CART Adrian Fernandez regains his touch

He appeared to be back in the groove for the Grand Prix of the Americas.
MIAMI (AP) -- Adrian Fernandez's topsy-turvy season is on an upswing.
Fernandez won the pole for CART's Grand Prix of the Americas in Miami, edging Oriol Servia by less than 0.04 seconds for the fastest lap in Saturday's qualifying.
It's only the fourth pole in 177 career starts for Fernandez, who will start alongside Bruno Junqueira in the front row Sunday on the narrow 1.15-mile temporary circuit.
"I think half of the battle is done once you qualify on pole, especially in tracks like this," Fernandez said. "Obviously pit stops will also be very important, especially when they're so tight. ... As long as we have good clean pit stops, I think the car is good enough to win the race."
Junqueira crashes
Junqueira had by far the fastest car in Friday's qualifying session, but he didn't give himself a chance to knock Fernandez off the pole Saturday. He crashed in his final qualifying lap and will start second because of Friday's showing.
Junqueira entered his third and final qualifying lap knowing he had more than a tenth of a second to make up. He spun out on Turn 4, crashing into a concrete wall and breaking his front suspension for the second straight day.
"I thought I had to push a little bit more. Maybe I went a little bit over the top," Junqueira said.
Servia starts third, next to Sebastien Bourdais. Series leader Paul Tracy, 17 points ahead of Junqueira, starts fifth.
"I'm just not happy with how I'm driving this weekend," Tracy said. "It's just not going well."
Good start
Fernandez's season started with two top-four showings in the three races, then peaked with a win at Portland on June 22. But he hasn't been close to a top-three finish in his seven races since, with an average starting spot of 11th and average finish of ninth over that stretch.
He was fifth at Denver on Aug. 31, and left there believing that momentum is starting to build for the team he also owns.
"The important thing is the results are coming," Fernandez said. "Maybe the consistency still isn't there, but I think we're getting close."
Mika Salo, a rookie who was second in Friday's opening qualifying session, clipped the wall Saturday and will start 15th. Another rookie, Alex Sperafico, will start last in the 19-car field: He wrecked during a practice session Saturday and did not make a qualifying run.