RACING ROUNDUP Hamilton secures pole for Busch 250; Tracy, Hornish are fastest before races

This is Bobby Hamilton's first pole of the season, third of his career.
COMBINED DISPATCHES
FOUNTAIN, Colo. -- Bobby Hamilton Jr. won the pole position for the NASCAR Busch 250 at Pikes Peak International Raceway on Friday.
Hamilton's speed of 133.319 mph got him on the front row for today's race.
Stacy Compton was second at 133.259 followed by Ron Hornaday Jr. at 132.939. Series points leader Scott Riggs was 18th at 130.823.
A gusting tailwind hampered drivers in the front stretch.
"The wind was really messing with everybody entering the corner," Hamilton said.
It will be Hamilton's first start on the pole this season and the third of his career. He is sixth in the points standings.
In seven starts since hiring Harold Holly as crew chief for Team Marines Ford, Hamilton has won two races and had six top-10 finishes.
Stanton Barrett spun entering Turn 1 and his car struck the wall on the driver's side. He was uninjured and his first-lap speed of 129.697 mph was good enough for 22nd.
CART
VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- CART points leader Paul Tracy was feeling the wrath of his competitors and was under the scrutiny of the sanctioning body Friday after taking the provisional pole for the Vancouver Molson Indy.
Tracy's lap of 1 minute, 1.706 seconds -- 103.906 mph -- tentatively added another point to his series lead over Bruno Junqueira. He's up by 16 points with another up for grabs today in final qualifying for Sunday's race.
The anger aimed at Tracy came from Newman/Haas Racing, which fields cars for Junqueira and third-place qualifier Sebastien Bourdais, and Rocketsports Racing, whose entry is Alex Tagliani, fourth on Friday.
Both teams complained that Tracy, who posted his fast lap early in the 30-minute session on the first of his two sets of qualifying tires, did some major blocking on the tight 1.78-mile street circuit in the last few laps.
CART stewards were viewing videotape after the session to determine if Tracy would be penalized. Official results of the qualifying had not been posted and the teams would have 30 minutes following that posting to file an official protest.
Junqueira managed to put in his fast lap of 1:01.706 -- good for second on the provisional grid -- on his last trip around the track, after finally passing Tracy. But he was very frustrated after losing what he said was a faster lap when he came up behind Tracy before that.
IRL
BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Sam Hornish Jr. finally cracked a smile and the speed charts Friday at Michigan International Speedway.
Hornish, who has struggled to keep pace with his rivals all year, took advantage of a new Chevrolet engine to turn the fastest lap of the day in practice for Sunday's Firestone Indy 400.
Pushing hard in his yellow No. 4 Pennzoil Dallara/Chevy, Hornish sped around MIS at 223.618 mph, comfortably beating a field of Toyota and Honda-powered cars that have made life miserable for him this season.
Kenny Brack, driving a Dallara/Honda, was second fastest at 222.983, and Scott Dixon in a G Force/Toyota was next at 222.493. Bryan Herta (Dallara/Honda) was fourth at 222.177.