• Good Morning from cloudy Monterrey, Mexico for Qualifying Day in the FedEx Championship Series! Yesterday's brilliant sunshine that contributed to the "slick-track" conditions that plagued the Champ Car drivers in Friday's sessions has been replaced with cool temperatures and dark gray skies. GIL de FERRAN logged the fastest lap in yesterday's sessions with a speed of 96.390 mph (155.217 kph; 1:18.581). Though rain is not in the local forecast, the teams must be prepared and "wet" tires have been readied behind the Pit Wall. With no rain, the Fundidora Race Course may be a little faster due to the colder track, but any rain at all will make the track slicker than sprint-car clay. Either way, the chassis set-ups learned in yesterday's sessions may not work as well today and the engineers will be earning their money again. New country; new track; new conditions: it's what makes quick preparation and anticipation a hallmark of the FedEx Championship Series!

• Team KOOL Green driver PAUL TRACY will be serving an eight-minute carryover penalty at the end of this morning‘¦s practice session for causing a Red Flag in the last ten minutes of yesterday's afternoon session as per CART practice rules. TRACY contacted the Turn 12 wall with five minutes left in the session.

• GREEN FLAG waves at 9:45 a.m. to start the Saturday morning 90-minute session. Firestone engineers report a track temperature of 59 degrees F. (15 C.) and an ambient temperature of 60 degrees F. (15 C.) at the start of the session.

• At 9:53 a.m., #3X CASTRONEVES spins at Turn 11A but keeps the engine running and continues on course to his Pit Box without apparent damage to the car.

• At 9:55 a.m., 10 minutes into the session, the fastest driver is #6 da MATTA with a lap of 93.428 mph (1:21.072), followed by #7 PAPIS (93.014 mph; 1:21.433) and #16X JOURDAIN Jr. (91.850 mph; 1:22.465).

• At 10:05 a.m., 20 minutes into the session, the fastest driver is #6 da MATTA with a lap of 97.651 mph (1:17.566), followed by #55 KANAAN (97.039 mph; 1:18.055) and #27 FRANCHITTI (96.588 mph; 1:18.420).

• At 10:08 a.m. #22 SERVIA spins at Turn 5 but gets the car straightened and continues on course to his Pit Box.

• At 10:15 a.m., 30 minutes into the session, the fastest driver is still #6 da MATTA with a lap of 97.651 mph (1:17.490), followed by #39 ANDRETTI (97.234 mph; 1:17.899) and #55 KANAAN (97.039 mph; 1:18.055).

• At 10:16 a.m. #1 de FERRAN runs off course at Turn 1 but continues on course without apparent damage to the car.

• RED FLAG waves at 10:16 a.m. after CART course observers report a large amount of debris and dislodged turf littering several of the corner of the race track. CART safety workers quickly clean the entire track.

• Also at 10:16 a.m., #22 SERVIA spins after the display of the Red Flag. SERVIA continues to his Pit Box without apparent damage to the car.

• At 10:20 a.m. as the track inspection continues, CART safety workers note that a layer of bricking underlying the turf at the outside of Turns 5 and 6 has been dislodged by the continuous contact of the Champ Cars sliding off course as they travel through the apex of the corner. CART race Control orders CART safety workers to place cones at the outside line of the track and the drivers are warned that any contact with the cones will result in a Black Flag drive-thru penalty.

• GREEN FLAG waves at 10:44 a.m. to resume the session.

• At 10:45 a.m., 70 minutes into the session, the fastest driver is now #1 de FERRAN with a lap of 97.747 mph (1:17.490), followed by #6 da MATTA (97.651 mph; 1:17.566) and #16X JOURDAIN Jr. (97.329 mph; 1:17.823).

• At 10:47 a.m., #7 PAPIS spins at Turn 5 but continues on course without apparent damage to his car.

• At 10:50 a.m., #33 TAGLIANI slides off course under heavy braking at Turn 1 but regains control and continues on course to his Pit Box.

• At 10:55 a.m., 80 minutes into the session, the fastest driver is now #27 FRANCHITTI with a lap of 99.208 mph (1:16.349), followed by #6 da MATTA (98.595 mph; 1:16.823) and #55 KANAAN (98.586 mph; 1:16.830).

• At 10:59 a.m., #16 JOURDAIN Jr. slides off course at Turn 8 but regains control and continues on course to his Pit Box.

• At 11:02 a.m., #5 TAKAGI slides off course at Turn 5 but continues on course without apparent damage to the car.

• RED FLAG waves at 11:03 a.m. after #6 da MATTA spins at Turn 4 and stalls in the middle of the track. CART safety workers quickly get the car restarted and da MATTA continues on course to his Pit Box.

• GREEN FLAG waves at 11:08 a.m. to resume the session.

• BLACK FLAG is shown at 11:09 a.m. to #4 JUNQUEIRA for jumping the Green Flag that just resumed the session. JUNQUEIRA subsequently pits the car to comply with the Black Flag Stop-and-Go penalty.

• RED FLAG waves at 11:10 a.m. after #66 ZANARDI has a long plume of fire and smoke erupt from the rear of the car at the end of the front straight entering Turn 1. ZANARDI pulls off course at the outside of Turn 2 and quickly exits the car uninjured. ZANARDI will receive the standard eight-minute carryover penalty for delaying a practice session in the last ten minutes of the session.

• CHECKERED FLAG waves at 11:11 a.m. after CART Race Control determines that there will not be enough time to clean the track from the ZANARDI incident. #27 DARIO FRANCHITTI ended the session at the top of the speedboard with a lap of 99.208 mph (159.655 kph; 1:16.349) in his Team KOOL Green Honda Reynard, followed by #1 GIL de FERRAN (98.827 mph; 159.042 kph; 1:16.349; Marlboro Team Penske Honda Reynard), and #6 CRISTIANO da MATTA (98.595 mph; 158.670 kph; 1:16.823; Texaco/Havoline Toyota Lola). The top six cars are separated by less than one second in lap times. FedEx Championship Series drivers introduced 30 cars to the track in this morning's session with secondary cars utilized by #16X JOURDAIN Jr., #11X FITTIPALDI, #3X CASTRONEVES, and #52X NAKANO.