The name atop the list in today's first-round Champ Car qualifying changed hands twelve times in a 35-minute session source: champcarworldseries.com But the man who ended the battle on the top rung of the ladder put himself there in convincing fashion on a sun-baked Friday in Mexico City. A.J. Allmendinger (#10 Western Union Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) stunned the field with a top lap that was more than six-tenths of a second quicker than anyone else in the field as he paced first-round qualifying for Sunday's Gran Premio Tecate/Telmex Presented by Banamex. Allmendinger lapped the 2.786-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in 1:27.349 (114.822 mph), to lead the session, score a championship point and guarantee himself a front-row starting spot for Sunday's Bridgestone Presents The Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season finale. The session was stalled by a pair of red flags that fouled many strategies up and down Pit Lane as only six of the 19 drivers ran as many as 10 of their allotted 15 qualifying laps. Allmendinger hung his best time on the last of his six laps, while second-placed Paul Tracy (#3 Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) carded his top time of 1:27.962 (114.022 mph) on the fifth of the six laps that he ran in today's session. Allmendinger took the lead early in the session, knocking his RuSPORT teammate Justin Wilson (#9 Intel Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) off of the top spot on his third trip around the 17-turn course. Tracy, who led both the morning practice and the pre-qualifying warmup sessions, wrested the lead from Allmendinger one minute before the first red flag of the day flew after Timo Glock (#8 DHL Ford-Cosworth/Lola/Bridgestone) spun at the entrance to Pit Lane.
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