The Associated Press

JOLIET, Ill. - Casey Mears won his first Busch Series pole Friday, taking the top spot for the today's Tropicana Twister 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

The last of 41 drivers to make a qualifying attempt on the 11/2-mile oval, Mears turned a lap of 181.757 mph, knocking defending race winner Johnny Sauter's 181.616 off the pole. The difference between the leaders' laps was 0.23 seconds.

Mears, a veteran of open-wheel racing, is in the running for Rookie of the Year in NASCAR's elite Winston Cup series and is getting additional seat time in Busch and ARCA races this season.

He has won two poles and a race in ARCA. Now, Mears will start from the pole today in only his third Busch race of the year and the 38th of his career.

"Every time you get a pole or a win you get a confidence boost," Mears said. "It just shows, I think, that what we've been doing this year is helping."

Bobby Hamilton Jr. was third in qualifying at 181.598 mph, followed by Dave Blaney, Winston Cup regular Michael Waltrip and David Reutimann.

CART: Bruno Junqueira cut one point off Paul Tracy's lead in the CART series standings by winning the provisional pole for the Molson Indy Friday.

Junqueira ran a lap at 59.486 seconds around the 1.755-mile temporary street course at Exhibition Place. He earned one point for his qualifying effort, pulling within seven points of Tracy, and is guaranteed to start on the front row for Sunday's race.

Tracy, a Toronto native, qualified second and was the only other driver to break the one-minute mark with a lap at 59.803. Michel Jourdain was third at 1:00.002 and Oriol Servia was fourth.

Jourdain said he couldn't get a clean lap because Tracy was blocking him on the track. He said he informed CART about it and claimed it was the third consecutive qualifying session in which Tracy has blocked him.

"I think something should have been done a long time ago, but CART has done nothing, so I don't know," Jourdain said. "They always talk, but they do nothing. I'm starting to get to the point where I think it's a waste of time to talk about it."

FORMULA ONE: Jacques Villeneuve could return to British American Racing next season, his manager said Friday.

Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula One champion, is in the final year of a five-year contract with BAR, and his future is one of the most hotly debated topics in the series this season.

"Absolutely nothing has been decided yet," said Craig Pollock, Villeneuve's manager and a shareholder at BAR.

Because of his big salary - estimated at $20 million a year, it ranks second in F1 only to five-time champion Michael Schumacher - there has been speculation that BAR can't afford to resign him.

But there are currently no open seats on the top teams, leaving Villeneuve's future in doubt.

He and Schumacher are the only active champions in the series, and Villeneuve has added appeal as the only North American driver in Formula One. Pollock, at the Molson Indy CART race where he is part-owner of Max Papis' team, said both of those have to be taken into consideration.

"Jacques is currently in the top two or three open-wheel drivers in the world," Pollock said. "He's won the Indy 500, he's won a CART championship and he's won a world title. He's just 32 years old and with the right equipment capable of winning another championship."

Villeneuve was once wildly popular, but his star faded with BAR. He has had just one podium finish with the team - none since 2001 - and his BAR-Honda has been unreliable all season with a string of mechanical failures.

Pollock said he would still like to see Villeneuve in a Ferrari as teammate to Schumacher, but he knows such a deal is unlikely. He also ruled out a return to the struggling CART series but said the driver might listen to offers from NASCAR teams.

This weekend

WINSTON CUP

Tropicana 400

Site: Joliet, Ill.

Schedule: Sunday, race (Ch. 5, 22), 3 p.m.

Track: Chicagoland Speedway

(tri-oval 1.5 miles, 18 degrees banking in turns).

Race distance: 400.5 miles (267 laps).

Last year: Despite being low on fuel, Kevin Harvick stayed on the track during the final caution with 25 laps to go and held off Jeff Gordon to win the Tropicana 400.

Next race: New England 300,

July 20, Loudon, N.H.

BUSCH SERIES

Tropicana Twister 300

Site: Joliet, Ill.

Schedule: Today, race (Ch. 5, 22), 2:30 p.m.

Track: Chicagoland Speedway

(tri-oval 1.5 miles, 18 degrees banking in turns).

Race distance: 300 miles (200 laps).

Last year: Johnny Sauter took the lead after the final round of pit stops and survived a late red flag to win the Tropicana Twister 300 for his first career Busch victory.

Next race: New England 200,

July 19, Loudon, N.H.

CART

Molson Indy

Site: Toronto.

Schedule: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel), 1:30 p.m.; Sunday, race (Ch. 12, 7), 12:30 p.m.

Track: Toronto street circuit

(temporary road course, 1.755 miles, 13 turns).

Race distance: 196.56 miles (112 laps).

Last year: Cristiano da Matta led from start to finish in the Toronto Molson-Indy, matching the CART record of four consecutive victories and extending his series points lead. Da Matta started from the pole and led all 112 laps.

Next race: Molson Indy, July 27,

Vancouver, British Columbia.