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CART: Franchitti, Montoya take it to the wire in Marlboro 500 in California

27 October 1999

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
DETROIT - As the FedEx Championship Series wraps up its 21st season of competition and prepares to head into the 21st century, it seems only fitting that the 1999 season finale takes place at a venue which is not that far from Hollywood.

That's true in both the literal and figurative sense, since the culmination of this memorable season is shaping up as a scriptwriter's dream.

For the ninth time in CART's 21-year history, the FedEx Championship Series title and PPG Cup - symbol of the series driving championship - remain up for grabs heading into the season finale, Sunday's Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota at California Speedway (3 p.m. ET, live, ESPN). Scotsman Dario Franchitti of Team KOOL Green and Colombian rookie Juan Montoya of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing will not only be battling for the $1 million winner's share of the race purse, but also for the $1 million cash bonus which goes to the winner of the PPG Cup.

Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) vaulted past Montoya (Target Honda Reynard) with a perfect 22-point performance in Australia two weeks ago, winning the race from the pole while leading the most laps. That effort allowed Franchitti, who trailed Montoya by 13 points (200-187) going in, to take a 209-200 lead with only Round 20 remaining in the championship.

It marks the third-closest points race in CART's 21-year history, and the closest overall since 1986. Al Unser held a 139-136 advantage over his son, Al Unser Jr. entering the final event of the 1985 season at Miami. A year later, Bobby Rahal led Michael Andretti, 174-171 heading into the season finale, also at Miami.

Unser and Rahal went on to claim championships in those seasons, and Franchitti enters Sunday's showdown buoyed by the awareness that, in CART's 20 previous years of racing, the points lead has never changed hands at the final event of the campaign. Franchitti also owns a series-high 11 podium finishes and has erased a 28-point deficit (199-171) to Montoya in the past two events, following finishes of second at Houston and a victory at Australia.

Another podium finish at Fontana would wrap up Franchitti's first FedEx Championship Series title and the first for Team KOOL Green owner Barry Green since Jacques Villeneuve's run to the 1995 championship.

Montoya, meanwhile, can draw strength from the knowledge that he has dominated this season like no rookie in FedEx Championship Series history. He has already established CART rookie records for victories (7) and laps led (929) and has tied the rookie mark for pole positions (7). Now, Montoya seeks to cap his campaign by joining Nigel Mansell (1993) as the only rookies to win the FedEx Championship Series driving title.

Should Montoya succeed in his quest, he will make Target/Chip Ganassi Racing the first team in CART history to win four consecutive championships. The team's current run includes titles from Jimmy Vasser in 1996 and Alex Zanardi in 1997 and last year, tying them with Penske Racing, which won three straight titles from 1981-83.

Vasser (Target Honda Reynard) drove to victory at California Speedway last year to earn his second $1 million payday in three years, following his triumph in The Inaugural U.S. 500 at Michigan Speedway in 1996. Vasser's slingshot pass of Greg Moore heading into the last of 250 laps provided a thrilling capper to the campaign in a race which featured 24 lead changes among seven drivers. Vasser finished 0.360 seconds ahead of Moore.

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