday's final qualifying. Two-time defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais will start from the pole.

"I don't know exactly what happened in qualifying, but I know A.J. was pretty upset," said Forsythe Championship Racing teammate Paul Tracy, who will start second. "He walked away from the team to clear his head.

"Fourth isn't that bad and he's only a couple of tenths (of a second) off," Tracy added. "But I'd be mad if I was fourth, too."

After cooling down, Allmendinger said, "I don't think we had enough for pole but I think we probably could've been quick enough for second or third."

A victory by Allmendinger would match the winning streak Bourdais put together at the start of this season and help keep the 24-year-old Californian in the battle for the title. With the two points Bourdais earned this weekend by winning the provisional pole Friday and the top starting spot, Allmendinger now trails by 25.

Another win would also make Allmendinger the first American driver to win four in a row in the Champ Car World Series since Al Unser Jr. in 1990.

"When you get a taste of winning, like he has, you want to win them all," said Tracy, the leading active driver in the series with 30 victories. "When you win three in a row, you think you're just going to keep on winning."

Since being fired by RuSport Racing last month and quickly being picked up by Gerry Forsythe's team, Allmendinger had started from the front row three straight times and has gone unbeaten in the races.

But, even with all that success and the confidence it built, Allmendinger was wary of the fast, bumpy and treacherous Edmonton circuit.

A year ago, in the inaugural race on the 1.973-mile, 14-turn temporary circuit at City Center Airport, Allmendinger — trying desperately to get his first career victory — found himself in the lead with eight laps to go and totally in charge.

But he wound up sliding into a wall and finishing 14th. As his team listened on the radio, hoping to hear he was unhurt, Allmendinger produced a wail of anguish.

"I just threw it away," the devastated youngster said.

The crash Friday came early in the qualifying session and left him 17th on the provisional grid heading into Saturday's session. A series of early red flags — one brought out when Tracy had an electrical failure and slid backward into a tire barrier — kept Allmendinger in the pits.

He sat in his car, waiting for the right moment, peering straight ahead through his open visor.

Finally, Allmendinger got on track with just over 12 minutes to go in the 30-minute session. He quickly moved up the speed chart — seventh on his second lap and into the top spot on his third lap.

But that turned out to be his highlight of the day. Bourdais, Tracy and former RuSport teammate Justin Wilson all jumped past him in the next few minutes. Allmendinger moved aside for Tracy on what turned out to be his fast lap, waited for a bit of distance and took off on what he hoped would be a winning lap in the last minute.

It wound up with Allmendinger spinning round and round through the grass, ending any hope of a front row start and trying to erase any of those Edmonton doubts from his mind.

"I'm a little frustrated because I didn't get everything out of the car," Allmendinger said. "But the Forsythe team always seems to get it perfect for the race, so I'm confident that we'll be very strong.

"And, you never know, maybe Paul and Sebastien will get together at the start and I'll be leading after Turn 1."

Bourdais, who earned his fourth pole of the season and the 22nd of his career, won't be surprised by any mistakes Sunday.

"I think just about everybody makes mistakes on this track," he said. "If it's flat out racing for 85 laps tomorrow, there's sure to be a lot of mistakes."