| | Associated Press
Results
NAZARETH, Pa. -- Gone from Roger Penske's racing operation
is just about everything that made it great -- except the boss
himself.
Now, with his 100th Champ-car victory finally achieved after the
three darkest years in team history, he sees a bright future based
on all the changes he has made since last year. One of the biggest -- driver Gil de Ferran -- paid the first dividend with a victory
Saturday in the Bosch Spark Club Grand Prix.
|  | | Gil de Ferran celebrates his first victory for owner Roger Penske -- one that gave his boss career win No.100. |
But Penske, who got his first win 29 years ago from the late
Mark Donahue, wasn't concerned about milestones as de Ferran held
off Mauricio Gugelmin over the waning laps at Nazareth Speedway.
"I was worrying about the race," said Penske, wearing a hat
containing the magic number and shirt that appropriately contained
the name of a sponsor -- Boss. "I really wasn't thinking about the
100th win.
Minutes earlier, the conservative businessman with holdings far
broader than a racing team had stepped out of character -- spraying
champagne all over his crew.
Why not. It had been three years and three days -- 54 losses
since his last victory.
"We've had some ups and downs," he said, understating the
misfortunes of 1997-1999.
Last year was particularly difficult. He decided to part company
with driver Al Unser Jr., who gave him two of his record 10 Indy
500 victories and one of his the record seven CART titles.
That was the easiest of Penske's emotional burdens. Rookie
driver Gonzalo Rodriguez was killed practicing in Laguna Seca,
Calif. Then Greg Moore, who had agreed to race for Penske this
year, died in a crash in Fontana, Calif.
So, before 1999 had ended, Penske changed drivers -- employing
Helio Castroneves to replace Moore. He bagged the traditional
Penske and part-time Lola chassis for the Reynard, switched from
Mercedes to Honda power, went from Goodyear to Firestone tires and
made Tim Cindich the new team manager.
In typical Penske fashion, he credited Moore and de Ferran with
helping him get rolling on all the changes.
"I knew what I had to do," Penske said. "We felt it was time
for changes. "Things just sort of fell into place."
De Ferran, who beat Gugelmin by .085 seconds for his fourth
career victory, considers himself lucky to be part of the
renaissance of the greatest open-wheel team in history.
"There is so much meaning to this, it's hard to put into
words," said de Ferran, who joined the likes of Al Unser Jr. and
Sr., Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi and Danny Sullivan as the 12th
driver to win for Penske.
But it wasn't easy for de Ferran or those who tried to stop
history.
"I think the single biggest problem we had was that it was a
single-day event," Gugelmin said, alluding to the rescheduling of
a race snowed out seven weeks ago. "Normally, you get Friday and
Saturday to lay some rubber down, so everybody got loose."
That led to several crashes -- the first on the first lap -- that
hurt so many of the top contenders. Among them was polesitter Juan
Montoya, who was hoping to make some history himself.
Montoya, who starts second Sunday in Indianapolis, had hoped for
a unique Memorial Day weekend sweep. He also wanted to give Toyota
its first CART victory.
"I was on it today, but bad luck caught us twice," said
Montoya, who led the first 76 laps, lost the advantage on a slow
pit stop and never regained it.
The series champion wound up fourth, running at the end for only
the second time in five races this season.
"It was very messy," said third-place finisher Kenny Brack,
who isn't defending his Indy 500 title after jumping this year from
the IRL to CART.
But it wasn't his day. This one belong to the man the call
Captain.
"I think we're back," Penske said.
| |
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Forget first class, Gil de Ferran delivers Roger Penske's 100th victory.
avi: 1052 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Juan Montoya loses track position with a slow pit stop.
avi: 1020 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
 Roger Penske talks about the his 100th win.
wav: 446 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Gil de Ferran is excited about his first oval victory.
wav: 118 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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