Long Beach Qualifying Story

April 3 - LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Rookie Buddy Rice, of Phoenix, Ariz., is the provisional pole-sitter for Saturday's KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Rice, of Phoenix, Ariz., covered the 1.574 -mile temporary street circuit in 1:02.924, averaging 90.924 miles per hour. Lynx Racing teammate Memo Gidley, of San Rafael, Calif., recorded the second-fastest time in the provisional session at 1:03.282, an average of 89.542 miles per hour. Rookie Andrew Bordin, of Woodbridge, Ont., was the third fastest in the provisional session at 1:03.378, for an average speed of 89.406 miles per hour. Player's Racing teammates Lee Bentham, of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Alexandre Tagliani, of Lachenaie, Que., will start fourth and fifth, if their times stand following Saturday's second qualifying session set for 12 p.m. Tagliani won the race last year. Progressive rains slowed the 34-car qualifying field on the temporary street circuit, with teams switching to grooved rain tires early in the session. Saturday's KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship season-opening race will kickoff the series' 25th anniversary season. Round one of the 13-race KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship is scheduled for a 4 p.m. PT start.