CART: Gidley and Junqueira prepared for Windy City battle
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
July 25, 2001
Cicero, Ill. - Target Chip Ganassi Racing travels to the Windy City this week to prepare for the Target Grand Prix presented by Energizer, an event the team has dominated since its inception in 1999. In the inaugural race, former Team Target driver Juan Montoya led 132 of the 225 laps en route to his sixth victory of the year. Jimmy Vasser joined his teammate on the podium with a third-place finish. In 2000, Montoya snared the pole position and led 112 laps before experiencing mechanical problems that ended his bid for two in a row.
The new Team Target pilots appear poised to begin where their predecessors left off. Last weekend in Michigan, Memo Gidley rocketed from his 16th starting position to lead the Harrah's 500 just 36 laps into the event. Gidley led 67 laps before relinquishing control of the race to make an emergency pit stop for an oil refill. Gidley lost four laps and finished 14th.
In the last three races, Gidley has led more laps (124) than any driver in the CART FedEx Championship Series. The 30-year old Californian expects another strong effort this weekend in Chicago.
"Last week was another step in the right direction for this team," Gidley said. "We had the car to win the race in Michigan, no question about. I'm disappointed
we didn't have a chance to celebrate the team's first victory, but it's encouraging to know we can be competitive week in and week out. This week in Chicago is very important for us. Target is sponsoring this race and I want to reward them with a victory for giving me the opportunity to drive one of their cars."
Rookie Bruno Junqueira continues to excel on oval tracks this year. In five oval races, Junqueira has scored one pole and recorded four top-10 finishes. The 2000 FIA F3000 champion is confident he can continue his strong performance at the 1.029-mile oval in Chicago.
"I'm feeling very comfortable on the ovals this year," Junqueira said. "It all started in Nazareth where I was able to win the pole. Then at Indy, we finished fifth and it really helped our confidence to do well at such a big race. I'm looking forward to racing in Chicago this week. Chicago is a city that I really like and it would be great to win there. This is kind of a home race for us with it being Chip's track and a Target- sponsored race."
Team Target Managing Director Mike Hull believes his team will have another strong performance this weekend in Chicago.
"The whole team really seems to bring their intensity level up a notch for this event," Hull said. "We feel like this is our track. It's like in football, where you never want to be beaten on your home field. Chicago is like our home field and we want to win there. Our team has had some strong performances over the last few weeks, and I expect that trend to continue this week in Chicago. We would like nothing more than to give the people at Target a victory on Sunday afternoon. And I think we have a great chance to do just that."
The Target Grand Prix presented by Energizer airs live on ABC-TV this Sunday, July 29 at 4 p.m. EST.
Text provided by Brian Zepp
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