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

CART: FedEx Championship Series heads to Nazareth, Race Preview

5 April 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
DETROIT- Although he had earned his first career victory two weeks earlier at Long Beach, it was actually his win at Nazareth Speedway last year that served notice of the kind of force Juan Montoya would become in the FedEx Championship Series.

Montoya turned in an utterly dominant performance, leading 210 of 225 race laps from the pole, to claim the second of his eventual seven victories during a spectacular rookie season that culminated in the FedEx Championship Series championship. His victory at Nazareth moved Montoya into the championship points lead and he held it following all but three of the remaining 17 events.

Now, as the series prepares for Round 2, the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota (1 p.m. ET Sunday, live, ABC-TV), Montoya (Target Toyota Lola) finds himself looking for his first points of the new season. He led the first 21 laps of the March 26 season opener at Homestead, Fla. from the outside pole, but finished 23rd due to engine problems.

In the meantime, the weekend belonged to Team Rahal driver Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford Reynard), who earned his first career FedEx Championship Series victory and took the championship lead for the first time in his five-year career. Papis, who has finished fourth or better in his past five FedEx Championship Series starts dating to last year at Laguna Seca, holds a 20-16 advantage over Patrick Racing driver Roberto Moreno (Visteon Ford Reynard) in the championship. Moreno matched a career-best result with his runner-up performance at Homestead, a career-best on an oval.

Paul Tracy of Team KOOL Green (KOOL Honda Reynard) finished third at Homestead and brings 14 points to Nazareth, where he owns a pair of victories (1994,'97), a pair of poles (1996, '97), and three other podium finishes, including third last year.

While Papis and Team Rahal captured many of the headlines following the season opener, a resurgence has begun at storied Marlboro Team Penske. At Homestead, Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) opened the weekend by earning the team's first pole position since 1997. De Ferran also led a race-high 41 laps - nearly double the amount the team led all of last year - and may well have brought veteran team owner Roger Penske his 100th career Champ Car victory but an untimely caution following the team's green-flag pit stop ruined his bid for the win. De Ferran ultimately finished sixth and comes to Nazareth, where he finished fourth in 1997 and '98, with 10 points.

Former Nazareth winners in this weekend's field include Montoya, Tracy, Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) and Jimmy Vasser (Target Toyota Lola). Andretti, a Nazareth resident, is a two-time winner at his home track (1987, '96) while Vasser won in 1998.

Following the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota, the FedEx Championship Series makes a cross-country journey the following week for Round 3, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 14-16 on the streets of Long Beach, Calif.

WHO'S HOT

* Team Rahal driver Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford Reynard), who leads the FedEx Championship Series points race for the first time in his five-year career, brings a string of five top-four finishes into Sunday's Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota. The streak began last year with his first career podium result (third) at Laguna Seca and was followed by a fourth at Houston and runner-up efforts at Australia and California Speedway. Papis then continued the run with his first career victory at the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota. Papis has finished fifth or better in nine of his past 12 starts, dating to last year's fifth at Road America.

* Dario Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green brings a run of 11 consecutive points-paying finishes to Nazareth, the longest active streak in the FedEx Championship Series. It began with a victory at Toronto last year and includes subsequent wins at Detroit and Australia. Franchitti, runner-up in the 1999 FedEx Championship Series, recently recovered from a fractured pelvis and brain contusions sustained in a single-car accident during CART Spring Training at Homestead in February. He finished 11th in the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota.

* Christian Fittipaldi (Big Kmart/Route 66 Ford Lola) of Newman/Haas Racing has scored points in eight of his past nine FedEx Championship Series starts, dating to last year's 12th-place finish at Cleveland and including his first career victory at Road America. The run was interrupted as Fittipaldi missed five events while recovering from a subdural hematoma sustained in a testing accident at Gateway International Raceway last August. He finished seventh in the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota. Overall, Fittipaldi has scored in 16 of his past 18 starts, dating to a third-place finish at Australia in 1998.

* Tony Kanaan (Hollywood/Mo Nunn Racing Mercedes Reynard) of newly formed Mo Nunn Racing has scored in six of his past seven FedEx Championship Series starts, dating to an 11th-place finish at Chicago last year, and eight of 10 dating to his first career victory at Michigan Speedway. Kanaan finished 10th at Homestead.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

* Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) owns eight top-five finishes in 12 career starts at his "home" track - Nazareth Speedway - including victories in 1987 and '96. He also recorded runner-up finishes in 1988, '92 and '97, finished third in '91 and claimed the pole position in '87 and '92. He has scored points in 10 of 12 career starts and has led 646 career laps at Nazareth, over 10 percent of his CART-leading career total of 6,119.

* Team KOOL Green driver Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) owns five podium finishes in nine career starts at Nazareth, including victories in 1994 and '97. He also finished third in 1992, '93 and last year. He is a two-time polesitter (1996, '97) and has finished outside the top 10 only once (26th in 1995). Of his 2,313 career laps led in FedEx Championship Series competition, 536 - 23 percent - have come at Nazareth.

MANUFACTURING SUCCESS

* Max Papis' victory in the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota gave Ford-powered drivers six victories in the past eight FedEx Championship Series season openers, dating to Nigel Mansell's 1993 win at Australia. The other Ford-powered winners were Michael Andretti (Australia, 1994); Jacques Villeneuve (Miami, '95); and Andretti (Homestead, '97-98).

* Honda, courtesy of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing, has won the past two FedEx Championship Series events contested at Nazareth Speedway. Jimmy Vasser won in 1998 and Juan Montoya was victorious last year.

MILESTONES

* By leading a race-high 41 laps in the season-opening Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota, Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) moved into 16th place on the CART career laps led list with 710. He passed Nigel Mansell, now 17th with 706 career laps led. Teo Fabi stands 15th with 774 career laps led.

* Max Papis' win in the Miller Lite Ford Reynard from the 13th starting position at Homestead ranks fourth in CART for furthest starting position to a victory on short/medium ovals. The record is held by Mike Mosley, who started 25th and won at Milwaukee in 1981.

* Jimmy Vasser (Target Toyota Lola) and Michael Andretti moved up in the CART annals for most consecutive starts following their season debuts at Homestead. Vasser, whose streak began at Laguna Seca in 1993, moved into sole possession of sixth place with 107 consecutive starts. Andretti, whose streak began at Australia in 1994 upon his return from Formula One, moved into a tie for seventh with his father, Mario, at 106 in a row. The CART record is 192, set by Al Unser Jr., and the current streak is 109 by Mauricio Gugelmin (Nextel PacWest Mercedes).

NOTEWORTHY

* This weekend's Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota will mark the competitive debut of the high-downforce variant of the Handford MkII, a new rear-wing aerodynamic package implemented by CART for use at five venues this season. The device, designed by Mark Handford, former vice president of engineering and technical director at Swift Engineering, is expected to create enough additional drag to reduce the need to downshift on ovals, thereby reducing the potential for accidents. The Handford MkII is also expected to improve cars' overtaking ability on short and intermediate ovals. In addition to Nazareth Speedway, the high-downforce variant of the Handford MkII will also be utilized at Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; The Milwaukee Mile, Chicago Motor Speedway and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

* The pit crew for Paul Tracy started out strongly in its defense of the Craftsman Pit Crew Challenge championship it won last season, taking the lead in this year's competition following the season-opening event at Homestead. Among drivers who finished the event, Tracy spent the least time in the pits and thus his crew collected 20 points for their performance. Max Papis' crew stands second with 16 points, followed by the crews for Dario Franchitti and Cristiano da Matta (Pioneer/MCI WorldCom Toyota Reynard), with 14 and 12 points, respectively. The Craftsman Pit Crew Challenge is a season-long pit stop competition that will pay $50,000 to the winning team at the season-ending Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota at California Speedway. Points in the Challenge, sponsored by Craftsman, the Official Tool of CART, are awarded according to the same scale used to determine the FedEx Championship Series champion (20-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1), but based on total time spent in the pits at each event. Points will be accumulated through the first 19 events of the season, and the top four teams following Round 19 - the Honda Indy 300 in Surfers Paradise, Australia - will qualify for a head-to-head battle for the top prize prior to the season finale.

* Tracy also took the early lead in the season-long competition for the Budweiser Hard Charger Award, which recognizes the driver who improves the most positions from start to finish at each event. Tracy gained 14 places from his 17th qualifying position to his third-place finish to top Papis (13th to first), Franchitti (22nd to 11th) and da Matta (23rd to 12th) on the opening weekend. Standings will be kept throughout the season, with drivers receiving one point for each place gained. The overall winner at the conclusion of the campaign will receive a cash award from Budweiser, the Official Beer of CART.

* ESPN's telecast of the FedEx Championship Series season opener from Homestead was the fourth-rated cable sports telecast for the week of Monday, March 20 through Sunday, March 26, according to Nielsen Media Research. The telecast, which drew a 1.7 rating, outdrew such programs as the NASCAR Busch Series, the NIT basketball tournament and the PGA Professional Player's Championship. The 1.7 rating translates to an equivalent of 1,326,000 households and 1,867,000 viewers.

* Newman/Haas Racing driver Michael Andretti will make an appearance at Philadelphia's First Union Center on Wednesday night during "Nazareth Speedway Night at the 76ers." Andretti will sign autographs prior to the National Basketball Association game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Atlanta Hawks, and a Champ Car driven by Michael's legendary father, Mario, will be displayed on the First Union Center concourse. The CART FanFest, a mobile display transporter featuring several interactive exhibits, will be on display outside the arena for free fan tours, and the first 5,000 fans in attendance at the game will receive free rally towels, courtesy of Toyota, presenting sponsor of the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix.

ON THE AIR * Pole qualifying for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota will air 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2. CART 2Day airs 11 a.m. Sunday on ESPN2, with ABC-TV's live race broadcast due to begin at 1 p.m. ET.

Text provided by T.E. McHale

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.