Race Report.(News)

CART came to Denver with a new qualifying procedure: a single-car system like that traditionally used on the oval tracks, and similar to one used at Brands Hatch earlier this year.

Since the parking-lot course at Denver is so constricted, cutting a good, clear qualifying lap becomes difficult if not impossible. Each car was allowed a four-lap attempt, with the Friday order inverted for Saturday. Still, some suggested the procedure could use fine- tuning, as running hard on cold tires proved to be the biggest challenge.

Rain on Saturday also mixed things up, and Bruno Junqueira took pole position by standing on his Friday time. He used track position on the tight, bumpy course to score his second win this year and his second consecutive at Denver.

After two botched starts and a crash at the rear of the field with Rodolfo Lavin, and both Herdez cars of Roberto Moreno and Mario Dominguez, the race finally got under way. Junqueira led the first 32 laps, followed by Oriol Servia and Sebastien Bourdais. Servia's Patrick Racing crew pulled off a near-perfect pit stop to put him in front for the next 30 laps.

On the next round of stops, both Junqueira and Bourdais got out ahead of Servia. Junqueira led the final 44 laps to take the win, despite brushing the wall in Turn One late in the race.

"This is a difficult track,'' Junqueira said. "You cannot make a single ...