The Associated Press

BROOKLYN, Mich. - Bobby Labonte won the pole and teammate Tony Stewart took the other front-row position Friday at Michigan International Speedway.

Stewart put up a lap of 189.464 mph for Sunday's Sirius Satellite Radio 400. But Labonte knocked the other Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet off the top spot by going 190.365.

Labonte broke his own 3-year-old race qualifying record of 189.883. It was well shy of the track qualifying mark of 191.149, set in August of the same year by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The result had Stewart shaking his head over Labonte's improvement from practice to qualifying.

"I'm still trying to figure out how he does what he does," the Winston Cup champion said. "He's the only guy I know that can constantly go out there every week and pick up six-tenths (of a second)."

The actual difference in time was 0.18 seconds, but even one-tenth is a lot in a qualifying session in which the top 42 drivers are separated by less than 1 second.

It was Labonte's third pole of the season, third at Michigan and the 24th of his career.

Earnhardt qualified at 189.091 to give Chevrolet a sweep of the first three spots. Kurt Busch was fourth in a Ford at 188.783.

SCHEDULE CHANGES: The Southern 500, NASCAR's oldest superspeedway race, is moving, making way for a second Winston Cup race to California Speedway.

The Southern 500, traditionally held Labor Day weekend race in Darlington, S.C., instead will be run in November, the week before the season finale, beginning in 2004.

The Labor Day weekend race will be held at the California track, which is 60 miles east of Los Angeles and in the nation's second-largest media market. That race, the Pop Secret 500, will start at 8 p.m. - a prime-time show for NBC.

To keep the schedule at 36 races, NASCAR took away North Carolina Speedway's fall date in what NASCAR president Mike Helton called "the first phase of Realignment 2004 and beyond."

CART: Bruno Junqueira won his first provisional CART pole this season, covering the Monterey, Calif., Laguna Seca road course at 115.031 mph. Second was Patrick Carpentier at 114.583.

FORMULA ONE: Rubens Barrichello ran a mistake-free lap in the rain to post the fastest time in pre-qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix. He posted a time of 1 minute, 30.925 seconds on the 2.709-mile track to finish ahead of Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher, who was second in 1:31.969.

GORDON SETTLEMENT: Four-time Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon reached a divorce settlement that guarantees his former wife, Brooke, at least $15.3 million.

This weekend

WINSTON CUP

Sirius Satellite Radio 400

Site: Brooklyn, Mich.

Schedule: Sunday, race (12:30 p.m., Ch. 19, 45).

Track: Michigan Speedway (D-shaped oval, 2 miles, 18 degrees banking in turns).

Distance: 400 miles (200 laps).

Next race: Dodge/Save Mart 350, June 22, Sonoma, Calif.

CART

Grand Prix of Monterey

Site: Monterey, Calif.

Schedule: Today, qualifying, 5 p.m. (5:30 p.m., Speed Channel, tape); Sunday, race (3:30 p.m., Ch. 12, 7).

Track: Laguna Seca Raceway (permanent road course, 2.238 miles, 11 turns).

Distance: 194.706 miles (87 laps).

Next race: G.I. Joe's 200, June 22, Portland, Ore.

FORMULA ONE

Canadian Grand Prix

Site: Montreal

Schedule: Today, qualifying (1 p.m., Speed Channel); Sunday, race (12:30 p.m., Speed Channel).

Track: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (road course, 2.747 miles, 15 turns).

Distance: 192.29 miles (70 laps).

Next race: European Grand Prix, June 29, Nuerburgring, Germany.

IRL

Radisson Indy 225

Site: Fountain, Colo.

Schedule: Today, qualifying, 5:45 p.m.; Sunday, race (4 p.m., Ch. 9, 2).

Track: Pikes Peak International Raceway (D-shaped oval, 1 mile, 10 degrees banking in turns).

Distance: 225 miles (225 laps).

Next race: SunTrust Indy Challenge, June 28, Richmond, Va.