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CART: Sebring Test Draws Title Contenders

2 March 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
A pair of teams and drivers expected to be in the thick of the battle for the FedEx Championship Series championship conducted tests on the road course at Sebring International Raceway last week, as Newman/Haas Racing driver Michael Andretti and Team KOOL Green driver Paul Tracy were among numerous series entrants testing on the 1.65-mile road course.

Andretti (Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) completed two days of testing Wednesday and Thursday, his first out-of-season road course test of the season, completing approximately 325 miles with a top time of 50.7 seconds.

"It was good to run the Ford XF [engine] on a road course for the first time," Andretti said. "Christian [Fittipaldi, Andretti's Newman/Haas teammate] has been talking about how good the engine was since he set the fastest time [during a test] back in December. The team was mostly trying to get me acclimated in the new Lola on a road course. It is a steep learning curve for me, but we are making good progress. As of right now, I think we are only four or five tenths [of a second] off the pace, which is understandable since neither I nor the team has tested at Sebring as much as some of the others."

Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard), meanwhile, completed nearly 300 miles during the same two days, as Team KOOL Green focused on evaluating an assortment of set-up options. His best lap was unofficially clocked at 51.2 seconds.

"The car was pretty good right off the trailer," Tracy said. "We were focusing on different mechanical systems, so we ran a ton of wing to help feel the effects of all the changes we were making. All that wing made us slow on the straights, but we learned a lot about the car, which is the object of going testing."

Team KOOL Green's next test session is scheduled for March 19-20 at Nazareth Speedway in preparation for Round 2 of the FedEx Championship Series, the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota, April 9 at Nazareth Speedway.

Newman/Haas resumed testing Monday at Phoenix International Raceway, with Fittipaldi (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola) in the cockpit. He completed 160 trouble-free miles, with a top time of 19.98 seconds. A scheduled second day of testing Tuesday was canceled due to an unforeseen problem with Fittipaldi's car.

Text provided by CART

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