CART: Expect another high finish from Andretti at Cleveland
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
June 27, 2001
Indianapolis, IN-Over the past three years driver Michael Andretti has scored a second (1998), a third (1999) and a fourth (2000) in Cleveland and the one obvious finish that he is missing is a first. "Hopefully we can get the win this year so we can have the run completed-a first through fourth," said Andretti. With the way Team Motorola and Andretti have been racing, it's a definite possibility. Andretti has finished in the points in four of the last five events and currently is in third place in the C ART FedEx Championship.
The race at the Burke Lakefront Airport can appear to be somewhat of an easy track due to the wide configuration of the straights on the 2.106-mile airport course but don't let appearances deceive you according to Andretti. "You can let your hair down a l ittle bit more because you have more room to get the job done," he said. "But the trick at Cleveland is to be careful because this track suckers you-you think you have a lot of room because it is so wide and the entry to the corner is very wide but when y ou get to the middle of the corner it comes down to one car width. If you miss that, it will definitely mess you up."
Team Motorola is coming into Cleveland with 53 championship points (third place) and is looking to add to their total. General Manager Kim Green has been pleased with the team's recent performance. "Portland was a bit of a difficult weekend for us but w e ended the weekend with points and made gains in the championship" said Green. "It's up to us to continue the championship momentum into Cleveland and complete this series of three back-to-back races with points collected at each event."
Andretti is looking forward to his return to Cleveland. "The track is fun and it's great to see how the city has developed in the years we've been racing here," said Andretti. "Cleveland is a great city to race in, it's got great fans and the track is gr eat for spectators because you can see the whole course."
Team Motorola and Andretti begin practice on Friday, June 29 at 9:30 a.m. The Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland will be shown live on ABC on Sunday, July 1 beginning at 1:00 p.m. EST.
Text provided by Jana Griffith
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