Paul Tracy crashes and recovers before qualifying second-fastest

MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Paul Tracy pushed his car so hard in practice, he came dangerously close to missing Friday's qualifying round for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Tracy crashed twice at the Hermanos Rodriguez track before Friday's qualifying round for the Champ Car season finale began. The Canadian recovered and posted the day's second-fastest time with a lap of 1 minute 27.962 seconds.
A.J. Almendinger secured a front-row start on Sunday with the fastest lap of 1:27.349 at a speed of 114.822 mph. The 22-year-old American took third at the Grand Prix in 2004, when he was rookie of the year.
Crew scrambled
Minutes before qualifying was to begin, Tracy's pit crew worked to change his car's rear wing and some suspension parts after he spun out hard into the tire barrier.
Tracy also had brushed up against the tire barrier earlier in the morning, but was able to drive his car into the pit with almost no damage.
Officials waved the checkered flag early when Canadian Andrew Ranger spun out and stopped on the course with about 3 minutes remaining in the session.
Points leader Sebastien Bourdais finished the session sixth, with a lap of 1:28.802 at 112.943 mph.
On a roll
The 26-year-old Bourdais set course and lap records last year when he won the Mexico City event. Tracy won the Grand Prix in 2003.
Bourdais clinched the season title two weeks ago at Surfers Paradise in Australia, and Spaniard Oriol Servia secured second place Friday, finishing seventh with a lap of 1:28.804 seconds. Third place is still up for grabs between England's Justin Wilson and Tracy.
Wilson, who has a 10-point lead over Tracy (221 points) finished the round fourth with a lap of 1:28.564 seconds.
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