CART: Montoya rounding into championship form heading into Detroit
14 June 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
DETROIT - Last year during his rookie season, defending FedEx Championship Series champion Juan Montoya of Target Chip Ganassi Racing made his presence known early as he won three of the first five events and maintained the points lead for 12 of the remaining 15 championship rounds thereafter.
This year, Montoya's approach has been a bit different, to say the least. Heading into Round 6 at Milwaukee without a victory or even a podium finish, Montoya (Target Toyota Lola) stepped up in a big way at the rain-delayed Miller Lite 225 at The Milwaukee Mile. He led 179 of 225 laps from the pole en route to his first victory of the campaign as well as the first for Toyota in its five-year history in the FedEx Championship Series.
The 22-point sweep Montoya registered for winning from the pole and leading the most laps moved him into a fourth-place tie in the championship with Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) of Newman/Haas Racing, whose runner-up effort at Milwaukee was the 86th podium result of his career. Montoya and Andretti have 44 points each, 15 fewer than FedEx Championship Series leader Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green, as the series heads to The Raceway on Belle Isle for this weekend's Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit (1 p.m. ET Sunday, live, ESPN).
Montoya's victory at Milwaukee made him the sixth different winner in as many events this season, matching a series record for most different winners to start the season established in 1991. The other race winners have been Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford Reynard) of Team Rahal at Homestead; Tracy at Long Beach; Adrian Fernandez (Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard) of Patrick Racing at Rio de Janeiro; Andretti at Japan and Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske at Nazareth. A seventh different winner at Detroit would establish a new FedEx Championship Series standard for the start of a season and go a long way toward breaking the series record of 10 winners in a season, established last year.
The Detroit entry list includes three former winners at Belle Isle - Tracy (1994), Andretti (1996) and defending champion Dario Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green. Andretti also won the Detroit Grand Prix in 1990, when the race was conducted on a downtown street course, and won all four pole positions at the downtown venue from 1989-92. Other pole winners at Belle Isle include Montoya last year and de Ferran in 1997.
Tracy enters the weekend with a 59-52 championship lead over Roberto Moreno (Visteon Ford Reynard) of Patrick Racing. Montoya's Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Jimmy Vasser (Target Toyota Lola), stands third with 48 points.
The Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit begins a run that will see six FedEx Championship Series events contested in the next seven weeks. The series continues with the Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco, June 25 at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Ore.
WHO'S HOT
* Target Chip Ganassi driver Juan Montoya (Target Toyota Lola), the defending FedEx Championship Series and reigning Indianapolis 500 champion, comes to Detroit off his first victory of the season, June 5 at The Milwaukee Mile. En route to the eighth victory of his two-year FedEx Championship Series career, Montoya scored a maximum 22 championship points, earning 20 for the win and additional single points for the pole position and leading the most laps. Montoya has qualified among the top three for all six events this season - including pole positions at Nazareth, Japan and Milwaukee - and nine of the past 11, dating to a pole at Vancouver last year. He has been the dominant driver in each of the past three FedEx Championship Series events, leading 461 of a possible 651 laps (70 percent) during that three-event stretch. The run consists of leading 172 of 201 laps at Japan, 110 of 225 at Nazareth and 179 of 225 at Milwaukee. In only his second FedEx Championship Series season, he has moved into 11th place on the CART career laps-led list with 1,436, only 11 behind Tom Sneva and Alex Zanardi, who are tied for ninth at 1,447.
* FedEx Championship Series points leader Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green has scored championship points in five of six starts this season, including a victory at Long Beach and podium finishes of third at Homestead and Rio de Janeiro. He holds a 59-52 lead over Roberto Moreno of Patrick Racing in championship points and leads the FedEx Championship Series in laps completed, with 989 of a possible 991 and miles completed, with 1,342.409 of a possible 1,344.387.
* Roberto Moreno (Visteon Ford Reynard) owns five top-10 finishes, including four top-six results, in six starts this season. Included are a runner-up effort in the season opener at Homestead, matching a career best, and a third-place effort at Japan. He also finished fifth at Milwaukee, sixth at Rio de Janeiro and ninth at Long Beach. He currently stands second in the championship with 52 points, seven behind leader Paul Tracy.
* Rookie Kenny Brack (Shell Ford Reynard) of Team Rahal has finished fifth or better in his past three FedEx Championship Series starts, highlighted by a season-best third-place performance at Nazareth. Brack also finished fourth at Milwaukee and fifth at Japan and holds a 39-18 points lead over Alex Tagliani (Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard) of Player's Forsythe Racing in the quest for the Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year Award. Brack has scored championship points in each of his past four starts, beginning with a 10th-place finish at Rio de Janeiro.
* Christian Fittipaldi (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola) of Newman/Haas Racing has scored championship points in five of six starts this season and in 21 of his past 25 FedEx Championship Series events, dating to a ninth-place result at Laguna Seca in 1998. This year's run includes finishes of fifth at Rio de Janeiro, seventh at Homestead, ninth at Milwaukee and 11th at Japan and Nazareth.
ON THE RIGHT TRACK
* Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) of Newman/Haas Racing has finished fifth or better in seven of 10 starts at Detroit, including victories in 1990 and '96. He also finished second in 1997, fourth in 1992, '95 and '99, and fifth in '94. He also earned four consecutive pole positions at Detroit from 1989-92 and has led 172 laps in his career at Detroit, including all 62 en route to his victory in 1990.
* Defending Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit champion Dario Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green has finished fourth or better in two of three career starts at The Raceway on Belle Isle, topped by last year's victory when he led the final 13 laps. He also finished fourth in 1998.
* Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske has been on the podium in three of five career starts at Detroit, with consecutive finishes of third in 1996, '97 and '98. He also won the pole position at Detroit in 1997.
* Adrian Fernandez (Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard) has scored championship points in four of six starts at Detroit, highlighted by a runner-up performance in 1998. He also scored with finishes of fourth in 1996, sixth in '95 and seventh in '93. Fernandez did not compete in last year's race after sustaining a fractured radius bone in his right wrist during practice for the event.
* Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) has scored championship points in five of seven career starts at Detroit, including a victory in 1994. He also recorded a podium result with a runner-up effort to Team KOOL Green teammate Dario Franchitti last year. His other scoring performances include seventh in 1998, eighth in '95 and ninth in '93. He has led a combined 72 laps in his seven career appearances at Detroit, topped by 27 in 1993.
* Jimmy Vasser (Target Toyota) has finished sixth or better in four of his past five appearances at The Raceway on Belle Isle, topped by a runner-up showing in 1995. Vasser also finished fourth in 1997, sixth in 1998 and fifth last year.
Text provided by T.E. McHale
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