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ARCA series rookie Steve Wallace earned his fourth career pole Saturday afternoon at the new Iowa Speedway.

Wallace posted a lap of 22.933 seconds on the new facility in Newton, Iowa. The time was equal to 137.357 mph.

Wallace, in a Dodge, edged Joey Miller and Juan Pablo Montoya for the top spot for Sunday’s Prairie Meadows 250.

Miller, making his first appearance in the series since last year, put up a 137.357 mph lap.

Formula One veteran Montoya's third-best qualifying effort matched his finish at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last week.

“Great qualifying run,” said Montoya, who will be making his first short-track start Sunday.

“Top three is pretty good, so I’m very happy."

Sunday’s ARCA race is scheduled live on Speed Channel 2:30 p.m. Eastern time.

NEWTON, Iowa — Juan Pablo Montoya is having the time of his life racing stock cars — even though a rookie mistake cost him any chance for a win Sunday.

The former Formula One driver misinterpreted his spotter's instructions 18 laps into an ARCA race at Iowa Speedway, causing a wreck that put the Colombian in the pits for 40 laps and ruined his shot at a decent finish.

Montoya, who will take over the No. 42 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing next season in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, completed 208 of 250 laps and wound up 24th, last among cars that finished the race. Montoya was third in an ARCA race at the Talladega (Ala.) Speedway in his stock-car debut on Oct. 6.

"Yes, we want to win. But we're here to learn. The main goal is to prepare ourselves for next year," Montoya said.

Montoya recovered after the crash, moving up 16 spots. And despite a disappointing finish, he sported a huge grin after the race, telling his team simply that "it was fun."

Part of the reason Montoya decided to make the jump from F1 to NASCAR was his disillusionment with the open-wheel series. He said Sunday that driving a stock car has already been more fun than he imagined.

"You're passing cars, you're racing guys, you're banging wheels. It's all part of the racing," Montoya said.

Montoya was leading heading into a turn with Steve Wallace a close second. Montoya's spotter yelled "outside" into his headset, indicating that Wallace was on the verge of making a move to the outside. Montoya thought his spotter meant that Wallace was simply eyeing a possible move and didn't realize Wallace was directly behind him.

Montoya then pulled to the outside as Wallace, the son of former NASCAR star Rusty Wallace, accelerated. Wallace nudged Montoya into the wall, causing heavy damage to the right-front corner of Montoya's car.

"I thought he wasn't there, to be honest with you. I just went up the race track normally and we just touched," Montoya said.

The crash didn't hurt Wallace, who went on to win the race. But it did make the 19-year-old driver worry that he had taken out the day's star attraction.

"I'd say it was 50-50 — half his fault, half my fault," Wallace said. "But it's definitely kind of like, 'Oh God, I just wrecked Juan Montoya, Formula One star, and ruined my day.' It's not that good of a feeling, that's for sure." ()

The accident drew a caution flag and pushed Montoya back into 40th place. Normally, Montoya's day might have been over. But Montoya is racing in the ARCA series simply for the experience, so his crew spent 40 laps fixing the car before sending him back out on the track.

That was key for Montoya, because Iowa is considered a much tougher challenge than Talladega. The Speedway, which opened in September, is seven-eighths of a mile long and has its fair share of tricky turns.

"This whole process of getting ready for next season involves taking some steps. It was another step today, albeit with a little speed bump we hit there on lap 19," Chip Gnassi said. "It was kind of a rookie mistake for our team."

Sunday's race was a far cry from Montoya's debut, when he overcame early contact to finish third.

Early on, it looked as if Montoya was in complete control of the race. After starting third, Montoya took the lead in lap five and held it until colliding with Wallace.

"I think it worked out even better. We had problems, we worked on the problems. You're not always going to have a perfect car, but it's good to work with the team to make it as drivable as possible," Montoya said. "I think what happened was good. It's not going to happen again."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

"I thought he wasn't there, to be honest with you. I just went up the race track normally and we just touched," Montoya said.