The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

CART: Competition Heats Up as FedEx Championship Series Head to Nazareth

29 April 1999

DETROIT-- As closely contested as the FedEx Championship Series points race for the PPG Cup is at present, it is only fitting that the series next stop is one of the most competitive on the entire 20-race circuit.

That would be the 0.946-mile oval at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway, site of Sundays Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota (12:30 p.m. ET, live, ESPN). The fourth round of the championship will be contested at a venue where 25 of the top 26 qualifiers last year were separated by 0.913 seconds.

Greg Moore (Players/Indeck Mercedes Reynard), the outside pole-sitter at last years race, arrives in Nazareth with the FedEx Championship Series points lead following top-eight finishes in the seasons first three events, including a victory in the opener at Homestead.

Moore finished third at Nazareth last year, and in doing so, assumed the championship points lead for the first time in his then three-year career. Moore continued in the lead following his subsequent victory at Rio de Janeiro before yielding the top spot to eventual champion Alex Zanardi for the balance of the season.

This year, Moore enters Round 4 with a 39-33 points advantage over Adrian Fernandez (Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard) and Gil de Ferran (Valvoline/Cummins Special Honda Reynard). Fernandez is classified second in the championship chase based on a higher finish, his April 10 victory in Japan.

De Ferran, runner-up in the 1997 championship, is off to a strong start this season, with top-six finishes in the first three events, topped by a runner-up effort in Japan.

Lurking just outside the top three in fourth place is Michael Andretti (Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Swift), Nazareths hometown favorite. Andretti is a two-time winner (1987, 96) and polesitter (1987, 92) at Nazareth, where he owns eight top-five finishes in 11 career starts. He has also recorded 646 of his CART career-leading 5,884 laps led at Nazareth.

Jimmy Vasser (Target Honda Reynard) comes to Nazareth as defending race champion. Vassers victory over Target/Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Zanardi by 1.400 seconds last year started Vasser on the way to a sweep of FedEx Championship Series events contested on one-mile ovals. He completed the double five weeks later with a victory at The Milwaukee Mile.

Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) has been almost as successful at Nazareth as Andretti. He owns victories in 1994 and 97 and a total of four podium finishes in eight career starts. Tracy also won back-to-back pole positions at Nazareth in 1996 and 97 and has logged 536 of his 2,116 career laps led at the venue.

Following the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota, the FedEx Championship Series makes the seasons second international junket for the May 15 Rio 200 at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Editors Note: For hundreds of hot racing photos and racing art, be sure to visit The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.