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CART: Toyota GP of Long Beach may provide preview of eventual FedEx Champ

12 April 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
DETROIT - A recent FedEx Championship Series trend continued last year when Juan Montoya of Target/Chip Ganassi Racing drove to victory in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and then went on to capture the FedEx Championship Series championship.

Montoya's victory, the first of his FedEx Championship Series career, made him the fifth driver in the past six years to win at Long Beach en route to the championship. He joined Al Unser Jr. (1994), Jimmy Vasser (1996) and Alex Zanardi (1997 and '98) in accomplishing the Long Beach/series championship double.

Montoya (Target Toyota Lola) also scored Target/Chip Ganassi Racing's fourth consecutive victory at Long Beach. Now, after scoring his first point of the season by winning the pole at Nazareth last week before snow postponed race day, Montoya prepares to defend his crown in Sunday's second round of the championship (5 p.m. ET, one-hour tape delay, ESPN).

The postponement of the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota at Nazareth Speedway (rescheduled for Saturday, May 27) has shifted the Long Beach stop to the second round of this year's championship chase, its earliest appearance since 1991. Team Rahal driver Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford Reynard) arrives with the championship lead, courtesy of his first career FedEx Championship Series victory in the March 26 season opener at Homestead.

Papis comes to Long Beach looking to improve on his career-best finish of ninth at the venue, established last year. He holds a four-point advantage, 20-16, over Patrick Racing's Roberto Moreno (Visteon Ford Reynard), whose runner-up performance at Homestead matched his career-best finish established at Laguna Seca last year.

Team KOOL Green driver Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard), third in the championship, made his first career FedEx Championship Series start at Long Beach in 1991. He is one of four former Long Beach winners in the field (1993), joining Montoya, Vasser and Newman/Haas Racing's Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola), who won in 1986.

Tracy's 14 championship points lead Vasser (Target Toyota Lola) by two while Patrick Carpentier (Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard) and Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) are two further back with 10 each. Carpentier seeks his first scoring performance in his fourth career start at Long Beach while De Ferran has captured two poles (1996, '97), owns race-high laps-led totals of 100 in '96 and 51 in '98, and has a pair of top-six finishes (5th in '96, 6th in '99).

Following the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the FedEx Championship Series makes its first of three trips outside of North America for the Rio 200, on Sunday, April 30 from the Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway at Nelson Piquet International Raceway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

WHO'S HOT

* By claiming the pole position for the postponed Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota at Nazareth last week, defending FedEx Championship Series and Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach champion Juan Montoya (Target Toyota Lola) has now earned a victory, a pole position, or both in 12 of his 22 career FedEx Championship Series events.

* 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 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. 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 Long Beach, 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 in 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 and is the defending pole-sitter at Long Beach.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

* Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) owns nine top-10 finishes in 15 career starts at Long Beach, including a victory in 1986. He is also tied with his father, Mario, for the most pole positions at the venue with three (1991, '92 and '95), and has qualified outside the top 12 only once, last year, when he started 13th. He has led 113 laps at the venue during his career, topped by 47 en route to his 1986 victory.

* Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) has won two pole positions at Long Beach (1996, '97) and has led at least one lap in three of five career appearances at the venue, for a total of 188. He led 100 of 105 laps in 1996 before being victimized by a disconnected turbocharger hose. His 188 laps led at Long Beach represent 26.4 percent of his career total laps-led of 710, which ranks 16th on the CART career list.

* Dario Franchitti owns consecutive runner-up efforts at Long Beach (1998, '99) and a string of three consecutive points-paying performances, including 12th in 1997.

* Bryan Herta (AVEX Honda Reynard), subbing for the injured Shinji Nakano of Walker Racing, has a pair of podium finishes in five starts at Long Beach (third in 1998 and last year). He has also scored championship points in four consecutive appearances, including 12th in 1996 and sixth in '97.

* Jimmy Vasser (Target Toyota Lola) owns five top-10 finishes in eight appearances at Long Beach, including a victory in 1996, seventh in '92, ninth in '97, eighth in '98 and 10th last year.

* Adrian Fernandez (Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard) has scored in four consecutive starts at Long Beach, comprised of back-to-back fourth-place finishes in 1998 and last year, sixth in '96 and 11th in '97.

* Mauricio Gugelmin's (Nextel PacWest Mercedes) runner-up finish in 1997 is the best of four points-paying results that he has posted in six career appearances at Long Beach. Also included are finishes of seventh in 1994, fifth in '95 and 10th in '98.

MANUFACTURING SUCCESS

* Honda arrives in Long Beach with a streak of 14 consecutive FedEx Championship Series victories on temporary street circuits, dating to the start of the 1998 season. The last non-Honda-powered driver to win on a temporary street circuit was Mauricio Gugelmin, who guided a Mercedes to victory at Vancouver in 1997. Honda has also won the past four FedEx Championship Series events contested on the streets of Long Beach as it powered Jimmy Vasser (1996), Alex Zanardi (1997 and '98) and Juan Montoya, last year, to victory.

MILESTONES

* Michael Andretti's next triumph will allow him to set a CART record for most seasons with at least one race victory. Andretti (Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) is currently tied for the top spot with Rick Mears, each with 12 seasons with at least one victory. Andretti begins his 17th season of FedEx Championship Series competition this weekend.

NOTEWORTHY

* Walker Racing announced Monday that Bryan Herta, a seven-year veteran of the FedEx Championshp Series, will substitute for injured rookie driver Shinji Nakano in the team's Avex Honda Reynard at both this weekend's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and the April 30 Rio 200 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nakano is recovering from several small brain bruises sustained in a March 31 testing accident at The Milwaukee Mile. He is currently under the care of neurologist Dr. Terry Horner, in consultation with Dr. Steve Olvey, CART Director of Medical Affairs. Herta, who remains under contract to Forsythe Championship Racing, has been loaned to Walker Racing for the next two FedEx Championship Series events. "Bryan is a winner and was a natural choice to use as a substitute driver for Shinji," team owner Derrick Walker said. "We were very fortunate to be able to find a driver of his caliber who was also available. We owe Forsythe Racing, and Gerald Forsythe in particular, for allowing us to use Bryan." Herta has made 94 career starts in a FedEx Championship Series career that began in 1994 and it has been highlighted by two wins, seven poles and nine podium finishes. Two of those podiums, back-to-back third-place finishes in 1998 and last year, have come at Long Beach. He also won the pole at the venue in 1998. "I was definitely itching to get back in the car," Herta said. "So when Derrick presented me with this opportunity, it was a good chance for me to do some competitive racing while giving the Forsythe team some time to sort out its situation. I'm grateful to Derrick and Gerald for allowing me this opportunity and at the same time I wish Shinji the best in his recovery and I look forward to turning the car back to him in good condition."

* The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach also marks the debut of a new team entry in the FedEx Championship Series and the return of a young and promising driver. Swift Engineering has entered a Panasonic-sponsored Swift that will be driven by Brazilian Tarso Marques. Marques made six starts for Marlboro Team Penske during his rookie season last year, with a top start and finish of eighth and ninth, respectively, at Rio de Janeiro. He also started 19th and finished 25th at Long Beach. The power plant for the Swift entry has yet to be announced.

* Dale Coyne Racing announced at Nazareth that Panasonic would be sponsoring the Ford Lola driven by Gualter Salles in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Rio 200. Panasonic's sponsorship is a renewed relationship. The team campaigned a car for Panasonic and driver Hiro Matsushita in 1996. "I am happy that Panasonic will be supporting us at Long Beach," said Salles, whose career-best qualifying effort of fourth, came at the venue in 1998. "We hope to give them a very strong showing at a track where we have a good history."

* The CART Hi-Tech Forum will conduct its inaugural meeting Saturday from 4-5 p.m. in the Ballroom Foyer of the Long Beach Convention Center. All sponsors and supporters from the CART community who are involved in a high-tech industry are invited to attend the executive-level mixer, which has been scheduled to provide networking opportunities for the numerous high-tech partners of the FedEx Championship Series. For further information, contact Wes Simpson at the CART offices, (248) 362-8800 or at wsimpson@cart.com .

* CART Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Craig will be a featured speaker at "Sport Business 2000: A Century of Progress of Future of Promise" being held Thursday through Saturday at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. Craig will participate in a panel discussion, "Financing Sport's Development," Thursday morning. Other participants will include Charles Aster, Partner at Coudert Brothers, New York; Adam Shutkever, Managing Director of the Consumer and Leisure Group, Deutsche Bank AG; Charles Tate, Partner at Hicks, Muse, Tate and Furst; and Darren Venn, Consultant at ENIC. The panel will be moderated by Fred Kempe, Editor and Associate Publisher of the Wall Street Journal, Europe.

* CART's website, www.cart.com, received 635,920 total visits during the month of March, an increase of 22 percent over March of 1999, when the site recorded 521,902 visits. The site also hosted 247,025 unique visitors, an increase of 68 percent over the February total of 146,757 unique visitors. The average visitor spent 6.78 minutes on the site during the month of March and viewed 4.93 pages per visit. The information was provided to Quokka Sports, official Internet provider of CART, by Accrue software.

ON THE AIR

* Pole qualifying for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach airs 1 a.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2. "CART 2Day" airs 10:30 a.m. ET Sunday on ESPN2 while ESPN's one-hour tape-delayed broadcast begins 5 p.m. ET Sunday.

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.