The Associated Press

WEST ALLIS, Wis. - Michel Jourdain Jr., the 26-year-old Mexican driver, held off challenges from Paul Tracy and Oriol Servia on Saturday for his first Champ Car victory in CART's first night race.

Jourdain, in his eighth season, pulled away on a restart with 10 laps remaining and beat Servia to the finish line by about three car-lengths to win the Centennial 250 at the Milwaukee Mile. Jourdain's victory came in his 126th start and came just a month after he lost a heartbreaker in Long Beach when his gearbox broke during a pit stop with just seven laps remaining in a race he had dominated.

"The two biggest races of my life, one is the saddest and one is the happiest," Jourdain said. "I almost started crying in the car."

Servia, trying for his first CART win, wound up 0.468 seconds behind at the end of the 250-lap race on the 1.032-mile oval. Patrick Carpentier was third.

The race began with temperatures dipping into the 40s., one of the coldest days in the 100-year history of the Milwaukee track.

Bridgestone, the sole tire supplier for the Champ Car series, said anything under 50 put the tires into uncharted territory.

CART officials decided to start the race under a yellow flag to give the drivers a chance to get some heat into their tires. It didn't help.

FORMULA ONE: Ralf Schumacher won the pole position for the Monaco Grand Prix on Saturday with the fastest time ever on the famed street circuit. Brother Michael Schumacher, looking to equal Ayrton Senna's mark with six Monaco victories, was fifth.

This was only the second pole for the younger Schumacher in his Williams-BMW. The last was at the French Grand Prix in 2001.

F1 today

Event: Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo.

Time/TV: 7:30 a.m./Speed Channel.

Track: Monte Carlo street circuit (2.068 miles).

Points standings: 1. Kimi Raikkonen, 40; 2. Michael Schumacher, 38; 3. Rubens Barrichello, 26; 4. Fernando Alonso, 25.