CART: Tracy Collects First FedEx Championship Series Triumph Since 1997 at Miller Lite 225
8 June 1999
WEST ALLIS, Wis. - Paul Tracy of Team KOOL Green recorded his first FedEx Championship Series victory since 1997 Sunday when he drove to his 14th career triumph in the Miller Lite 225 at The Milwaukee Mile.Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard), whose last triumph came in the inaugural CART event held at Gateway International Raceway in 1997, scored his second career victory at Milwaukee by finishing 5.880 seconds ahead of runner-up Greg Moore in the seventh of 20 rounds in the FedEx Championship Series.
Third place went provisionally to Gil de Ferran pending final resolution of a post-race review conducted by CART Stewards surrounding an incident on Lap 210. Both rookie Juan Montoya (Target Honda Reynard), who entered the weekend as the PPG Cup points leader, and Patrick Carpentier (Player's Forsythe Racing Mercedes Reynard) were penalized one lap for passing under caution during the same incident.
De Ferran could face sanctions in connection with a similar incident as well, leaving the final results and driver points race in a provisional state until the inquiry is resolved.
Tracy averaged 128.029 miles per hour while earning his fourth podium finish in the past six events at Milwaukee. The run includes a victory in 1995 and third-place efforts in 1995 and 1996.
Moore (Player's Forysthe Racing Mercedes Reynard) extended his scoring streak on ovals to 14 of the past 15 events, dating to the 1998 season opener at Homestead. He recorded his second podium finish in three starts at Milwaukee after becoming the youngest race winner in FedEx Championship Series history (22 years, 1 month, 10 days) with his 1997 triumph at The Mile.
Pending resolution of the inquiry, Montoya continues to lead the FedEx Championship Series with 73 points, but watched his four-point margin over Dario Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) entering the event trimmed to two, 73-71, following Franchitti's seventh-place finish.
Fourth place went to Jimmy Vasser (Target Honda Reynard) while Adrian Fernandez (Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing) finished fifth. Vasser's finish matched a season best established in the season opener at Homestead while Fernandez earned his fourth top-five finish of the season, and his first since finishing fifth at Nazareth.
The FedEx Championship Series continues with the June 20 Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco/Havoline at Portland International Raceway.
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