Blundell Gets First CART Win...
Closest Finish In Indy-Car History

The race started and stayed in the rain most of the day. It wasn't until the final twenty minutes of racing that the track started to dry. Mark Blundell waited. He watched others make the move from their grooved rain tires to the "slicks". He watched drivers like Paul Tracy, Bryan Herta, and his own teammate, Mauricio Gugelmin, slip and slide into the grass lap after lap as they made the tire change too early. Blundell finally made the change to slicks and light-footed the gas perfectly to the end. He made the pass for his first CART victory just a few yards short of the finish line. He won by 4 feet. The man he passed was Gil De Ferran. De Ferran stayed on his rain tires to the end.

Mark Blundell

Blundell's first victory was in reach two weeks ago at Detroit, when he ran out of fuel with two turns remaining in the race.

"He got off the gas a little early and tried to slow the pace down, but I jumped off mine a little bit, too, and just got the boost rolling and came off the turn just a snatch quicker. With the slicks working up to temperature, that made all the difference." On the podium Blundell said, "As you saw, it was a drag down to the line," He turned to De Ferran and said "Sorry mate."

Another driver that timed the tire change right was Raul Boesel. The Brazilian finish third in the most exciting and closest three car battle in race history. Boesel made several passes on the last lap. He finished just 5 feet behind De Ferran in the thrilling three wide battle to the finish line.

On a day when trash bags and umbrellas were the accepted attire, the CART series couldn't put on much of a show until late in the day. The drivers were blinded by the rooster tails of water off the cars in front. It was a day of "follow the leader" early. The race was slowed by a record seven caution flags. The cars could just not stay on track. Al Unser Jr. was one of the many victims of mother nature's fury. He and rookie Dario Franchitti got together on one of the restarts sending them both into the tire barrier. Neither was able to continue in the race.

Bobby Rahal simply pulled out of the race. His ill handling Miller Light car was not ready for the wet Northwest. Rahal said "I just decided to pull in rather than causing a wreck."

The race was originally scheduled to run for 98 laps. CART has a two hour time rule. The rule was put into effect when it became evident that the two hour time limit would come about twenty laps short of the scheduled distance. Teams were informed of the timed race with approximately 10 minutes remaining.

Paul Tracy returned to action at Portland after missing the Detroit race with a case of vertigo. Tracy was running near the front all day. Tracy came in for his slick tires with fifteen minutes remaining in the race. He was off course within two corners of racing. Tracy sent the Marlboro car into five Budweiser advertising boards in the infield. He kept the car running and got back on track, only to make another off track venture a few moments later. Tracy finished the race in seventh place and retained the series points lead.

Christian Fittipaldi also returned to action this week after suffering a broken leg in Australia. Fittipaldi made the most of his comeback. He was in second place with two laps to go. He stayed on his rain tires and could not hold off the charging Blundell and Boesel. He finished fourth.

Greg Moore, winner of the last two events, ran a strong race again today. He came home in fifth position. He was followed by Gugelmin, Tracy, Andretti, Johnstone and Adrian Fernandez.

While Tracy is still the points leader with 100, Greg Moore moved into second with 95. He is followed by Andretti with 91. De Ferran closed the gap a little as he is in fourth place with 77 points. The Target/Chip Ganassi teammates (Jimmy Vasser and Alex Zanardi) are tied for fifth with 69 points each.

Terry Callahan