Ryan Briscoe could not help but flash a big smile.

A week after spinning out at Richmond and losing the IndyCar Series points lead, Briscoe won his second consecutive pole at Watkins Glen International in New York. He turned a lap yesterday in 1:28.5970 around the 11-curve, 3.4-mile road course in the Firestone Fast Six Shootout. It was his second pole of the season and sixth overall.

"I haven't had this much fun around a road course in a long time," said Briscoe, who eclipsed the former track record of 1:29.1919 set in 2007 by Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves. "These red tires were just unbelievable. They have a lot of grip."

This season Firestone introduced so-called "option tires" for all road/street course races. The tires, marked with a red line around the outer edge, have a softer tread compound for better grip but also are less durable.

Each team will be required to use the so-called "red" tires once today in the 60-lap Camping World Grand Prix, but they also could use them in qualifying. That and a hard crash in the shootout by series points leader Dario Franchitti on his first lap that caused a full-course caution made the difference for Briscoe. The six-driver field only had enough time to run one fast lap.

Justin Wilson of Dale Coyne Racing finished second to the Australian for the second year in a row and was left to wonder what might have been with a set of unused red tires still sitting in his pit stall.

"That's just how it goes," Wilson said. "I was hopeful because we had a new set of red options left and everyone else had used them in the first session. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity."

Jeremy Mayfield was not at Daytona International Speedway for the race last night, citing the media attention on his legal fight with NASCAR as an unnecessary distraction from the Independence Day celebration. NASCAR suspended Mayfield May 9 for testing positive for methamphetamines, and he sued to be reinstated. A federal judge Wednesday issued an injunction that cleared him to return to competition, and Mayfield indicated he would travel to Daytona. But he didn't enter his Mayfield Motorsports team and had no ride lined up for the race.

Series boss Bernie Ecclestone faced criticism from politicians and Jewish groups after being quoted as saying that Adolf Hitler "got things done."

In an interview with London's The Times newspaper, Ecclestone expressed a preference for "strong leaders," citing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Max Mosley, outgoing head of Formula One's governing body, as examples.

He was quoted as saying that democracy "hasn't done a lot of good for many countries -- including this one."

Ecclestone, who owns F1's commercial rights, is no stranger to controversial remarks. He once said women should dress in white "like all other domestic appliances."