| | WEST ALLIS, Wis. -- Bad luck has become such a part of Paul
Tracy's racing career that he couldn't believe his good fortune on
Sunday.
With five laps remaining in the Miller Lite 225 at the Milwaukee
Mile, Tracy was in the lead and the fuel warning light on the
console of his Reynard-Honda was burning bright.
"The light came on on the last restart," Tracy said.
"Usually, when it comes on, you've only got two laps of fuel left.
But we got to the end and we were still running. I don't know how
dry it is right now."
| |  | | Paul Tracy had just enough fuel to win the Miller Lite 225 on Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile. |
Tracy had stayed on the oval while several other leaders dived
into the pits for a splash of the fuel in the waning laps. The
Canadian driver was rewarded with his 14th victory and first since
May 1997 in Madison, Ill.
It was sweet redemption for the 30-year-old bad boy, who was on
probation part of last season for rough driving and was barred from
the 1999 season opener because of an on-course incident late last
year in Australia.
In the final race of 1999, in Fontana, Calif., Tracy was winning
late in the race and lost control on cold tires during a restart,
spinning off the track to his great embarrassment.
"To be brutally honest, my mind kind of reverted to Fontana (on
the last five laps)," Tracy said. "I just said to myself, 'You've
got to put together five clean, easy laps.' Fortunately, there was
nobody close behind me.
"It's a rejuvenation of a career. Two years is a long time to
go without winning. You just keep scratching your head. You're
doing everything right, trying to make the right decisions on every
single lap and, all of a sudden, everything falls apart."
It continued right up to last week in Madison when Tracy and
Team Kool Green teammate Dario Franchitti collided while battling
for second place. A team meeting here on Friday morning cleared the
air, but Tracy was determined to turn things around on track.
"Dario has had a string of luck going and I've just had the
short end of the stick for a long time," Tracy said. "But the
crew stuck with me and it was good to reward them."
The second half of the 225-lap race was dominated by Target-Chip
Ganassi Racing teammates Juan Montoya and Jimmy Vasser, the
defending race winner. But both got caught out by the fuel
situation.
All the cars on the lead lap pitted for tires and fuel during a
caution period on lap 124, with rookie sensation Montoya, winner of
three of the first seven races this season, taking the lead from
Vasser with a quick stop.
But it was quickly apparent to everyone that it was going to be
a major gamble to try to get to the checkered flag without a bit
more fuel.
Montoya's team was the first to blink, bringing in the
23-year-old Colombian for a fast stop on lap 210. That put Vasser
in the lead.
The fourth caution of the day came out on lap 212 after Roberto
Moreno spun and Vasser took advantage to make his quick stop on lap
213, giving up the top spot to Tracy.
The victory was not assured until P.J. Jones, who spun early in
the race, did it again on lap 218, bringing out the fifth and final
caution and giving Tracy just enough fuel to make it to the end.
"I cost our guys the race today, no question about it,"
Ganassi team manager Tom Anderson said. "With that last yellow, we
certainly could have made it to the end."
Greg Moore, who never led and was never really a factor, also
made it to the end without refueling and finished second, trailing
Tracy across the line by 5.880 seconds -- nearly a full
straightaway.
The winner averaged 129.029 mph.
The rest of the top 10 was not determined until four hours after
the race was over. Patrick Racing protested that two drivers passed
Adrian Fernandez under the caution flag on lap 210.
CART eventually wound up penalizing Patrick Carpentier and
Montoya, who were initially fourth and sixth, one lap each. Gil de
Ferran, who came in third, was also under review for a possible
passing violation, but the decision was deferred for further
review.
That left Vasser fourth, followed by Fernandez, Christian
Fittipaldi, Franchitti, Mauricio Gugelmin, Carpentier and Montoya.
Pending disposition of de Ferran's finish, the penalty cut
Montoya's series lead over Franchitti from four points to two.
Moore is third, trailing by four points.
The early part of the race was a highlight film for Michael
Andretti, who was coming off a victory last week. The career CART
lead with 38 victories charged from 11th in the 26-car starting
lineup to the lead on lap 50, passing Franchitti.
But Andretti's first pit stop was a disaster as his clutch
slipped and he ran over crewmen Ty Manseau with his left rear tire.
Manseau, who was wearing a helmet, was transported by ambulance to
a local hospital for neck X-rays and a CAT scan. Officials said he
had some bruises and he was released.
Andretti's car sat in the pits for nearly two minutes, losing
one lap. He was then brought in for a stop-and-go penalty for the
pit infraction, losing a second lap. He wound up 15th, three laps
down.
Franchitti ran over Tracy's air hose on the way out of his pit
on that first stop and had to go to the back of the lead lap. He
never got back into contention.
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