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CART: Tracy wins Texaco Grand Prix of Houston; Franchitti tightens points battle

27 September 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
HOUSTON, TX- Team KOOL Green enjoyed a stellar day at Sunday's Texaco Grand Prix of Houston as Paul Tracy emerged victorious and Dario Franchitti re-emerged with a vengeance in the FedEx Championship Series title race with a runner-up finish on the downtown streets of Houston.

Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) was extremely dominant en route to his second victory of the season and first on a temporary street circuit since winning at Australia in 1995. He led a race-high 85 of the 100 laps on the 1.527-mile temporary street layout as he rolled to a comfortable 13.733-second margin over his Team KOOL Green teammate. It marked the third time this season that Team KOOL Green has finished one-two, the others being Franchitti wins at Toronto and Detroit. Michael Andretti (Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Swift Ford) thrilled the title sponsor by taking third.

Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) battled back from an ill-handling car at the outset and benefited from the way the caution flags fell for his pit stops to post his series-leading 10th podium of the season. With series leader Juan Montoya (Target Honda Reynard) being held scoreless, Franchitti's performance allowed him to close the gap in the championship race to 13 points, 200-187, with two races and a maximum 44 PPG Cup points remaining.

Both Team KOOL Green drivers benefited from the misfortune of Montoya, who started from the pole and led the first 12 laps before trouble struck. A full-course caution came out on Lap 12 for Helio Castro-Neves (Hogan Motor Leasing Mercedes Lola), who made contact with the tire wall in Turn 10. Montoya entered the turn and clipped Castro-Neves' car, ending his day as well.

The incident allowed Tracy to inherit the lead and gave Franchitti a huge opportunity to carve into the 29-point deficit he was facing entering Round 18 of the 20-race season. Tracy was the initial benefactor as he grabbed the lead and took off from the field on the restart. At one point - Lap 45 - he had manufactured a 28.059-second cushion and only relinquished his lead for three laps to Franchitti when he made his only pit stop of the afternoon.

Franchitti had his work cut out as his first pit stop on the Castro-Neves' caution dropped him to 19th in the 26-car field. He deftly sliced his way upward and moved from 14th on Lap 33 to the lead on Lap 49. Franchitti led for three laps before making his final pit stop under caution on Lap 52 and returning in fifth place. He picked off Jan Magnussen (Visteon Patrick Racing Ford Reynard) and Tony Kanaan (McDonald's Championship Racing Honda Reynard) to move to third and then made a daring move on Christian Fittipaldi (Big Kmart Ford Swift) that resulted in contact between the two to gain second place.

Andretti, like Franchitti, pitted out of sequence in the early stages and the gamble paid off. It allowed him to gain his fifth podium of the season and 84th of his career. The top-five finishers were closed out by the Team Rahal tandem of Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford Reynard), who was fourth, and Bryan Herta (Shell Ford Reynard), who was fifth. It was the ninth top-five finish for Papis and fifth top-six effort for Herta.

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