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CART: Herta Captures Provisional Pole at Mid-Ohio

7 August 1998

By Terry Callahan
The Auto Channel

Bryan Herta

LEXINGTON, OH: Bryan Herta has captured the provisional pole for the Miller Lite 200 CART FedEx Championship race to be held Sunday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Herta posted the fastest speed in Friday's first round of qualifying. Herta was placed in the slow group based on his "slower" performance at the last street course event (Toronto). The talented Herta posted a top speed of 122.977 mph. Herta won the pole at Mid-Ohio last year.

Qualifying will resume Saturday. The complete results of Friday's qualifying follow with position, driver and speed:

1. Bryan Herta, Ford, 122.977
2. Mark Blundell, Mercedes, 122.473
3. Dario Franchitti, Honda, 122.440
4. Patrick Carpentier, Mercedes, 122.376
5. Scott Pruett, Ford, 122.261
6. Greg Moore, Mercedes, 122.060
7. Richie Hearn, Ford, 122.030
8. Al Unser Jr., Mercedes, 121.944
9. Gil de Ferran, Honda, 121.809
10. Jimmy Vasser, Honda, 121.752
11. Adrian Fernandez, Ford, 121.652
12. Michael Andretti, Ford, 121.621
13. J.J. Lehto, Mercedes, 121.487
14. Mauricio Gugelmin, Mercedes, 121.485
15. Andre Ribeiro, Mercedes, 121.449
16. Christian Fittipaldi, Ford, 121.275
17. Helio Castro-Neves, Mercedes, 120.828
18. Tony Kanaan, Honda, 120.718
19. Bobby Rahal, Ford, 120.650
20. Paul Tracy, Honda, 120.409
21. Alex Zanardi, Honda, 120.355
22. Michel Jourdain Jr., Ford Cosworth, 120.213
23. Robby Gordon, Toyota, 119.201
24. Gualter Salles, Ford Cosworth, 118.832
25. Alex Barron, Toyota, 118.556
26. Arnd Meier, Ford Cosworth, 117.662
27. P.J. Jones, Toyota, 116.723
28. Max Papis, Toyota, 115.535