Dalziel speeds to Monterrey pole

Ryan Dalziel speed away from the field to take the pole for the Toyota Atlantic round two competition. The Scotsman won the pole with a new track record at 1:24.753, two-tenths faster than the previous record held by Luis Diaz. Dalziel's speed around the 2.104-mile Fundidora Park circuit was 89.370 miles per hour.

"So far so good," Dalziel said. "I can't ask for a better starting position and given our performance over the course of the weekend I have to believe things are looking good for tomorrow. The car's good and I think if we can get through the first corner without incident then we should be in a strong position."

With a clean sweep at Long Beach - pole and race - Dalziel already is looking ahead to the 2004 championship.

The Sierra Sierra driver held the provisional pole after Friday's qualifying session, he now has garnered two bonus points to extend his lead in the drivers' championship by nine points over rookie teammate Andrew Ranger.

Ranger's luck at Monterrey has not been as good as his teammate's. The Sierra Sierra rookie finished sixth on Friday and improved to fifth today, the position he will take the green flag from for tomorrow's Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix.

The track was faster today as times went down and speeds went up. Bryan Sellers placed the Lynx Racing machine in second grid position, 0.457 seconds behind Dalziel whose fast time was 1:24.753 with a speed of 89.370 miles per hour.

Danica Patrick will take the green flag from the third starting position alongside former champion Jon Fogarty. The Team Rahal driver nipped the veteran by a mere 0.187 seconds. Fogarty will start fourth on the grid.