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| | Monday, September 6 in championship standings | |||||
| VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- After a miserable start to
the season, Jimmy Vasser is starting to think about a top-three
finish in the points standings.
The 1996 CART FedEx Series champion, who had only three top-10
finishes in his first 10 races this season, wound up third in
Sunday's Vancouver Molson Indy and is now riding a string of six
straight top-10s and four top-fives.
"Our team has really picked it up," said Vasser, whose rookie
teammate, Juan Montoya, has won seven races and holds a 23-point
lead in the standings. "We've been thinking that a top-five finish
(in the points) was a pretty good possibility. But Michael and Paul
haven't scored points in a couple of races and now I think we've
got a shot at a top three."
Vasser was referring to Michael Andretti and Paul Tracy, who
both had problems on the wet track Sunday and wound up out of the
points.
Andretti remained third in the standings, trailing Montoya by 71
points and still two ahead of Tracy. With his third-place finish,
Vasser moved up just one place to ninth, but moved within 30 of
Andretti.
"Actually, we were hoping for these kind of conditions,"
Vasser said of Sunday's miserable weather. "We started way back in
16th and I think we passed about five cars and got the rest of the
spots by attrition. We knew we just had to keep the car on the
track and hope for the best."
Can't wait to get back on track Adrian Fernandez and Christian Fittipaldi are champing at the bit to get back into their race cars. Fernandez fractured his right wrist in a crash during the Detroit Grand Prix on Aug. 8, while Fittipaldi suffered a subdural hematoma -- a collection of blood on the left side of his head -- in a crash Aug. 2 during testing in Madison, Ill. Fernandez, who drives for Patrick Racing, plans to return for next Sunday's Texaco-Havoline 300 in Monterey, Calif. "I've been driving my go-kart, trying to work on the strength and flexibility in the wrist as much as possible," the Mexican driver said. "The doctor put 10 pins in the wrist and it's healing very well. I think I'll be fine." Fittipaldi, who initially had severe headaches as a result of the injury, is hoping to return to his Newman-Haas Racing entry in time for the Houston race on Sept. 26. "The headaches went away after the Mid-Ohio race (Aug. 15) and I started feeling like myself again," the Brazilian driver said. "I started my fitness program again, but I have to start slow." P.J. Jones subbed for Fernandez in Sunday's race in Vancouver, crashing and finishing 21st, while Roberto Moreno drove Fittipaldi's car to 15th. Good end to back weekend The weekend finally picked up for Helio Castro-Neves on Sunday. Prior to the race, Castro-Neves went through five blown engines in practice. He then missed the final qualifying session and had to start 26th in the 27-car field because team owner Carl Hogan had already withdrawn the team's backup car and did not inform CART officials he wanted to switch to that car for the qualifying session. But Castro-Neves managed to avoid all the problems plaguing other drivers on the wet track and wound up eighth. "The key to today's race was patience," the Brazilian driver said after his fourth straight top-10 finish. "In the end, guys who had gone to slicks caught up with me and cost us two positions. But, right now, scoring points and finishing strong in the championship are the goals. Each race we just gain more momentum and things just get better and better." Spark plugs ... The victory by Montoya was his third straight and sixth of the year, moving the rookie within one victory of two CART records. A victory next Sunday in Monterey, Calif., would be his fourth in a row, equaling the record set by Al Unser Jr. in 1990 and matched by Alex Zanardi in 1998. He also moved within one win of the season record of eight, set in 1991 by Andretti and matched in 1994 by Unser. ... Montoya gave Honda engines their 12th win of 1999 and sixth in a row. | ALSO SEE Montoya just too slick in Vancouver Indy victory
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