| | Associated Press
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Patience and a perfect car carried Paul Tracy to his second victory in the streets of Long Beach.
In 1993, when he earned the first win of his CART FedEx Series career, Tracy started from the outside of the front row and dominated, leading 81 laps of what was then a 105-lap race on a shorter track.
|  | | Paul Tracy gives a "thumbs up" to his team after winning the Grand Prix of Long Beach. |
On Sunday, he drove from 17th to victory in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, pulling away at the end for his 16th win.
It was the farthest back a winner has started on a temporary
street circuit since Al Unser Jr. won from 19th in 1986 on the old
downtown course in Miami.
"That's two races now we've started in the back, but there's no
panic on Team Kool Green," Tracy said. "Starting 17th, the plan
for us was just to stay alive and not get in a wreck.
"Being a lot less patient in the past, I would put my nose in
where it shouldn't be and get it chopped off. This time, I wasn't
being overaggressive and we stuck to our plan."
It worked to perfection for the 31-year-old Canadian as he
avoided most of the trouble that knocked out all but 12 of the 25
starters in the 82-lap event race. The win, combined with a
third-place finish in the season-opener in Homestead, Fla., where
he also started 17th, moved Tracy into the series points lead.
"With our new car, we haven't been able to get a good handle on
the car for qualifying," he said. "We were really lost all
weekend, but we never gave up. The guys made a lot of changes last
night and the car was absolutely perfect the whole race."
Tracy's closest call came in the pits on lap 11 when several of
the drivers made their first stops during the first of six caution
periods on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit winding around the
downtown convention center and along Long Beach harbor.
|
“ |
Being a lot less patient in the past, I
would put my nose in where it shouldn't be and get it chopped off. This time, I wasn't
being overaggressive and we stuck to our plan. ” |
|
|
— Paul Tracy |
Michael Andretti darted out of his pit just ahead of Tracy, who
bumped the rear of Andretti's car. But neither sustained any
serious damage.
"His guy waved him out right in front of me," Tracy said. "It
got me up in the air and, luckily, we hit pretty square and it
didn't bend anything. After that, we hooked up with Michael and
came up through the field."
With teams trying a variety of fuel strategies on the tight
course, team owner Barry Green's crew chose to go with three pit
stops and watch the race unfold. It worked as Tracy took over lead
on lap 62, passing rookie Takuya Kurosawa, the first Japanese
driver ever to lead a CART event.
"I can't say enough for Paul," Green said. "I really think
it's the best race that I've ever seen him drive."
With most of the contenders, including Andretti, falling out
with mechanical problems or getting caught up in accidents, Tracy
was able to run to the end without much pressure.
Helio Castro-Neves and 1996 Long Beach winner Jimmy Vasser had
an intense battle for second over the final 18 laps, with
Castro-Neves holding him off by half a car length for second.
"I know Helio was having trouble with his tires going away and
with fuel, but he did a good job of holding me off," said Vasser,
the 1996 CART champion, whose Target/Chip Ganassi Racing team had
won the last four Long Beach races.
Castro-Neves, the 24-year-old Brazilian in his first year with
Marlboro Team Penske, matched his career-best finish for the third
time as he crossed the finish line 3.191 seconds behind Tracy's
Reynard-Honda. That showing came despite a mid-race penalty for
exceeding the 50 mph speed limit on pit road that sent him to the
rear of the field.
"It was really, really tough. We knew it would be close (on
fuel)," Castro-Neves said. "The crew said, `Let's cross the
fingers and see what's going to happen."'
Rookie Alex Tagliani finished a career-best fourth, followed by
Bryan Herta, who got his ride with Walker Racing when rookie Shinji
Nakano was injured on March 30 in a testing accident in Milwaukee.
Oriol Servia, another rookie, finished sixth, followed by
pole-winner Gil de Ferran, Mark Blundell and Roberto Moreno, the
last driver on the lead lap.
De Ferran, who has led this race more than anyone else over the
last six years without getting to victory lane, led until he pitted
for the first time on lap 30. Castro-Neves' teammate never got back
to the lead.
Max Papis, who won the season-opener last month in Homestead,
never led and wound up finishing only 44 laps after sliding into a
tire barrier.
Last year's winner and the defending series champion, Juan
Montoya, also failed to finish, completing just 48 laps before his
engine failed.
Both Andretti and Newman-Haas Racing teammate Christian
Fittipaldi had engine fires that ended their race day. Fittipaldi's
car burst into flame as he sat on pit road on lap 48.
The Brazilian driver scrambled from the cockpit, jumping to the
pavement where he stepped on an air jack, twisting his ankle. That
was the only injured reported in the race.
| |
ALSO SEE
Notebook: Veterans take lead so far in 2000
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Paul Tracy takes the checkered flag on the streets of Long Beach.
avi: 1413 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Paul Tracy talks with RPM 2Night's John Kernan about his CART victory on Sunday.
RealVideo: | 28.8
There's room for only one car in the turns, as Kenny Brack and Tony Kanaan find out on lap 54.
avi: 672 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Paul Tracy is thrilled about winning his second Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
wav: 127 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Engine woes make for a long afternoon at the Beach for Juan Montoya.
wav: 130 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
 |
