Allmendinger wins the pole, sets mark

He helped the race celebrate its 25th anniversary.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- A.J. Allmendinger is the fastest man in Cleveland -- ever.
The only American driver in the Champ Car series helped celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Grand Prix of Cleveland by setting a track record Saturday.
Allmendinger won the pole with a lap of 56.283 seconds at a speed of 134.705 mph. Jimmy Vasser had held the qualifying record of 56.417 seconds and 134.385 mph since 1998.
"That lap was close to being as good as I can get," Allmendinger said.
It's the second career pole and first of the year for the 2004 rookie of the year, who finally seems to be reaching his potential. He got his first win in Portland, Ore., last Sunday after he was fired by RuSport and hired by Forsythe Championship Racing.
Members of Allmendinger's pit crew excitedly patted him on the helmet and embraced him as he got out of his car Saturday.
"I'm really happy right now, really having a lot of fun with the whole Forsythe team," he said. "If we can come out of tomorrow's race with at least a podium, if not another victory, I'll really be pleased with the weekend."
Sebastien Bourdais, who won the provisional pole Friday and will start alongside Allmendinger, came close to the record (56.638). Justin Wilson (56.651) and Oriol Servia (56.855) will start in Row 2.
"Great job from A.J. He put a very strong lap together," said Bourdais, the series points leader. "We just seem to be struggling a little bit in qualifying the second day."
Making a point
Allmendinger earned a championship point for winning the pole. He's in third place, 60 points behind Bourdais, who opened the season with four straight wins until Portland.
Allmendinger set the record on his 14th and final lap, running a car with 200 horsepower less than the one Vasser used eight years ago.
He credited his team with giving him a solid car and noted the track conditions at Burke Lakefront Airport, which were ideal.
Race weekend is typically a sweltering one in Cleveland with temperatures reaching the 90s. Saturday's temperature was a breezy 69 degrees on the shore of Lake Erie. Also, heavy rains that flooded the area the past week cleaned dirt off the track.
"We've got the perfect recipe for a fast race track," Paul Tracy said.
While Allmendinger celebrated, Tracy, his teammate, surveyed the damage to his car after spinning into the grass twice during qualifying.
He clipped the curb going into the chicane in Turn 10 during the warmup and backed into a wall, damaging his rear wing.
Running his backup car, Tracy was the only driver not to improve his time from Friday's qualifying. He'll start fifth. The defending champion had won the pole two straight years and was disappointed with the showing.
"We had a great car and we were never able to show our speed," Tracy said.
Mario Dominguez wrecked during morning practice and did not run Saturday.
The day belonged to Allmendinger, the only driver so far this year to challenge Bourdais' dominance.
The 24-year-old Californian, who finished second last year in Cleveland, was down after getting fired by the team that brought him to Champ Car.
Not even he could expect the quick turnaround at Portland. It looked Saturday as if his momentum could continue.
"I obviously had a lot of confidence after last weekend's victory," he said. "I just really jelled with the team in the first weekend."
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