IPS: Nashville: Qualifying summary

Johncox wins Infiniti Pro Series pole at Nashville.

LEBANON, Tenn., Friday, July 19, 2002 -- Ronnie Johncox won the pole July 19 for the Indy Racing Infiniti Pro Series race at Nashville Superspeedway, the second event in the new Indy Racing League development series.

Johncox, from Jackson, Mich., turned a top lap of 27.8070 seconds, 168.303 mph in the No. 8 Rev. 1 Racing Special Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone. He also led the second practice today on the 1.3-mile concrete oval.

"We went back after the second practice session and tried to make some changes to try to make the car a little more drivable," Johncox said. "I was really having to hustle the car an awful lot in that last practice session. We wanted to make the car a little more drivable with some small changes. We didn't do anything drastic. It definitely worked for us."

Arie Luyendyk Jr., son of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk, will share the front row with Johncox after a top lap of 27.9341, 167.537 in the No. 5 Luyendyk Racing entry.

The 100-mile race starts at 3:30 p.m. (CDT) Saturday.

USAC short-track standout Ed Carpenter qualified third at 28.2137, 165.877 in the No. 2 Menards/Jack K. Elrod Co./Futaba/Delphi entry despite crashing earlier in practice. Actor-driver Jason Priestley was fourth at 28.2939, 165.407 in the No. 7 HomeMed Pharmacy entry.

Series points leader A.J. Foyt IV qualified 10th at 155.478 to cap an eventful day in the No. 14 Harrah's/A.J. Foyt Racing entry. Foyt, grandson of four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt, crashed during practice and spun during the first lap of his qualifying attempt.

Aaron Fike and Rolando Quintanilla didn't attempt to qualify due to mechanical problems and will start 12th and 13th, respectively.

Gary Peterson was transported to University Medical Center in Lebanon, Tenn., after suffering a concussion during a qualifying crash in his No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers, Inc. entry. Peterson also will undergo precautionary X-rays after complaining of back pain.

-irl/ips-