Tracy shakes off early spin to claim pole for today's race

He won the 1993 event after winning the pole position.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Paul Tracy's morning spin didn't scare or even slow him down.
Just a few hours after he made two full rotations at more than 140 mph, Tracy captured the pole for the Cleveland Grand Prix -- the position he won from in 1993.
Tracy blasted around the bumpy 2.106-mile runway course at Burke Lakefront Airport in 57.546 seconds (131.749 mph) on Friday to win his first pole this season.
"It feels great," said Tracy, the defending series champion. "We've had a real good weekend so far."
And a lucky one.
Tracy's pole win came one day after he was awarded the provisional pole by Champ Car officials, who ruled that last year's winner, Sebastien Bourdais, blocked cars during Thursday's qualifying.
"I felt bad for Sebastien," said Tracy, who was at dinner when he learned he had supplanted Bourdais and picked up one point in the championship standings. "From our standpoint, it's good to be on the other end of the spectrum."
Bad reputation
Tracy is normally the one being penalized or fined for either criticizing race officials or driving aggressively. His behavior has given him a bad-boy reputation that sometimes overshadows his exceptional skills.
He showed them off during the morning's practice. As Tracy came out of Turns 9 and 10, the back end of his Forsythe Racing Lola slid out and he did two complete spins before straightening out.
Not only did Tracy maintain control of his 1,500-pound car, he kept it running during the dizzying doughnuts.
"It just wouldn't stop spinning," Tracy said. "I was thinking, 'When is this going to stop?"'
Up front
Rookie Justin Wilson had Friday's second fastest qualifying time -- 57.954 seconds (130.821 mph) -- and will start on the front row along with Tracy, who has 20 career pole wins.
Bourdais will start in the second row after posting a time of 58.034 seconds (130.641 mph).
Although, he'll start on Row 2, Bourdais doesn't intend to stay there long. He was asked which driver he'll follow into the course's notorious Turn 1, site of multicar pileups and heart-stopping passes in the past.
"I don't know if I'm going to follow anybody," quipped Bourdais, who has two wins on the circuit this season.
Tracy got another break when the qualifying session ended a few minutes early because of a spinout by Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Still on the track
Bourdais was still on the track at the time and may have been able to beat Tracy's best lap.
"At this track, you have to be at the right place at the right time and hope a yellow (flag) or red doesn't come out or you're screwed," Bourdais said.
While the Frenchman's timing was off, Tracy's couldn't have been better.
Feeling no pressure after winning the provisional pole, Tracy's team waited before sending him out onto the challenging course with its wide straightaways and tricky turns.
Tracy got a clear run of five clean laps -- and no unexpected spins.
"Then the red flag come out," he said. "It worked out perfectly for us."