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CART: Weather forces postponement of Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix at Nazareth

9 April 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
NAZARETH, Pa.- Snow and high winds forced postponement of Sunday's second round of the FedEx Championship Series, the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota at Nazareth Speedway.

An overnight low-pressure weather system brought an estimated two inches of snow to the Lehigh Valley, causing the first postponement of a FedEx Championship Series event since the 1998 race at Nazareth was postponed due to rain.

The race has been rescheduled for Saturday, May 27, and will be a one-day affair. Television coverage plans will be announced at a later date.

The starting grid was set Saturday, with defending FedEx Championship Series and race champion Juan Montoya (Target Toyota Lola) earning the pole position at an average speed of 176.868 mph (19.255 seconds).

"There are two reasons we've done this," said CART President and CEO Andrew Craig. "Firstly, for the fans, and secondly, because there are several safety issues involved. From the fans' perspective, if we wanted, we could sit here all day. Maybe the weather gets better, maybe it doesn't, and we'd leave an awful lot of good people wondering what we were doing. We just don't think that's the right thing to do. We could come back tomorrow, but there's no guarantee that we'd be able to race then, either. We think that under the circumstances, this course of action is the best for everyone concerned."

Said J. Kirk Russell, CART's first-year Chief Steward, "As Wally [former CART Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach] said to me, 'This is your baptism by ice.' The forecast yesterday said that the front would move through overnight and clear out in the morning. Obviously, that wasn't the case. Along with the moisture, cold temperatures are a problem for the tires, and by the time we'll have a clear window, temperatures won't be warm enough, so we're coming back at a later date."

With the rescheduled date, the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix becomes Round 5 of the FedEx Championship Series, following Round 4, the Firestone Firehawk 500, Saturday, May 13 at Twin Ring Motegi, Japan.

Text provided by T.E. McHale

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