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CART: FedEx Championship Series seeks eighth different race winner at Portland

22 June 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
DETROIT- After launching the road course portion of its season in record-setting fashion at Detroit last weekend, the FedEx Championship Series seeks its eighth different winner in as many events as it travels to the Pacific Northwest for Sunday's Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco at Portland International Raceway (7 p.m. ET, tape delay, ESPN2).

When Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Honda Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske drove to victory at Detroit, he became the seventh different race winner to start the season, breaking a FedEx Championship Series record established in 1991. With 13 events remaining on the schedule, the series is well on its way toward breaking the record of 10 different winners in the season, established last year.

Largely due to that competitiveness, the series arrives at Portland with its top 10 drivers separated by just 21 points. With a sweep of the maximum 22 points available for a race victory, winning the pole position and leading the most race laps, any one of those 10 could theoretically exit Portland with the championship lead.

At present, that lead is held by Paul Tracy (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green, winner at Long Beach, podium finisher in each of the season's first three events, and point producer in each of the first five. But Tracy has gone scoreless in each of the past two events at Milwaukee and Detroit, allowing a talented field to move well within striking distance of his 59 championship points.

Tracy's closest pursuer is Jimmy Vasser (Target Toyota Lola) of Target Chip Ganassi Racing, who owns 54 points following five top-seven finishes in his first seven starts of the season, highlighted by a runner-up effort at Rio de Janeiro. Roberto Moreno (Visteon Ford Reynard) of Patrick Racing stands third with 52 points. He has finished ninth or better in five of seven starts this season and matched a career-best with a runner-up effort at Homestead.

Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford Reynard) of Team Rahal stands fourth in the championship with 47 points. He won the season opener at Homestead and finished second at Detroit. Defending Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco champion Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske joins Papis with 47 points, 20 of which came from his victory at Nazareth, the 100th in the storied history of Penske Racing.

Defending FedEx Championship Series and reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Juan Montoya (Target Toyota Lola) of Target Chip Ganassi Racing trails Papis and de Ferran by just a point, with 46. His victory at Milwaukee was the first for a Toyota-powered driver in the engine manufacturer's five-year FedEx Championship Series history. Montoya has also started on the pole and led the most race laps at each of the past four events, at Japan, Nazareth, Milwaukee and Detroit.

Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) of Newman Haas Racing brings 44 championship points to Portland, built mainly on a victory at Japan - his CART career-leading 39th - and a runner-up effort at Milwaukee. Andretti is a three-time FedEx Championship Series winner at Portland International Raceway (1990, '91 and '92).

Rounding out the top 10 drivers in the championship are 1999 FedEx Championship series runner-up Dario Franchitti (KOOL Honda Reynard) of Team KOOL Green, eighth with 40 points; rookie Kenny Brack (Shell Ford Reynard) of Team Rahal, ninth with 39 points; and veteran Adrian Fernandez (Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard) of Patrick Racing, winner at Rio de Janeiro.

Joining Andretti and de Ferran as previous winners at Portland is Mark Blundell (Motorola PacWest Mercedes) of the PacWest Racing Group, who edged de Ferran by 0.027 seconds - about seven feet - to win the closest race in FedEx Championship Series history in 1997.

This year for the first time in FedEx Championship Series history, all cars ride on Firestone Firehawks, the Official Tire of CART.

Following the Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco, the FedEx Championship Series returns to the Midwest for its third event in as many weeks, The Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar on Sunday, July 2, at Burke Lakefront Airport on the shores of Lake Erie.

WHO'S HOT

* Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Juan Montoya (Target Toyota Lola) the defending FedEx Championship Series and reigning Indianapolis 500 champion, has qualified among the top three drivers for all seven FedEx Championship Series events this season. He has started on the pole and led the most race laps at each of the past four events, at Japan, Nazareth, Milwaukee and Detroit. Montoya has led at least the first 58 laps of each of those events; led a series-high 541 laps, over 400 more than his closest pursuer, Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske; and has moved into eighth place on the CART career laps-led list with 1,495.

* Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Honda Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske has finished on the podium in each of his road or street course starts this season, including his first career FedEx Championship Series victory last Sunday at Detroit. He finished second at Long Beach in his other road course start this season.

* Patrick Carpentier (Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard) of Player's Forsythe Racing has finished fifth or better in three of his four starts this season. Carpentier finished fifth at Homestead, third at Milwaukee and fifth at Detroit. He missed starts at Long Beach, Rio de Janeiro and Japan while recovering from a slight fracture of his left wrist sustained in an April accident at his Las Vegas home.

* Rookies Oriol Servia (Telefonica Toyota Reynard) of PPI Motorsports and Alex Tagliani (Player's Forsythe Racing Team Ford Reynard) of Player's Forsythe Racing have both recorded top-six finishes in each of the two FedEx Championship Series road/street events to date. Tagliani finished a career-high fourth at Long Beach and took sixth at Detroit, while Servia, the 1999 Dayton Indy Lights champion, was sixth at Long Beach and third at Detroit.

ON THE RIGHT TRACK

* Michael Andretti (Big Kmart/Texaco/Havoline Ford Lola) owns three victories at Portland International Raceway, in 1990, '91 and '92, in addition to back-to-back runner-up finishes in 1986 and '87. He has scored championship points in 12 of 15 appearances at Portland, with nine top-10 finishes, and has led 402 laps there during his career, including 100 or more in 1990 (101), '91 (102) and '93 (100).

* Defending Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco champion Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda Reynard) has finished on the podium in three of five career appearances at Portland. In addition to last year's victory, he finished second in 1996 and '97. His runner-up effort by 0.027 seconds to Mark Blundell in 1997 stands as the closest finish in FedEx Championship Series history. In addition, de Ferran has never qualified outside the top-10 in his five starts at Portland.

* Adrian Fernandez (Tecate/Quaker State/Patrick Racing Ford Reynard) has scored championship points in five of six career starts at Portland, with a best finish of fourth last year. He also finished 10th in 1994, ninth in '95, 12th in '96 and 10th in '97.

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.