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ATLANTICS: Lynx Racing; Day of Light and Shadow

15 September 1999

"If my boat sinks, 'tis to another sea" -- William Ellery Channing / A
Poet's Hope / 1840

Lynx Racing wishes to express its sorrow and support to the family and
friends of our brother in speed, Gonzalo Rodriguez.  And to the members of
the Marlboro Penske team who helped him achieve the goal toward which he
worked all his life.  He died as he lived, doing what he loved.    
________________________
 
        Hours after an accident involving promising young driver Gonzalo
Rodriguez, the motor racing community gathered at the Laguna Seca Raceway
for the Grand Prix of Monterey did the only thing they could do to honor
his memory in a way in which he would doubtless have approved -- they held
a race.
        The cars and drivers that took to the track amid the silence of
that solemn afternoon for the 11th round of the KOOL/Toyota series were
perhaps the perfect tribute -- the brightest young lights of racing, using
their skill, courage and determination to drive away the shadows.
        Due to the crash, the final qualifying for both the CART FedEx and
Atlantic cars was canceled.  Drivers were gridded in the order of the final
session on Friday afternoon, which put Lynx drivers Buddy Rice in 5th place
on the grid and Mike Conte in 14th.  Anthony Lazarro, the series points
leader, was on the pole, Alexandre Tagliani on the front row in second,
followed by Andrew Bordin and William Langhorne, who won in the rain last
weekend at Vancouver.
        When the green flag dropped, action was fast and furious in the
early stages.  Rice took third place away from Bordin on the first lap, and
then there was a full-course caution caused by a collision between Nicholas
Rondet and Peter MacLeod.  Back to racing on lap five, and on lap six, Rice
passes Tagliani and takes over second.  From that point on, Rice hounded
the leader, eventually finishing just .682 seconds behind Lazarro who, with
this victory, clinched the 1999 KOOL/Toyota Atlantic series championship. 
He has already been signed to drive the Cal Wells/McDonald's entry in the
NASCAR Busch series next year.  Kenny Wilden, who finished fourth in the
race, clinched the second spot in the championship.
        "I had a good car and a great race this weekend," said Rice.  "The
qualifying situation put me back in the pack and it took a while to get up
to where I could challenge Anthony and try and pressure him into a mistake.
 But he's a really good, experienced driver and he never gave me an
opening.  Now there's only Houston left to try and put a win on the board
for Lynx this season, and since there's nothing left to win only some
things left to prove, it should be interesting."
        While all this was going on up front, Mike Conte was dissecting the
mid-pack group, picking off the cars ahead of him one at a time until, when
the checkered fell, he was in 8th.
        "It was kind of a lonely race, with big gaps between cars, which
made for a long time between passing opportunities," said Conte.  "Still, I
had a very good car, probably a top-5 car if we'd had the opportunity to
qualify better.  The team has given me increasingly better cars as the
season progressed, which was to be expected as we got to know each other,
and I'm going to Houston with high expectations."
        The race lasted 43 minutes, 34.707 seconds, and was run at an
average speed of 92.440 mph, with just one full-course caution period
lasting three laps.  The fastest lap of the race was set by Andrew Bordin
at 1:20.552, which earned him the "MCI WorldCom Fast Pace" award. 
Lazarro's championship-winning drive was also rewarded with the "Yokohama
Now You've Got Control" award.
ESPN2 will televise Saturday's KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship race at
Laguna Seca on Saturday, Sept. 18, at 4:30 p.m., with repeat broadcasts on
Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 4 a.m., and on Saturday, Sept. 25, at 4 a.m. 
The French-speaking RDS Canadian network will broadcast the race on Sunday,
Sept. 26.  Check local listings for the RDS time. ESPN International will
televise the Vancouver race on Saturday, Sept. 18, at 4:30 p.m.  All times
are Eastern. Canadian broadcaster CTV SportsNet is airing the race on
Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 8 p.m. in all local markets. 
        The 26th season of the KOOL/Toyota Atlantic Championship concludes
Sunday, Sept. 26, at the Texaco Grand Prix of Houston.

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